The online lecture for today is up. In an effort to get us to think harder about specific varieties of Mahayana Buddhism, I've tried in this lecture to spend time talking about the different Mahayana sects that arrived in Japan and how they interacted with Shinto. Please answer the following five questions and turn them in at the beginning of class on Monday.
1. According to the online lecture, the number of people who practice Shinto can be considered very high (if you include anyone who attends even a single new year ceremony at a shrine) or rather low (if you include only those who regularly attend shrines and perform rituals there). What is the upper and lower range of the number of Shinto practitioners, according to the online lecture?
2. According to the online lecture, what stands on the hillside above the major Buddhist temple at Todaiji?
3. According to the online lecture, what two Mahayana Buddhist sects are brought to Japan by monks around 800 CE?
4. According to the online lecture, what are the three other Mahayana Buddhist sects that arrive in Japan starting in around the 1100s and 1200s?
5. In 1868 the Tokugawa dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the emperor Meiji. What kinds of consequences did this have for the practice of Shinto in Japan according to the online lecture?