出版社:文芸社 著者:大野靖志 定価:1,680円
• Contents
The Historical Rites of Hafuri in the Training of the Crown Prince to be the Emperor
It is Japanese custom that when an Emporer dies, the ceremony of Daijosai (inauguration) is conducted as the crown is passed on to the next heir to the throne. However, it is not commonly known that the Hakke Shinto ceremony of Hafuri (Cleansing of Sin and Evil) also played an important role in the training of the Prince to become Head of State. By completing the trainings of Hafuri, the Prince was then considered to metaphorically embody the national identity of Japan and was prepared to become the Emperor. It was considered his (genetic) duty to carry ultimate responsibility for the homeland and people of Japan. When the Emperor practiced Hafuri, he was welcoming his ancestors which include Okami Ameratsu (Sun God), and the Gods Amatsu no Kami and Kunitsu no Kami (Gods of Heaven and Earth) and conducting this spiritual practice was part of his naturally inherited responsibilities.
While the practice of training in Hakke Shinto rites had been reserved to the Imperial Family for around 1000 years, it is not to say that Hakke Shinto practices were preserved in total isolation from other Shinto practices. By the time that the Nobosune line inherited Hakke Shinto ritual training, many of the practices had been influenced or introduced from early Shinto thought. Also, during the succession of the Shirakawa Hakuo family, influence from Mononobe Shinto and the ritual of the octagonal desk from Izumo Shinto were added to the practices of the Imperial family. Again, during the Edo period, the practice of “meigen” from Suika Shinto was added to the practices conducted in the Imperial Shrine. Therefore, it is not practical to perceive that Hakke Shinto is some species of perfectly transmitted and unbiased form of spiritual practice passed down throughout the ages. Rather, Hakke Shinto has evolved within the sectarian Shinto culture of Japan, but remains distinct in that its practitioners during the last more than 1000 years (primarily the Imperial family of Japan) were able to select from the merits of an overarching variety of Shinto practices. These selections were then assimilated into the relatively isolated world of the spiritual practices of the Imperial court and therefore refined and preserved in a unique way.
Japan benefitted greatly as a culture because of its geographic luck of being the eastern terminus of the Silk Roads of the Eurasian continent for the thousands of years that preceded the Age of Enlightenment. Japan has been culturally able to act as a repository of intellectual and spiritual resources that had been transferred from the indigenous knowledge of people throughout the world. The fifty-symbol syllabary of the Japanese hiragana (and katakana) can trace a unique and highly refined linguistic system that is a resource that has been preserved and adapted uniquely in Japan. Similarly, the rites of Hakke Shinto have been preserved with as little change as possible while being able to refine itself with the access to a wealth of world cultural artifacts and records as well as benefit from the protection and privileges afforded by association with the aristocracy.
Nanasawa’s research has shown that there is a variety of historical and anthropological evidence that supports the theory that Hakke Shinto rites are actually preserving information with reliability from times long ago:
According to Nanasawa, the practice of Hakke Shinto creates a unified field that resonates with some type of genetic spiritual code that is part of our instinctive knowledge that goes back tens of thousands of years (this theme will be discussed further in chapter 3). Hakke Shinto however is not merely a collection of ancient spiritual practices, but rather is the result of empirical studies based on how different ritualistic practices and actions will result in different spiritual experiences. After a long history of studies, the system of Hakke Shinto is intended that every practitioner of the rites can access a rich variety of intellectual and spiritual information and take that wisdom as their own.