ss and the Emperor family. This justified the emperor’s absolute power. Shinto priests became state officials and shrines were funded by the government. After WWII, Shinto became completely seperated from the state, and became classified as a “normal” religion. Today, most shrines belong to the Association of Shinto Shrines. When Buddhism was introduced in the 6th century, a few conflicts occurred between the two religions. But, after a few changes, they were able to co-exist. Many Buddhists argued that the Kami are manifestations of the Buddha. But, all this was worked out.Buddhism, the 2,500 year old Indian religion, entered Japan around the sixth century. It has over 300 million adherents, almost as many as Shinto has. But, many Japanese are members of both religions. Neither Shinto or Buddhism is so strict that a person must adopt one’s ideas and practices, and exclude everything else. Buddhism was founded by Guatama Siddhartha, the Buddha, often referred to as “The Enlightened One”. He found that enlightenment is found through a life of indulgence and self-denial. According to Buddhism, a person is only a temporary combination of aggrigates that include the material body, feelings, perception, predispositions, and conciousness. The enlightened state, or nirvana, is a place where greed, hatred and ignorance are eliminated. The ethics that lead to this involves kindness, compassion, sympathy, and equality. It prohibits killing, stealing, harmful language, sexual misbehavior, and use of drugs or alcohol. The major scriptures are: the Triptaka, Anguttara-Nikaya, Dhammapada, Sutta-Nippadha, Samyutta-Nikaya, and many others. There are also many sects. Buddhism today is divided into three main sects: Theravada, or Hinayana (located in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia), Mahayana (located in China, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea), and Vajrayana (lovated in Tibet, Mongolia, and Japan)...
