Seems like Buddhism is so rare in the United States...

[AsahinaKimi]

My Parents are Buddhist. My dad, is Shinto Buddhist,(born in Japan) and my Mom who is half Korean and half Japanese~ Born in the USA, is also Buddhist. They used to attend a temple her in San Francisco, but when my dad moved his Dental practice to Long Island, (with my mom)they ended up practicing at home.

I have been to a few of the temples here in San Francisco, but never really stuck with it. I have had kind of an interest in Japanese Shinto but have heard that there is only one Shinto Shrine in the entire USA, and its in Washington State some where. To get there would be a major road trip. I guess I wish to take after my dad, and be Shinto Buddhist.

In talking with someone from Japan once, I learned that most Japanese are Shinto in their lives first and Buddhist in the after life. Which makes sense, because most Japanese are married by a Shinto Priest but their funeral is in the Buddhist traditon. Both Buddhist and Shinto Holidays are observed in Japan. My friend also told me that Japanese tend to be more supersticious then religious. Shinto is very facinating, and I hope to look more into it, as well as Buddhism.



I have been thinking about joining a group. I was introduced to something called "Happy Science" which is supposed to be a Buddhist group run by Ryuho Okawa in Japan, but I suspect from their texts, that it is more of a cult, or worse yet, a kind of fundamentalist group, that throws in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism into one pot.. and well, that is not for me.


Its nice to see people here posting things about Buddhism and wonder how many of you are Buddhist, how many of you practice on your own with books as guidance, or is there really a temple in your area.


I am also a little bit disturbed how some people in GD, tend to throw all Religions into one big
sloppy pile when it comes to extremism. As I told one person, the most extreme thing I ever saw from a Buddhist, were images of priests setting themselves on fire, in protest over the Vietnam war. I don't know of any instances where there was violence in the name of Buddha.


In any rate, I am glad to see all of these postings, and hope you will allow me to join in on your conversations in the future.


Yoroshiku ne!
Kimiko~yori

[Flipper999]

1. Instances of Buddhist violence...

I was curious after reading your post, so I did a quick google search and found a review of a book that details Buddhist extremism: http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/2158/

I'm not posting this to be annoying or anything, but I believe that human beings will always find excuses for extremist behavior no matter who or what their favored messiah/religious path/cause happens to be. It may sound nonsensical for a religion with fairly strict rules against killing any animal to be the inspiration for violence. However, people do have a talent for twisting rules to get what they want.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I wonder if this is the shrine in Washington State:

I've attended a shrine across the canal from my home in Stockton (the shrine is in Stockton, I'm across the canal from it).

I wanted to check and a Google search for it resulted in this: http://www.csuchico.edu/~gwilliams/tsa/

The temple I was thinking about is described now as Buddhist, not Shinto.

http://www.stocktonbuddhisttemple.org/

I'm surprised if it's true that there's only one Shinto shrine in America.

:hi:

[AsahinaKimi]

3. Well Technically...

To be a Shinto Shrine or Jinja (神社), outside of Japan, an owner of a shrine in Japan, (Someone who has had generations of family members running a shrine) would have to disassemble a Shrine in Japan, pack it up and haul it to its new place, (for example, Washington State) and reassemble the Shrine to as close to the original as possible. Shinto started out as Japan's first state religion until Buddhist monks came a bit later from China. It was such at the time that people rejected Buddhism, until one Priest managed to intertwine Shinto and Buddhism..and from there, different sects competed for the "souls" of the Japanese people. Those who started Shrines in the early periods of Japan's History, kept them in the family, through generations, and so Priests and Shrine maidens (called Miko) kept the Shrines going.


Shinto Priest and Miko or Shrine Maiden. Often Shrine maidens are daughters of the Priests, or
can be related to the family that owns the Shrine. They can also be brought into service by friends of the family to perform as shrine maidens.


As far as I am aware only Hawaii and Washington State have Shinto shrines, and thats because family members moved there. Often times, all it took, was to bring a few key pieces, (not the entire building or items on the property) and set up shop, so to speak, in a new land.

Living near Nihonmachi (Japantown) I was always surprised there were no shrines here, but then, as stated above, it would have to be brought over by a Shrine family member, and no one has ever done so. Unlike a Buddhist Temple, a Shinto Shrine can not just suddenly appear some where at random, because of the need for a shrine.


Here is the website for the Shrine in Washington state:
http://www.tsubakishrine.org/

[Odin2005]

4. I'm an Atheist with Theravada and Zen Buddhist sympathies.

There is a Theravada Buddhist priory somewhere in town, but I can't find the address.

[eShirl]

5. The one in Washington is closest to you, but there are several in Hawaii and one in Colorado

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Shinto_shrines_in_the_United_States

[AsahinaKimi]

6. Looking at the one in Colorado

IT appears more Tibetan Buddhist then Shinto. Shambala teachings are Buddhist. I see nothing in the description to give the impression it is a Shinto shrine. Perhaps the author of the description has mixed up Shinto with Buddhism, which often happens when people don't know there is a difference.