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Shinto & Ecology

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Shinto & Ecology Master of Arts (MA) in Foundations and Practices of Sustainability Shinto & Ecology Felix Ackermann Under the direction of Prof. Dominique Bourg With the expert Leila Chakroun October, 2018 Abstract When speaking of a global ecological crisis, diverse mutually interacting factors are being pointed at. Next to resource depletion and the progressive saturation of Earth’s charging capacities, potentially endangering the very habitability of the planet, social and economical aspects of the crisis equally need to be investigated upon. Technological supremacy coupled with pure proft orientation, as well as a predatory and indifferent stance towards the non-human Nature, characteristic of modern Western and Westernized societies, constitute a detrimental precondition in maintaining an unviable status quo of continuous environmental degradation and global social inequalities. Path dependency on an inherently unsustainable debt-based and growth-orientated capitalistic economics, falsely assuming an infnite Earth, makes it in that respect diffcult to escape the prevailing paradigm. The crisis is being framed as a spiritual crisis in the sense that spirituality of modern societies can be both described by their alienated relationship towards Nature and their limited idea of human accomplishment of materialistic and consumerist nature. Thorough refexion upon the spiritual foundations of modern societies is hence being advocated in order to fnd responses to the ills of the so-called technocratic paradigm. A globally disenchanted worldview, rendering Nature a mere commodity, which has been brought forth during the history of Western civilization is regarded as pivotal in generating the ‘modern Western spirituality’ which is oftentimes opposed to Eastern spiritual or animistic traditions. Endeavors of operating paradigm shifts by adopting tenets of such traditions, for instance Buddhism, appear pertinent on a surface level, yet raise questions in terms of applicabilities and misunderstandings. Against this backdrop the Japanese belief system Shinto, oftentimes described as a Nature-worship religion, is being scrutinized upon its relevance in providing spiritual resources as to responding to the ecological crisis. Yet, especially in view of the many environmental degradations Japan has witnessed, precipitate ecological discourses based on Shinto are being discarded as untruthful and idealistic. This being said the belief system, as well as the population itself has undergone an array of transformations, notably during the modernization process of Japan, providing explanations for the weakening of Nature concern. Even though defnitions of Shinto remain vague to this date, it has been observed through a comparative study of literature and feld-work, that there exists a presumable core meaning of the underlying belief of Shinto, which is regaining popularity in recent times and which harbors a set of principles which may satisfy requirements of Ecology & Spirituality endeavors. Be it historically accurate or not, it is the inherent vagueness of Shinto which permits latter to incorporate, informed by past inconsistencies, a contemporary discourse linking ecological preoccupation and spiritual development, in order to do justice to its ascribed Nature- message. Particular attention is in this regard being put on Shinto shrines, which constitute publicly accessible, location specifc institutions, epitomizing culture, Nature and sacredness and potentially provide entry points to efforts of re-sacralizing modern worldviews and reattributing the recognition of intrinsic value of Nature as a whole. i Resumé Lorsqu'on parle d'une crise écologique mondiale, divers facteurs en interaction mutuelle sont mis en évidence. Outre l’épuisement des ressources et la saturation progressive des capacités de charge de la Terre, mettant potentiellement en danger l’habitabilité même de la planète, il convient également d’examiner les aspects sociaux et économiques de la crise. La suprématie technologique associée à une orientation purement lucrative, ainsi qu’une attitude prédatrice et indifférente à l’égard de la Nature non-humaine, caractéristique des sociétés modernes occidentales et occidentalisées, constituent une condition préjudiciable au maintien d’un statu quo non viable de dégradation continue de l’environnement et d’inégalités sociales globales. La dépendance de trajectoire à une économie capitaliste basée sur la dette et orientée vers la croissance, intrinsèquement insoutenable, supposant à tort une Terre infnie, rend de ce fait diffcile d’échapper au paradigme dominant. La crise est considérée comme une crise spirituelle dans le sens où la spiritualité des sociétés modernes peut être décrite à la fois par leur relation aliénée envers la Nature et par leur idée limitée de l'accomplissement humain de nature matérialiste et consumériste. Une réfexion approfondie sur les fondements spirituels des sociétés modernes est donc préconisée afn de trouver des réponses aux maux du paradigme technocratique. Une vision du monde globalement désenchantée, faisant de la Nature une simple marchandise, mise au point au cours de l’histoire de la civilisation occidentale, est considérée comme cardinale pour avoir généré une « spiritualité occidentale moderne » souvent opposée aux traditions spirituelles orientales ou animistes. Les efforts déployés pour changer de paradigme en adoptant les principes de telles traditions, par exemple du bouddhisme, semblent pertinents en surface, mais soulèvent des questions quant aux possibilités d’application et aux malentendus. Dans ce contexte, le système de croyance japonais, le shinto, souvent décrit comme une religion vénérant la Nature, est examiné de près pour déterminer s'il est possible d’y trouver des ressources spirituelles pour faire face à la crise écologique. Cependant, compte tenu en particulier des nombreuses dégradations de l’environnement observées au Japon, les discours écologiques hâtifs fondés sur le shintoïsme sont écartés pour être considérés comme mensongers et idéalistes. Cela étant dit, le système de croyances, de même que la population elle-même, a subi de nombreuses transformations, notamment au cours du processus de modernisation du Japon, fournissant des explications pour l'affaiblissement de la préoccupation liée à la Nature. Bien que les défnitions du shinto restent foues à ce jour, une étude comparative de la littérature et une étude de terrain a montré qu’il existait probablement une signifcation fondamentale de la croyance sous- jacente du shinto, qui regagne en popularité ces derniers temps et qui abrite un ensemble de principes pouvant satisfaire aux exigences d’une « éco-spiritualité ». Qu'il soit historiquement exact ou non, c'est le fou inhérent au shinto qui permet à celui-ci d'incorporer, informé par les erreurs du passé, un discours contemporain reliant préoccupation écologique et développement spirituel, afn de rendre justice au message écologique qui lui est attribué. À cet égard, une attention particulière est accordée aux sanctuaires shintoïstes, qui constituent des institutions accessibles au public et ii localisées, incarnant culture, Nature et sacralité et offrant potentiellement des points de départ aux efforts visant à re-sacraliser les visions du monde modernes et à réaffrmer la reconnaissance de la valeur intrinsèque de la Nature dans son ensemble. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere sense of gratitude to the following persons for dedicating their time and energy in helping me undertake this research project. Leila Chakroun Dominique Bourg Norichika Horie Aike Rots Michel Maxime Egger Toshinori Ogasawara Osamu Kôjimoto and his wife Chiaki Mitsuhiro Yanagihara Takashi Tanaka Genji Nosaka Junko Obata Shinya Muraki Yoshihiro Mihara Akihiro Hosokawa Rie Sasaki Kaori Kawahashi Hiroaki Hirano Chizuko Nomoto Yuji Futami As well as all the other persons who are not explicitly cited here but provided valuable information which enabled a better understanding of the studied phenomena, and all the persons encountered during the feld trip for the meaningful exchanges. iv Table of contents Introduction and research objectives…………………………………………………….....1 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….....1 2. Research design……………………………………………………………………………..3 Part I: Review of literature….………………………………………………………………..6 1. Context of ecological crisis and dead ends of modernity…. ………………………..7 1.1. Ecological crisis…….………………………………………………………………..7 1.1.1. Scientifc fndings….. ………………………………………………………..7 1.1.2. Responsibilities……..………………………………………………………..9 1.2. Dead ends of modernity and the call for transitions.. ………………………………..9 1.2.1. Neoliberalism and neoclassical economics…………………………………10 1.2.2. Discrepancy between wealth and well-being.………………………………12 1.2.3. Transition and disruption……………………………………………………13 2. Socio-religious drivers of the ecological crisis ………………………………………15 2.1. Spirituality and Religion in the West. ………………………………………………15 2.1.1. Spirituality: Premodern and universal usage ………………………………15 2.1.2. Spirituality: Discursive shift and new contemporary signifcation…………16 2.1.3. Religion: Defnition and implications……………………………………... 17 2.2. Christianity and Secularization……..………………………………………………18 2.2.1. Role of Christianity in Western civilization ………………………………18 2.2.2. Secularization and Disenchantment of the West……………………………20 2.3. Western consciousness and ecological crisis. ………………………………………22 2.3.1. Technoscience and Western spirituality…….………………………………23 2.3.2. Debate on the economic
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