Japan and Religion and Food

I had friends when I grew up that spoke of Buddhism as just a "Manual for how the mind works". No more.

Buddha (as far as I know) didn't speak of any gods. The only thing I remember about reincarnation from him was something about "one candle lighting the next". Nothing more.

But then people took that and ran with it. Though I could be corrected by more serious scholars of the subject(s).

Shinto is completely different.

edit: And Zen Buddhism is where you get into Koans and such. "Sound of one hand clapping..." etc. The Samurai were said to be fond of it. But hard to tell how much truth there is there.

My S.O. was born and rasised and is very observant Buddhist. If you come to understand it. G-d bless you. I never will.

Concerning the food, just be very cautious of the ramen and soy sauce. My husband has a no salt diet and had problems with the ramen. He had his lasik prescription with him so that was a big help. He didn’t eat any more ramen or any dishes with soy sauce the rest of our trip.

My very remedial take away from our visit was happy occasion, such as marriage, is at a Shinto Shrine. Funerals are at Buddhist Temples.
Most Japanese follow both religions.

When we visited Japan, we visited many Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines.
My studies have indicated to me that Buddhism is more a philosophy, not a religion. We were told in Japan that 85% of Japanese are Shinto and 85% are Buddhists.
In the Buddhist temples, the statues of the gods frequently have Sanskrit names (from India). Still, Buddhists in different countries may worship local religions like the Shinto in Japan.

Regarding your diet and the food in Japan, we were pleased with the variety and liked the food. Many Japanese restaurants in the USA are the kind called Teppanyaki. We did about 2 weeks in Japan and never saw a Teppanyaki restaurant. We were told that they tended to be expensive and were more rare in Japan.

I don't like a lot of salt in my food and occasionally, I found the soup to be salty. It was still good.
My sense was that Japanese food is generally healthy.

The(?) classic in the field is, "Zen and the Art of Archery".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_in_the_Art_of_Archery

[snip]
Zen in the Art of Archery (Zen in der Kunst des Bogenschießens) is a book by German philosophy professor Eugen Herrigel, published in 1948, about his experiences studying Kyūdō, a form of Japanese archery, when he lived in Japan in the 1920s. It is credited with introducing Zen to Western audiences in the late 1940s and 1950s.

edit: This is a German Philosophy professor. If you read it remember that context.

" If you come to understand it. G-d bless you. I never will. "

Not really "understanding". Though that helps. If it's anything, it's a (simple) training method => till the person "sees" it themselves.

Though the "simple" training method, meditation, is very difficult to do. A "contradiction" I find funny.

Wow. So many responses. I was not expecting so many. I will eventually respond to each and every one of you.

But I laughed when I read Robert from Portland's response about meditation.

I went to a Sanga I think it is called to learn meditation. I was hoping it would help me relax and help with my severe insomnia. I have read and heard so many good things about meditation and how it can help you.

it did not work for me. I could not stand meditation. It made me nervous. I could not stop thinking and only bad memories surfaced.

But I have become friends with my meditation instructor and I have developed my own form of meditation which works for me. And this is where I met most of the practicing Buddhists who I know.

I do remember during a conversation my mentioning that Buddhists did not seem to have gods and one of the members corrected me and said that some Buddhist sects do have gods.

And as I am doing my research about different temples that i might visit, it sometimes say something about different gods.

I have watched documentaries and seen movies about The Buddha and never heard reference to a God or any gods.

Re my health

I can now add a little salt to my diet. I can eat bigger portions My diet is no longer as strict as when we believed that my kidneys were failing.

I feel that I have a new lease on life.

I will probably not be using soy sauce but I do plan on eating small portions of ramen and sushi as well as other foods. I plan on having an egg sandwich and strawberry / whipped cream sandwich. Because I was fast forwarding the youtube vidoes when it came to food, I have to go back and discover what other foods I will be eating.

But I will be very selective about what I eat and drink. I will be eating mindfully. I will be leaning towards healthier options.

Boston - so happy you have good health news!

Congrats on tackling Buddhism! I've done a lot of study of Buddhism which interested me during my time in Asia.

Theravāda is the school that is mostly found in Southeast Asia and is based most closely on the life and teachings of the historical Buddha (my simplification). I had very interesting conversations in Cambodia with my driver who was a self-proclaimed "serious Buddhist" who had married into a family of Chinese influenced Buddhists with many different practices and beliefs to which he objected. This is the school that most resembles what I was taught about Buddhism and the Buddha as a high school student (distant past!). I, personally, find this school the easiest to relate to. If you study the life of the Buddha, the temple art will depict the passages of his life fairly clearly.

Mahayana Buddhism is the form that most influenced Japan's Buddhist developments. Many different sects in Japan and elsewhere in the world come from this base. I, again personally, find trying to understand the difference between sects and resultant visual differences in temples and religious art as difficult and varied as trying to understand the multiplicities of Protestant theology in the US and throughout the world. Pure Land, Zen, and many other sects emphasize different sutras and texts and different Bodhisattvas. One approach that I found helpful was to look at art books - these will show images such as of Amida Buddha who is important in Pure Land Buddhism. Relates directly to what one will see in temples when on site.

Vajrayana Buddhism:- the school found most commonly in Tibet, the Himalayas, etc. I find the art fascinating and reasonably distinctive which helps me identify this school.

Good luck!!!

A bit of Japanese eating etiquette - you do not have to finish the liquid in a bowl of ramen. Eating just the noodles and leaving the broth is okay.
We were told this by our ramen tour guide.

Food and Buddhism , huh. I'm not much help but I found the below enjoyable.

If you have ice cream, I will give it to you. If you have no ice
cream, I will take it away from you. This is an Ice Cream Koan.

BostonPhil, great to hear that you are doing better, healthwise. Japanese food is more delicately flavored than in the US, so less salt/sugar in food is my experience.

ORDTraveler

I went to a Buddhist Center named Shambhala which I believe is Tibetan Buddhism but very Westernized.

The Main Center is in Eastern Canada with centers all over the United States and other places mostly in the West.

The founder came from the East, probably Tibet to teach Buddhism to Westerners. It is a very relaxed Buddhism so as to attract Westerners.

I learned how to meditate but was very bad at it and have had to adapt it to meet my needs.

Beginning meditation was free and they had additional classes which cost money and required a lot of commitment which I was not able nor willing to give.

But i have studied some on my own.

I feel like I learned a lot but like every thing else, there is so much more to learn.

And yes, I am so glad that my kidneys are doing ok.

What is a cruise when you can not eat everything and anything. That is part of the fun and the reason you pay so much.

I was afraid that this cruise was going to be my last but looks like I have a few more ahead of me.

And all the wonderful food in Japan and Korea ..... Now I can really relax and really enjoy the food.