I’m currently looking around for articles and information on the connections between ritual and belief (or faith) and came across a short but interesting piece on the importance of ritual in the Shinto religion.
The article talks about how in Shinto, the rituals are extremely long and elaborate, but the beliefs which go into them are not considered to be important. What is important is that the rituals are participated in and that they are done correctly. This is interesting, since it’s so diametrically opposed to Western/Christian ritual, where you’re supposed to first have certain beliefs and then act on those beliefs in a ritualized manner. One of the coolest points this article makes is that by excluding belief from its rituals, Shinto manages to avoid the problems of the doubting mind. Since there is nothing to “believe” in, you don’t need spend your time worrying about whether not your believe or agree with it, and you’re free to just participate in it and enjoy it for what it is.
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