"Shinto gods" are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami.
In contrast to many monotheist religions, there are no absolutes in Shinto. There is no absolute right and wrong, and nobody is perfect. Shinto can relate to post-modernism, there's no specific rule or guide to follow, and there are no absolute answers to our questions. Shinto is an optimistic faith, as humans are thought to be fundamentally good, and evil is believed to be caused by evil spirits. Consequently, the purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits by purification, prayers and offerings to the kami.
One of the biggest differences between Shinto and other religions is that Shinto encourages people to learn and take the positiveness from other religions. Back when Buddhism was first introduced into Japan, there was a religious fight between the two beliefs, however, they eventually integrated into one and developed a new model to fit the people, fit the time period, and fits with the culture. Because of this spirit, the culture of Japan not only has the wisdom from Japanese ancients, but also the intelligent from eastern and western cultures and that is one of the reasons why Japan, a little country on an island, can be so shine to the world. Shinto's characteristics are a lot like post-modernism in this way, where it's ideologies are developed from the effects of the culture around it and it is altered by the ever changing world.
Background of the Lotus
The lotus in Buddhism expresses as a process from chaos to pure. The idea came from the living environment of lotus; growing in the sludge and mud, then bloom on the surface of the water. The lotus signifies that even the dirtiest water can not cling on the lotus and therefore the lotus is pure in the soul. Lotus lives in cool water but opens in the hot summer; hot represents annoyance, the troubles, and the cool water bringing the realm of cool, this is characterized by the virtues of Lotus. Therefore, the analogy to be free from trouble and was born in the Pure Land Buddhist people are Lotus metaplasia. The clean Lotus means foundational and intelligence.
Design Idea: Buddha, Lotus, and a Lightbulb
Our idea is to create a light bulb using a Buddha and a lotus. The Buddha would be inside the light bulb, taking the shape of the stem of the light bulb. The light bulb would then sit on top of a lotus which pedals are big enough to hide the light bulb inside of it. When the light bulb is off, the lotus flower is closed and takes the shape of a flower bulb. Once the light bulb is on, the lotus flower opens up and bright light shines out from the Buddha. This is the metaphor for the idea behind how the lotus emerges from the dark under water and opens up in the bright light in the summer and symbolizes the fact that pureness can be formed even in the roots of the dirtiest and darkest areas and that enlightenment can block out all darkness and evil.
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