In my mind, the material and spiritual are as one. I can no more separate them than I could keep a cup of water poured into my cupped hands.
Because the material and spiritual are as one, then God and man are not separated by sin, for sin has been cleaned away by the mercy of Oyasama (Amida Buddha). Yet Oyasama, though savior, is not God's intercessor, for he was originally a king who vowed to become Amida Buddha.
Yes, it is true that I utter Oyasama's Name, out of gratitude, not to ask for a boon or an answer to my prayers.
For prayers have a way of being answered when one least expects it. At least when I say the Name out of gratitude, I have but my gratefulness to offer to Oyasama. This is known as uttering the Nembutsu.
As for ethics, it all depends on the situation. Were I to adhere to a code of ethics that ignored the specific situation, then it's just part of a rulebook and could easily be codified into law.
For what kind of freedom is offered by rules? And how free are we when some of those rules become law?
Though limitations on our freedom may liberate us eventually, those limitations should be natural, not man-made.
That the spiritual and material are as one is the realization of what truly liberates us, because both the spiritual and material are natural, originally untouched by man.
This is why cleanliness is important to us, though it is up to each of us to determine how to keep clean, not one man's rules nor one society's laws.
I hope this explains the Japanese culture from the religious aspect to the gentle reader.
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