It is a philosophy of the essential unity of the universe (monism), of reversion, polarization (yin and yang), and eternal cycles, of the leveling of all differences, the relativity of all standards, and the return of all to the Primeval One, the divine intelligence, the source of all things. (Yutang, 1947, p. 14)

By eliminating from one's experience what is inessential, one is left with what is essential--that is, the Principle, or Way, or Tao. Implicit in that modality of experience is a return to, perhaps a oneness with, nature; reference is often made to the simplicity of newborns in that regard. When nonessential elements of experience are withdrawn nothing remains between the sentient being and the cosmos, which entails the natural world. In that cosmos, there is a presumption of balance. In the usual universe of human experience, however, balance is upset. Thus "all emotion injures nature" (Lao-Tzu, p. 92). For nature to be honored, elements of force, emotion, and even wisdom, such as a commentary on nature, must fall in humility before it. Only then is a balance or complementarity of yin and yang achieved. That nature is involved in these ideas can be seen in the fact that yin and yang originally were conceptualized as the shady and sunny sides of a mountain, a meaning which gives a good idea of the relativi

It is important to distinguish between the ancient thought system of Shinto and the Shinto revival that occurred during the Meiji period of Japanese modern imperialism (1868-1945). By the 19th century, Buddhism had long dominated Japanese religious practice. The state-sponsored Shinto, also called Shrine Shinto, that emerged was self-consciously political. It emphasized Japanese exceptionalism and the warrior culture and was meant to embrace and overtake ancient Shinto, as well as Buddhism and Confucianism, throughout the imperial period (Earhart, 1982). However, there was a long tradition in Japan of fusing love of the land with love of nation and its rulers. As Norinaga, writing in the 18th century, comments, "Our Imperial Land [] is superior to the rest of the world in its possession of the correct transmission of the ancient Way" (p. 23). By the 20th century, Meiji-era commentators were conflating nature mysticism with Japan's imperialist ethos:

If Shinto helped shape Buddhism in Japan, however, it also appropriated Buddhist iconography, adapting it to native cultural purposes and in the process reifying its veneration of the natural environment. One example is the Buddhist mandala symbol of the universe, which Shinto artists altered to give "a typically 'this-worldly' Shinto coloring" by adding "a picture of the actual Japanese landscape." That adaptation is in line with what has been called the "Shinto emphasis on the sacredness of nature" (Earhart, 1982, p. 110).

Littleton, C. S. (2002). Shinto: Origins, rituals, festivals, spirits, sacred places. New York: Oxford University Press.

These virtues are important precursors of the Confucian attitude toward T'ien, or Nature, which is equivalent to Heaven and/or Providence (Pelikan, p. 41). There is a kind of impersonality but also a kind of inevitability to the nature of Nature in Confucius' formulation. The big pict