Am I Shinto or Buddhist?

[Dalia]

I'm a 14 year old girl who lives and was born in Lebanon to a Muslim family but never believed in it. At 12, I started researching about religion. As a kid, I would believe that we suffer when living and suffering amends, I believe in karma and deities. Yet I believe in soul purity and cleanliness of the soul. but never believed in Islam and announced it to my parents in 2014 and they approved m. What would you say I am?

 

[Quintessence]

Based on what you posted, I would say neither, but definitely not Shinto considering it's an ethnic/indigenous religion and you're not Japanese.

 

[illykitty]

It's a little difficult to say from this, karma, or a similar concept, exists in many religions and with deities, it depends what you mean by that. There are many definitions of the word. So what is your definition of it? Have you also looked into Paganism? There are many forms of it, it's an umbrella term so there might be something there for you.

There are "deities" in both Shinto and Buddhism but they're not really the same as western definition of gods. In Buddhism, from what I understand of Mahayana, they're representations of values, like Guan Yin (or Kannon in Japanese) is the boddhisattva of compassion, the ideal image of that virtue. They're not worshipped, but venerated which is different. It's a simple general explanation but I'm sure you can find more information, you can look her up! There's many other deities but I used her as an example because I am fond of her. Maybe someone can explain it better, since I am not that knowledgeable. but I wanted to give you a simple general picture to start with.

In Shinto, there's Kami... They're very hard to define. To be honest, I'm not sure I entirely understand it. But they are literally everywhere and in everything. They're in rocks, trees, mountains and even man made objects! It's maybe difficult to understand because of a language barrier, Japanese having words and concepts that don't exist in English.

Your description might also perhaps fit with some other religions, but perhaps some other more knowledgeable people could suggest them.

Overall, my advice is that you should try reading as much as you can. There's a lot of websites that have free information. Start from there and maybe you can later get some books too. Don't feel in a hurry to call yourself something, there's no rush and nothing bad will happen. You're still very young and there's a lot of time to explore ideas. Heck, I'm almost double your age and am still exploring.

Also you can mix other things with Buddhism, a lot of people do this, especially in East Asia. I'd like to say also to keep in mind though that Shinto is very tied in with Japanese people, the culture and the country... You need to do some serious research to not be disrespectful of it and understand it properly. But there are a few non-Japanese Shinto and there's some priests and shrines outside of Japan. Or maybe you could inspire yourself with it and not call it Shinto? Just a thought. There's also animism and other god concepts in various Pagan religions.

I'm however happy that your parents are ok with you believing in something else. You're lucky because some families are really harsh, speaking from personal experience. Good luck on your journey!

Based on what you posted, I would say neither, but definitely not Shinto considering it's an ethnic/indigenous religion and you're not Japanese.

There are some non-Japanese Shinto practitioners and Shrines. The first non-Japanese ordained priest is Rev. Barrish who studied under Rev. Yukitaka Yamamoto the 96th priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine, one of Japan's oldest shrines. The American shrine in which he is the head of, is affiliated with that shrine, iirc. Don't think he could have been ordained if Shinto was entirely closed off to foreigners. I'll grant it to you, it's quite rare. I think one needs to be very serious about it and respectful.

 

[crossfire]

I'm a 14 year old girl who lives and was born in Lebanon to a Muslim family but never believed in it. At 12, I started researching about religion. As a kid, I would believe that we suffer when living and suffering amends, I believe in karma and deities. Yet I believe in soul purity and cleanliness of the soul. but never believed in Islam and announced it to my parents in 2014 and they approved m. What would you say I am?

Try taking this quiz and see what your results are:
http://www.selectsmart.com/RELIGION/#myreligion

 

[George-ananda]

I'm a 14 year old girl who lives and was born in Lebanon to a Muslim family but never believed in it. At 12, I started researching about religion. As a kid, I would believe that we suffer when living and suffering amends, I believe in karma and deities. Yet I believe in soul purity and cleanliness of the soul. but never believed in Islam and announced it to my parents in 2014 and they approved m. What would you say I am?

More Hindu, by the souls, deities and karma stuff.

 

[Dalia]

More Hindu, by the souls, deities and karma stuff.

no just no

 

[George-ananda]

no just no

Sounds like you have some bad image of Hinduism. I'll just say here that the umbrella of the religion is wide and complicated.

 

[Quintessence]

There are some non-Japanese Shinto practitioners and Shrines. The first non-Japanese ordained priest is Rev. Barrish who studied under Rev. Yukitaka Yamamoto the 96th priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine, one of Japan's oldest shrines. The American shrine in which he is the head of, is affiliated with that shrine, iirc. Don't think he could have been ordained if Shinto was entirely closed off to foreigners. I'll grant it to you, it's quite rare. I think one needs to be very serious about it and respectful.

Hah... that is true. I suppose it would have been more accurate to say that Shinto, as is typical of older forms of Paganism, are very much a regional phenomena and the gods/spirits are quite literally connected to the landforms of a geographic area. This means the religion doesn't transpose to other regions well - the Kami are the Spirits of the Land of Nihon. Other indigenous and historical Paganisms had their own terms and cultural practices that area similar, but they would not be Shinto, ya know? Contemporary Pagan religions can build pretty much the same sort of thing, but I'm quite leery of appropriating a title like "Shinto" - I would have to be living in Japan and honoring the spirits of that land specifically to dare claim such a thing.

 

[Nietzsche]

Hah... that is true. I suppose it would have been more accurate to say that Shinto, as is typical of older forms of Paganism, are very much a regional phenomena and the gods/spirits are quite literally connected to the landforms of a geographic area. This means the religion doesn't transpose to other regions well - the Kami are the Spirits of the Land of Nihon. Other indigenous and historical Paganisms had their own terms and cultural practices that area similar, but they would not be Shinto, ya know? Contemporary Pagan religions can build pretty much the same sort of thing, but I'm quite leery of appropriating a title like "Shinto" - I would have to be living in Japan and honoring the spirits of that land specifically to dare claim such a thing.

You have this strange habit of making supernatural entities seem like regions on a DVD or Blu-Ray player.

 

[lovesong]

I'm a 14 year old girl who lives and was born in Lebanon to a Muslim family but never believed in it. At 12, I started researching about religion. As a kid, I would believe that we suffer when living and suffering amends, I believe in karma and deities. Yet I believe in soul purity and cleanliness of the soul. but never believed in Islam and announced it to my parents in 2014 and they approved m. What would you say I am?

I don't think we can really tell which, based on what you've told us. If you like those two though, research them deeper and "try them out" to see what feels best for you.

Based on what you posted, I would say neither, but definitely not Shinto considering it's an ethnic/indigenous religion and you're not Japanese.

You don't have to be Indian to be Hindu, African/Caribbean to practice Vodun, or European to be (European) Pagan. Likewise, you don't have to be Japanese to be Shinto.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It would be difficult to practice Buddhism with a belief in dieties. Shinto is a traditional based religion with some harmonious aspects alongside a Buddhist practice. It reminds me somewhat of indigenious Native American spirituality alongside with a guide for living that lays deep in tradition.

I think a number of Japanese like to say, "Shinto in life, Buddhist in death".

A number of Buddhist posters here, but I dunno anyone at RF here practices Shinto that I'm aware of.

OP is too vauge to tell though, but a good way to be anything really, is to simply learn and practice things a bit to see how well things fit and work out.

 

[illykitty]

Hah... that is true. I suppose it would have been more accurate to say that Shinto, as is typical of older forms of Paganism, are very much a regional phenomena and the gods/spirits are quite literally connected to the landforms of a geographic area. This means the religion doesn't transpose to other regions well - the Kami are the Spirits of the Land of Nihon. Other indigenous and historical Paganisms had their own terms and cultural practices that area similar, but they would not be Shinto, ya know? Contemporary Pagan religions can build pretty much the same sort of thing, but I'm quite leery of appropriating a title like "Shinto" - I would have to be living in Japan and honoring the spirits of that land specifically to dare claim such a thing.

Well, while it is true the Shinto texts are very Japan focused, there are shrines outside of Japan. I'm not sure how it would work unless one recognises that there are Kami outside of Japan. The shrines well, enshrines the Kami. Tsubaki Grand Shrine has some great Shinto Kami but also has a Kami protector of North America. It's quite possible the religion has taken a bit of a more contemporary interpretation for some. After all, there are some Kami such as Amaterasu, who is a Kami of the sun and she is in charge of all living beings. That's not limited to Japan. And there's the North American Kami, which perhaps could be considered a contemporary Kami. Either way, it seems the religion is quite flexible. I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, I do think someone needs to show some responsibility, sensibility and truly think things through before going around calling themselves a Shintoist. It's not impossible, however, as a non-Japanese to be a Shintoist.

Also, here's a Q&A from the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, which is quite informative and interesting. They have a nice description of the concept of Kami. There's also a history section describing that this shrine was established by Rev. Yukitaka Yamamoto the 96th High Priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie Japan.