The Wisdom of Shinto
Oracle of Amaterasu Omikami (The Sun Goddess)
"All ye men who dwell under heaven! Regard heaven as your father, earth as your mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters. You will then enjoy this divine country, free from all hate and sorrow."
Nakatomi no Harae (Great Purification Ritual)
"By this great purification, let all the sins, impurities, and defilements that have been committed knowingly or unknowingly be cleansed and swept away. Let them be carried to the great ocean and dissolved, so that the hearts of the people may be as clear as a mirror."
Oracle of the Kami of Kasuga
"Even if a man brings me a thousand offerings, if he has not a pure and sincere heart, I will not receive them. But if a man is pure of heart, even though he can offer only a single drop of water, I will surely grant his prayers."
Saying on Makoto (Sincerity)
"Sincerity is the single virtue that binds divinity and humanity. When you pray with a sincere heart, you become one with the divine. It is not the grandeur of the shrine, but the purity of the worshiper's mind that invites the presence of the Kami."
From the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters)
"In the beginning of heaven and earth, there were deities who came into being in the High Plain of Heaven... From the formless void, the world took shape, and life was breathed into the islands and the natural world."
"To do good is to be pure; to commit evil is to be impure."
— Ancient Shinto Maxim