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  • Shinto: The Way Home

  • Dimensions of Asian Spirituality
  • By: Thomas P. Kasulis
  • Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
  • Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (22 ratings)
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Shinto: The Way Home

By: Thomas P. Kasulis
Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
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Summary

Nine out of ten Japanese claim some affiliation with Shinto, but in the West the religion remains the least studied of the major Asian spiritual traditions. It is so interlaced with Japanese cultural values and practices that scholarly studies usually focus on only one of its dimensions: Shinto as a "nature religion", an "imperial state religion", a "primal religion", or a "folk amalgam of practices and beliefs". Thomas Kasulis' fresh approach to Shinto explains with clarity and economy how these different aspects interrelate.

As a philosopher of religion, he first analyzes the experiential aspect of Shinto spirituality underlying its various ideas and practices. Second, as a historian of Japanese thought, he sketches several major developments in Shinto doctrines and institutions from prehistory to the present, showing how its interactions with Buddhism, Confucianism, and nationalism influenced its expression in different times and contexts.

In Shinto's idiosyncratic history, Kasulis finds the explicit interplay between two forms of spirituality: the "existential" and the "essentialist". Although the dynamic between the two is particularly striking and accessible in the study of Shinto, he concludes that a similar dynamic may be found in the history of other religions as well.

Two decades ago, Kasulis' Zen Action/Zen Person brought an innovative understanding to the ideas and practices of Zen Buddhism, an understanding influential in the ensuing decade of philosophical Zen studies. Shinto: The Way Home promises to do the same for future Shinto studies.

©2004 University of Hawaii Press (P)2012 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"An outstanding introduction to the basics of the Shinto tradition and its many practices." ( Philosophy East and West)
"Kasulis takes a comparative, philosophical approach, identifying both Japanese and universal characteristics of ‘Shinto spirituality'.... The book has a clear thematic structure, reads well, and will certainly provoke lively classroom discussion." ( Journal of Asian Studies)
"Through illustration and example, Kasulis explains Shinto as have few previous scholars. As in his earlier Zen Action/Zen Person, the author demonstrates without recourse to jargon and agreed-upon models. His concern is not that you be impressed but that you understand, and the result is one of the finest books on Shinto now available." ( Japan Times)

What listeners say about Shinto: The Way Home

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars

Informative but dry delivery

The information itself was interesting but as a British listener the narration was a turn off. Sadly the dry monotone voice just resulted in my brain switching off. The content however I thought was useful for my purposes.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good book, very interesting.

Very interesting book.

Read very calmly, so if you don't like that, not for you.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It's okay

I must say talk about shinty is probably isn't easy at all, so to write a whole book it's an achievement, however the second half of the book was not organized as much as first one, I started to feel lost what is went 5alked about. but learned basics of what is Shinto religion in Japan

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