Shinto ( Shint?), also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the people of Japan.

It is
a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its
ancient past.[1] Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of
the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified
"Shinto religion", but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology.[2] Shinto today is a term that
applies to public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and
historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs
through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the
time of the Nara and Heian Periods.[2]
The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (, pinyin:shn do),
[3]
combining two kanji: "shin" (?), meaning "spirit" or kami; and "t" (?), meaning a philosophical path or
study (from the Chinese word do).[2][3] Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "deities", that
are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being human-like, in others being animistic, and
others being associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind,
waves, trees, rocks). Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its
interrelated complexity.[2]
Fact books and statistics typically list some 80 to 90% of Japanese people as Shintoist. [4]However, polls
suggest that most Japanese consider themselves non-religious and believe that there are currently only 4
million "actual" observers of Shinto in Japan.[5] The vast majority of people in Japan who take part in Shinto
rituals also practice Buddhist rituals. However, Shinto does not actually require professing faith to be a
believer or a practitioner thus a person who practices "any" manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted, and as
such it is difficult to query for exact figures based on self-identification of belief within Japan. [6] Another
problem is that Shinto is sometimes seen more as a way of life rather than a religion by the Japanese due to its
long historical and cultural significance. Due to the syncretic nature of Shinto and Buddhism, most "life"
events are handled by Shinto and "death" or "afterlife" events are handled by Buddhismfor example, it is
typical in Japan to register or celebrate a birth at a Shinto shrine, while funeral arrangements are generally
dictated by Buddhist traditionalthough the division is not exclusive.
Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions,
beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as
the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian
subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.[1] He is recognized by Buddhists as
an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering
(dukkha) through the elimination of ignorance (avidy) by way of understanding and the seeing of dependent
origination (prattyasamutpda) and the elimination of desire (tan h), and thus the attainment of the cessation
of all suffering, known as the sublime state of nirva.[2]
Two major branches of Buddhism are generally recognized: Theravada ("The School of the Elders")
and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast
Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.). Mahayana is found throughout East Asia (China, Korea,
Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan etc.) and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren
Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, andTiantai (Tendai). In some classifications, Vajrayanapracticed
mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russiais recognized as a third branch, while
others classify it as a part of Mahayana.

While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia and India, both branches are now found throughout the
world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is
defined. Estimates range from 350 million to 1.6 billion, with 350550 million the most widely accepted
figure. Buddhism is also recognized as one of thefastest growing religions in the world.[3][4][5][6]
Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance andcanonicity of various
teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices.[7]The foundations of Buddhist tradition and
practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma(the teachings), and the Sangha (the community).
Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist
path, and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.[8] Other practices may include
following ethical precepts; support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming
a monastic; the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom and
discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation
of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Zoroastrianism /zrostrinzm/, also called Mazdaism and Magianism, is an
ancient Iranian religion and a religious philosophy. It was once the state religion of theAchaemenid, Parthian,
and Sasanian empires. Estimates of the current number of Zoroastrians worldwide vary between 145,000 and
2.6 million.[1]
In the eastern part of ancient Persia more than a thousand years BCE, a religious philosopher
called Zoroaster simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods[2] into two opposing forces: Ahura
Mazda (Illuminating Wisdom) and Angra Mainyu (Destructive Spirit) which were in conflict.
Zoroaster's ideas led to a formal religion bearing his name by about the 6th century BCE and have influenced
other later religions including Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity andIslam.[3]
Overview
In Zoroastrianism, the creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil originates from him. Thus, in
Zoroastrianism good and evil have distinct sources, with evil (druj) trying to destroy the creation of Mazda
(asha), and good trying to sustain it. While Ahura Mazda is notimmanent in the world, his creation is
represented by the Amesha Spentas and the host of other Yazatas, through whom the works of God are evident
to humanity, and through whom worship of Mazda is ultimately directed. The most important texts of the
religion are those of the Avesta, of which a significant portion has been lost, and mostly only the liturgies of
which have survived. The lost portions are known of only through references and brief quotations in the later
works, primarily from the 9th to 11th centuries.
In some form, it served as the national or state religion of a significant portion of the Iranian people for many
centuries. The religion first dwindled when the Achaemenid Empire was invaded by Alexander the Great, after
which it collapsed and disintegrated[4] and it was further gradually marginalized by Islam from the 7th century
onwards with the decline of the Sassanid Empire.[5] The political power of the pre-Islamic Iranian dynasties
lent Zoroastrianism immense prestige in ancient times, and some of its leading doctrines were adopted by other
religious systems. It has no major theological divisions (the only significant schism is based on calendar
differences), but it is not uniform. Modern-era influences have a significant impact on individual and local
beliefs, practices, values and vocabulary, sometimes merging with tradition and in other cases displacing it. [6]
Terminology

The Oxford English Dictionary attests use of the term Zoroastrianism in 1874 in Archibald Sayce's Principles
of Comparative Philology.[7] The first surviving reference to Zoroaster in English scholarship is attributed
to Thomas Browne (16051682), who briefly refers to the prophet in his 1643 Religio Medici.[8] The Oxford
English Dictionary records 1743 (Warburton, Pope's Essay) as the earliest reference to Zoroaster. However, his
image is identified in Raphael's "School of Athens" by Giorgio Vasari in 1550, so knowledge of his philosophy
had evidently percolated into the Italian Renaissance.
The term Mazdaism /mzd.zm/ is a typical 19th century construct, taking Mazda- from the name Ahura
Mazda and adding the suffix -ism to suggest a belief system. The March 2001 draft edition of the Oxford
English Dictionary also records an alternate form,Mazdeism, perhaps derived from the French Mazdisme,
which first appeared in 1871. The Zoroastrian name of the religion isMazdayasna, which
combines Mazda- with the Avestan language word yasna, meaning "worship, devotion".
In English, an adherent of the faith commonly refers to himself or herself as a Zoroastrian or as a
Zarathustrian. An older, but still widespread expression is Behdin, meaning "follower of Daena", for which
"Good Religion" is one translation. In the Zoroastrian liturgy, the term Behdin is also used as a title for an
individual who has been formally inducted into the religion in a Navjote ceremony.
Basic beliefs
Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the 'Wise Lord'.
(Ahura means 'Being' andMazda means 'Mind' in Avestan language).[9] Zoroaster keeps the two attributes
separate as two different concepts in most of theGathas and also consciously uses a masculine word for one
concept and a feminine for the other, as if to distract from ananthropomorphization of his divinity. Some
Zoroastrians claim Ahura Mazda as the uncreated Creator to whom all worship is ultimately directed, thereby
formulating a panentheistic faith with a transcendent divinity, widely believed to have influenced the theology
of theIsmaeli branch of Islam.[10] Other Zoroastrian scholars argue that since Zoroaster's divinity covers both
being and mind as immanent entities, it is better described as a belief in an immanent self-creating universe
with consciousness as its special attribute, thereby putting Zoroastranism in the pantheistic fold where it can be
easily traced to its shared origin with Indian Brahmanism. In any case, Ahura Mazda's creationevident is
widely agreed as asha, truth and orderis the antithesis of chaos, which is evident as druj, falsehood and
disorder. The resulting conflict involves the entire universe, including humanity, which has an active role to
play in the conflict.[10]
The religion states that active participation in life through good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to
keep chaos at bay. This active participation is a central element in Zoroaster's concept of free will, and
Zoroastrianism rejects all forms of monasticism. Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail over the evil Angra
Mainyu or Ahriman, at which point the universe will undergo a cosmic renovation and time will end. In the
final renovation, all of creationeven the souls of the dead that were initially banished to "darkness"will be
reunited in Ahura Mazda, returning to life in the undead form. At the end of time, a savior-figure (a Saoshyant)
will bring about a final renovation of the world (frashokereti), in which the dead will be revived.[10]
In Zoroastrian tradition, the "chaotic" is represented by Angra Mainyu (also referred to as "Ahriman"), the
"Destructive Principle", while the benevolent is represented through Ahura Mazda's Spenta Mainyu, the
instrument or "Bounteous Principle" of the act of creation. It is through Spenta Mainyu that transcendental
Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and through which the Creator interacts with the world. According to
Zoroastrian cosmology, in articulating the Ahuna Vairya formula, Ahura Mazda made His ultimate triumph
evident to Angra Mainyu. As expressions and aspects of Creation, Ahura Mazda emanated the Amesha

Spentas ("Bounteous Immortals"), that are each the hypostasis and representative of one aspect of that
Creation. These Amesha Spenta are in turn assisted by a league of lesser principles, the Yazatas, each "Worthy
of Worship" and each again a hypostasis of a moral or physical aspect of creation.
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and
15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for structuring society around relationships derived from
the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.
Although derived from the Latin word feodum or feudum (fief),[1] then in use, the termfeudalism and the system
it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people living in the medieval period. In
its classic definition, by Franois-Louis Ganshof(1944),[2] feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and
military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts
of lords, vassals and fiefs.[2]
There is also a broader definition, as described by Marc Bloch (1939), that includes not only warrior nobility
but all three estates of the realm: the nobility, the clerics and the peasantry bonds of manorialism; this is
sometimes referred to as a "feudal society". Since 1974 with the publication of Elizabeth A. R. Brown's The
Tyranny of a Construct, and Susan Reynolds'Fiefs and Vassals (1994), there has been ongoing inconclusive
discussion among medieval historians as to whether feudalism is a useful construct for understanding medieval
society.[3][4][5][6][7]
There is no broadly accepted modern definition of feudalism.[3][6] The adjective feudal was coined in the 17th
century, and the nounfeudalism, often used in a political and propaganda context, was not coined until the 19th
century.[3] By the mid-20th century, Franois Louis Ganshof's Feudalism, 3rd ed. (1964; originally published in
French, 1947), became a standard scholarly definition of feudalism. [2][3] Since at least the 1960s, when Marc
Bloch's Feudal Society (1939) was first translated into English in 1961, many medieval historians have
included a broader social aspect that includes not only the nobility but all three estates of the realm, adding the
peasantry bonds of manorialism and the estates of the Church; this is sometimes referred to as "feudal society"
since it encompasses all members of society into the feudal system. [3][8] Since the 1970s, when Elizabeth A. R.
Brown published The Tyranny of a Construct (1974), many have re-examined the evidence and concluded that
feudalism is an unworkable term and should be removed entirely from scholarly and educational discussion or
at least used only with severe qualification and warning. [3][4]
Outside a European context, the concept of feudalism is normally used only by analogy (called semi-feudal),
most often in discussions of feudal Japan under the shoguns and sometimes medieval and Gondarine Ethiopia.
[9]

However, some have taken the feudalism analogy further, seeing it in places as diverse as ancient Egypt,

the Parthian empire, the Indian subcontinent and the Antebellum andJim Crow American South.[9]
The term feudalism has also been appliedoften inappropriately or pejorativelyto non-Western societies
where institutions and attitudes similar to those of medieval Europe are perceived to prevail.[10] Some historians

and political theorists believe that the termfeudalism has been deprived of specific meaning by the many ways
it has been used, leading them to reject it as a useful concept for understanding society.[3][4]
EAST MEETS WEST

In the 17th century, traditional Vietnamese and Chinese practitioners began identifying their medicine as Dong
Y to distinguish their medicine from the Western colonial medicine. Similarly, people in the West began to use
the term Oriental medicine to differentiate Eastern medical practices from Western ones. Today, the terms
Eastern medicine and Asian medicine are more commonly used in this country, and perhaps they are the better
terms. The use of oriental has shifted to refer to home furnishings, carpets especially, and certainly in the field
of cross-cultural communications, the word oriental is never used as a category of culture.
Many Americans quickly associate Chinese herbal remedies and acupuncture with Eastern alternative
medicine, but are largely unfamiliar with other common practices from across Asia. The philosophies of health
and illness causation at the root of Eastern medicines are even less understood and just as important.
Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, is the best known Asian medicine practiced in the U. S., but it is not
the only traditional medicine worthy of our attention. Traditional Vietnamese medicine (TVM) actually
evolved together with traditional Chinese medicine and arguably the development of the two are sointertwined that it is impossible to separate them. However, there are differences. Closely related to both are
Japanese and Korean traditional medicines. Historically speaking, many societies in Eastern and Southeastern
Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere due to trade, migration, and occupation. Thus it is safe to
say that the healing traditions of most Asian cultures are intertwined to some extent, much as their religious
philosophies are.
The greatest challenge for Western healthcare professionals once theyve grasped the basics of different
cultural remedies and treatments is to understand the beliefs and attitudes about sickness that drive these
ancient practices. Health beliefs can have a profound impact on the clinical care of Asian patients in the United
States, affecting the accuracy of health histories and compliance with treatment recommendations from
Western providers. Because the principles behind the Western medical model are so different from those of
Eastern medicine, it is difficult for American providers to shift gears when talking to Asian patients and
consider a mind-set where health is seen as a state of balance between the physical, social, and super-natural
environment. Western medicine tends to approach disease by assuming that it is due to an external force, such
as a virus or bacteria, or a slow degeneration of the functional ability of the body. Disease is either physical or
mental. The Eastern approach assumes that the body is whole, and each part of it is intimately connected. Each
organ has a mental as well as a physical function. Perhaps a melding of the two belief systems would be ideal,
but it isnt easy in hectic settings or crisis situations to bring such divergent belief systems together during
medical consultation and care.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
TCM is inextricably linked to Chinese Cosmology, as system of beliefs that can be summed up as follows: all
of creation is born from the marriage of two polar principles, Yin and Yang. Examples are earth and heaven,
winter and summer, night and day, cold and hot, wet and dry, inner and outer, body and mind. These pairs of
opposites are connected via a circular harmony. The yin and yang symbol is helpful in representing this
concept. Harmony means health, good weather, and good fortune, while disharmony leads to disease, disaster,
and bad luck. The strategy of Chinese medicine is to restore harmony. Each human is seen as a world in

miniature, and every person has a unique terrain to be mapped, a resilient yet sensitive ecology to be
maintained. Like a gardener uses irrigation and compost to grow robust plants, the doctor uses acupuncture,
herbs and food to recover and sustain health.
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine is an important part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Herbs are prescribed holistically
according to the patients individual condition (not only on the basis of current symptoms). Herbal medicines
are used to regulate the natural balance of the body and restore health. They come in the form of pills,
powders, tinctures and raw herbs taken internally or as balms for external use. Chinese herbal medicine has
been used for centuries to treat most health conditions and as a preventative dietary supplement. They can also
be used safely in conjunction with many western therapies. Diagnosis is made by talking to the patient, looking
at physical characteristics and employing the ancient arts of tongue and pulse diagnosis.
Japanese Herbal Medicine
Kampo is Japanese herbal medicine, which has a long history of clinical application. Kampo uses precisely
measured herbs to treat illness, based on the skillful use of well-known formulas, valued for their impact on
clear as well as vague conditions. (Kampo does not use rare or endangered plant or animal products). The
distinguishing feature of Kampo is its method of diagnosis through abdominal palpation. Kampo medicine is
based on the theory that diseases arise because of a disharmony in the flow of Qi (Chi). By stressing
prevention, Kampo helps the patient to maintain good health according to natural principles.
Tibetan Medicine
It is known as gSo-ba Rigpa in Tibetan, meaning the science of healing. The basic principle is to balance the
three principal energies of the body. The practitioner employs the ancient tools of pulse diagnosis and urine
analysis, to find the root causes of disease. Treatment is carried out through diet, lifestyle adjustments and
herbal medicines grown naturally in Tibet and the Himalayas. Tibetan Medicine is based on Buddhist
principles and the close relationship between mind and body.
Traditional Vietnamese Medicine
The distinguishing feature of TVM is the emphasis on nourishing the blood and vital energy, rather than
concentrating on specific symptoms. TVM views building up the blood and energy as the key to good health.
The main treatments employed by TVM are herbal medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion.The cornerstone
of its theories is based on the observed effects of Qi (energy) in the body. Qi can be inherited from ones
parents or it can be extracted from food. It is also blood and fuel gathered and stored by the body.
Acupuncture
Acupuncturists insert tiny needles into specific points on the energy channels of the body, to promote healing
and stimulate the free flow of energy in the body and mind. It is used to treat many conditions
including muscular pain, headaches, asthma, gynecological problems, digestive complaints, as well as anxiety
and depression. Acupuncture is also useful for preventative health care.