Shinto Beliefs

When you think of western religions people tend to get an idea of wars, and fighting between all of the different religions. In the west it seems, every religion seems to be self contained and totally separated from every other religion.In order to be religious one usually has to choose which religion to follow and then sometimes choose which sect of that religion to follow. For instance if you choose to be a christian and go to church you have to decide which sect of christianity to follow based of which specific beliefs you align most with and then find a church that matches these values. And once you are part of that you are to some degree expected to follow most of your sects specific views on the broader religion which it is a part of.

Before Buddhism was even introduced to Japan, Shinto had risen out of many ancient Japanese beliefs and traditions that all ended up being sort of compiled into the Shinto religion. Because Shinto was so deeply rooted in Japanese tradition and culture, it was in a way inseparable from these things, making it highly important to the Japanese people. Shinto may not have any any prominent religious figures/founders, or any kind of specific teachings or religious books, but it was so entwined with many of the ceremonies and traditions that were so important to the Japanese people that Shinto was not a religion that could just be replaced. Which is exactly why when Buddhism came along that it was unable to completely overtake Shinto. By the time Buddhism made its way to Japan in the 6th century it had already had quite the history and developments from other countries such as China and India. Buddhism had already become a big organized religion with many different manuscripts and sects before even making it to Japan. Despite the fact that Buddhism was much more organized than Shinto, Shinto with all of its deep entanglement with ancient japanese life, was still able to remain an important religion in Japan. In fact the new threat of Buddhism actually helped Shinto to become more organized and gain a better footing as a real religion, and not just a loosely defined collection of traditions and practices. Shinto and Buddhism had a little conflict during their initial contact with each other, but it never ended up getting as dramatic and as bloody as many western religions did as they fought for power over one another throughout history. Thankfully Shinto and Buddhism found ways to be relatively peaceful with one another as each religion grew and developed throughout Japanese history, instead of fighting each other every step of the