Shugendo

Shugendo (修験道) is a Japanese old way of searching and knowing better what the Man and Nature are. Shugendo literally means "the path of training and testing." It centers around an ascetic, mountain-dwelling lifestyle and incorporates teachings from other eastern philosophies. The focus or goal of Shugendo is the development of spiritual experience and power. Some of the Japanese martial Arts derived from the profound knowledge of Shugendo.

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Shugendo evolved as a sort of amalgamation between state-sponsored Buddhism and several other religious influences in Japan around the 7th century, including, but by no means limited to, Taoism and Shinto.

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Shugendo nowadays is less practiced (only by Yoshino Yamabushi and Ishiyama-dera Shingon sect), but certainly retains an influence on modern Japanese religion and culture.

Buddhism: Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived between approximately 566 and 486 BCE in India. Buddhism gradually spread from India throughout Asia to Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Southeast Asia, as well as to East Asian countries su...

Taoism: :For other uses of the words "tao" and "dao", see Dao (disambiguation)....

Shinto: Shinto (?? Shint?) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami, which can be translated to mean gods, spirits of nature, or just spiritual presences. Some kami are local and can be regarded as the spirit or genius of a p...