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122-445: In Shinto, kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of musubi ( 結び ) , the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. Kami are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own: shinkai ( 神界 , "the world of

244-413: A Shinto shrine follow a purification ritual before presenting themselves to the kami . This ritual begins with hand washing and swallowing and later spitting a small amount of water in front of the shrine to purify the body, heart, and mind. Once this is complete they turn their focus to gaining the kami's attention. The traditional method of doing this is to bow twice, clap twice and bow again, alerting

366-403: A branched inflorescence which arises from the last internode on the stem. There can be up to 350 spikelets in a panicle, each containing male and female flower parts ( anthers and ovule ). A fertilised ovule develops into the edible grain or caryopsis . Rice is a cereal belonging to the family Poaceae . As a tropical crop, it can be grown during the two distinct seasons (dry and wet) of

488-406: A distinction "right and wrong, good and bad" are cultural universals . The philosopher Zoroaster simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods into two opposing forces: Ahura Mazda ( Illuminating Wisdom ) and Angra Mainyu ( Destructive Spirit ) which were in conflict. This idea developed into a religion which spawned many sects , some of which embraced an extreme dualistic belief that

610-492: A distinctive quality or virtue. These kami are celebrated regionally, and several miniature shrines ( hokora ) have been built in their honor. In many cases, people who once lived are thus revered; an example of this is Tenjin , who was Sugawara no Michizane (845–903 CE) in life. Within Shinto it is believed that the nature of life is sacred because the kami began human life. Yet people cannot perceive this divine nature, which

732-538: A divine superior spirit within: the kami . Amatsukami and Kunitsukami are categories of kami in Japanese mythology . Amatsugami is a generic term for the gods in Takamagahara or those who descended from Tenson kōrin , while Kunitsugami is a generic term for the gods who appeared on the earth ( Ashihara no Nakatsukuni ). In Japanese mythology, the acceptance of the transfer of the land ( Ashihara no Nakatsukuni ) by

854-415: A doubt occurs to the mind—that is, scorpions and serpents are poisonous. Are they good or evil, for they are existing beings? Yes, a scorpion is evil in relation to man; a serpent is evil in relation to man; but in relation to themselves they are not evil, for their poison is their weapon, and by their sting they defend themselves." Thus, evil is more of an intellectual concept than a true reality. Since God

976-485: A moral absolute). The idea was further developed in Late Antiquity by Neoplatonists , Gnostics , and Church Fathers . This development from the relative or habitual to the absolute is also evident in the terms ethics and morality both being derived from terms for "regional custom", Greek ήθος and Latin mores , respectively (see also siðr ). According to the classical definition of Augustine of Hippo , sin

1098-602: A positive existence in itself and is merely the lack of good, just as darkness is the result of lack of light. In Judaism, yetzer hara is the congenital inclination to do evil, by violating the will of God. The term is drawn from the phrase "the imagination of the heart of man [is] evil" ( יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע ‎, yetzer lev-ha-adam ra ), which occurs twice at the beginning of the Torah. Genesis 6:5 and 8:21. The Hebrew word "yetzer" having appeared twice in Genesis occurs again at

1220-411: A role in various religions and traditions, such as in weddings . The rice plant can grow to over 1 m (3 ft) tall; if in deep water, it can reach a length of 5 m (16 ft). A single plant may have several leafy stems or tillers . The upright stem is jointed with nodes along its length; a long slender leaf arises from each node. The self-fertile flowers are produced in a panicle ,

1342-506: A single domestication event for O. sativa . Both indica and japonica forms of Asian rice sprang from a single domestication event in China from the wild rice Oryza rufipogon . Despite this evidence, it appears that indica rice arose when japonica arrived in India about 4,500 years ago and hybridised with another rice, whether an undomesticated proto- indica or wild O. nivara . Rice

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1464-449: A system justifying Japanese Imperialism where Japanese people in the colonies were seen as Amatsukami and natives were seen as Kunitsukami , however he was later censored as his position was considered too supportive of the rights of colonized peoples. One of the first recorded rituals we know of is Niiname-sai ( 新嘗祭 ) , the ceremony in which the Emperor offers newly harvested rice to

1586-466: A theological concept, as an "unjustifiable reality. In common parlance, evil is 'something' that occurs in experience that ought not to be ." According to 1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is the root of all of evil" In Mormonism , mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where one's choices are central to the Plan of Salvation. See Agency (LDS Church) . Evil is that which keeps one from discovering

1708-439: A translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term. Some etymological suggestions are: Because Japanese does not normally distinguish grammatical number in nouns (most do not have singular and plural forms), it is sometimes unclear whether kami refers to a single or multiple entities. When a singular concept is needed, -kami ( 神 ) is used as a suffix . The reduplicated term generally used to refer to multiple kami

1830-440: A wide variety of pests including insects, nematodes, rodents such as rats, snails, and birds. Major rice insect pests include armyworms, rice bugs , black bugs , cutworms, field crickets, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, mealybugs, and planthoppers. High rates of nitrogen fertiliser application may worsen aphid outbreaks. Weather conditions can contribute to pest outbreaks: rice gall midge outbreaks are worsened by high rainfall in

1952-402: Is ethics , of which there are three major branches: normative ethics concerning how we ought to behave, applied ethics concerning particular moral issues, and metaethics concerning the nature of morality itself. Every language has a word expressing good in the sense of "having the right or desirable quality" ( ἀρετή ) and bad in the sense "undesirable". A sense of moral judgment and

2074-739: Is kamigami . While Shinto has no founder, no overarching doctrine, and no religious texts, the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), written in 712 CE, and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), written in 720 CE, contain the earliest record of Japanese creation myths. The Kojiki also includes descriptions of various kami . In the ancient traditions there were five defining characteristics of kami : Kami are an ever-changing concept, but their presence in Japanese life has remained constant. The kami's earliest roles were as earth-based spirits, assisting

2196-436: Is rainfed like wheat or maize. Across Asia, unmilled rice or "paddy" (Indonesian and Malay padi ), was traditionally the product of smallholder agriculture, with manual harvesting . Larger farms make use of machines such as combine harvesters to reduce the input of labour. The grain is ready to harvest when the moisture content is 20–25%. Harvesting involves reaping , stacking the cut stalks, threshing to separate

2318-399: Is "a word, deed, or desire in opposition to the eternal law of God." Many medieval Christian theologians both broadened and narrowed the basic concept of Good and evil until it came to have several, sometimes complex definitions such as: Today the basic dichotomy often breaks down along these lines: The modern English word evil ( Old English yfel ) and its cognates such as

2440-661: Is 69% water, 29% carbohydrates , 2% protein , and contains negligible fat (table). In a reference serving of 100 grams (3.5 oz), cooked white rice provides 130 calories of food energy , and contains moderate levels of manganese (18% DV), with no other micronutrients in significant content (all less than 10% of the Daily Value ). In 2018, the World Health Organization strongly recommended fortifying rice with iron , and conditionally recommended fortifying it with vitamin A and with folic acid . Golden rice

2562-613: Is a major food staple in Asia, Latin America, and some parts of Africa, feeding over half the world's population. However, a substantial part of the crop can be lost post-harvest through inefficient transportation, storage, and milling. A quarter of the crop in Nigeria is lost after harvest. Storage losses include damage by mould fungi if the rice is not dried sufficiently. In China, losses in modern metal silos were just 0.2%, compared to 7–13% when rice

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2684-470: Is a rite of passage for five-year-old boys and three- or seven-year-old girls. It is a time for these young children to personally offer thanks for the kami's protection and to pray for continued health. Many other rites of passage are practiced by Shinto believers, and there are also many other festivals. The main reason for these ceremonies is so that Shinto followers can appease the kami in order to reach magokoro . Magokoro can only be received through

2806-498: Is a variety produced through genetic engineering to synthesize beta-carotene , a precursor of vitamin A, in the endosperm of the rice grain. It is intended to be grown and eaten in parts of the world where Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent. Golden rice has been opposed by activists, such as in the Philippines . In 2016 more than 100 Nobel laureates encouraged the use of genetically modified organisms , such as golden rice, for

2928-662: Is also the second pāramitā . Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome. Two aspects of sīla are essential to the training: right "performance" ( caritta ), and right "avoidance" ( varitta ). Honoring the precepts of sīla is considered a "great gift" (mahadana) to others, because it creates an atmosphere of trust, respect, and security. It means the practitioner poses no threat to another person's life, property, family, rights, or well-being. Moral instructions are included in Buddhist scriptures or handed down through tradition. Most scholars of Buddhist ethics thus rely on

3050-511: Is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality" (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint). Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement ; sīla, samādhi , and paññā as well as the Theravadin foundations of sīla , dāna , and bhavana . It

3172-465: Is attributed to the existence of free will and human agency . Some argue that evil itself is ultimately based in an ignorance of truth (i.e., human value, sanctity , divinity ). A variety of thinkers have alleged the opposite, by suggesting that evil is learned as a consequence of tyrannical social structures . In Confucianism and Taoism , there is no direct analogue to the way good and evil are opposed, although references to demonic influence

3294-581: Is based on four principles: biodiversity, host plant resistance, landscape ecology, and hierarchies in a landscape—from biological to social. Farmers' pesticide applications are often unnecessary. Pesticides may actually induce resurgence of populations of rice pests such as the brown planthopper , both by destroying beneficial insects and by enhancing the pest's reproduction. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) demonstrated in 1993 that an 87.5% reduction in pesticide use can lead to an overall drop in pest numbers. Farmers in China, Indonesia and

3416-463: Is common in Chinese folk religion . Confucianism's primary concern is with correct social relationships and the behavior appropriate to the learned or superior man. Evil would thus correspond to wrong behavior. Still less does it map into Taoism, in spite of the centrality of dualism in that system , but the opposite of the basic virtues of Taoism (compassion, moderation, and humility) can be inferred to be

3538-504: Is from Asia. The average world yield for rice was 4.7 metric tons per hectare (2.1 short tons per acre), in 2022. Yuan Longping of China's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center set a world record for rice yield in 1999 at 17.1 metric tons per hectare (7.6 short tons per acre) on a demonstration plot. This employed specially developed hybrid rice and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), an innovation in rice farming. Rice

3660-588: Is good, and upon creating creation he confirmed it by saying it is Good (Genesis 1:31) evil cannot have a true reality. Christian theology draws its concept of evil from the Old and New Testaments . The Christian Bible exercises "the dominant influence upon ideas about God and evil in the Western world." In the Old Testament, evil is understood to be an opposition to God as well as something unsuitable or inferior such as

3782-514: Is good. Spinoza assumes a quasi-mathematical style and states these further propositions which he purports to prove or demonstrate from the above definitions in part IV of his Ethics  : Friedrich Nietzsche , in a rejection of Judeo-Christian morality, addresses this in two books, Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morals . In these works, he states that the natural, functional, "non-good" has been socially transformed into

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3904-535: Is independent from and equal with good in a dualistic sense. Within Islam, it is considered essential to believe that all comes from God , whether it is perceived as good or bad by individuals; and things that are perceived as evil or bad are either natural events (natural disasters or illnesses) or caused by humanity's free will to disobey God's orders. According to the Ahmadiyya understanding of Islam, evil does not have

4026-499: Is non-existent and that it is a concept for the lacking of good, just as cold is the state of no heat, darkness is the state of no light, forgetfulness the lacking of memory, ignorance the lacking of knowledge. All of these are states of lacking and have no real existence. Thus, evil does not exist, and is relative to man. `Abdu'l-Bahá , son of the founder of the religion, in Some Answered Questions states: "Nevertheless,

4148-569: Is of major importance in both the Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata . However, the main emphasis in Hinduism is on bad action, rather than bad people. The Hindu holy text, the Bhagavad Gita , speaks of the balance of good and evil. When this balance goes off, divine incarnations come to help to restore this balance, as a balance must be maintained for peace and harmony in the world. In adherence to

4270-485: Is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path , and is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principal motivation being nonviolence , or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue , moral discipline and precept . Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. It

4392-426: Is potentially observed and passed onto future generations. The second affirmation is to have a love of nature. Nature objects are worshipped as sacred because the kami inhabit them. Therefore, to be in contact with nature means to be in contact with the gods. The third affirmation is to maintain physical cleanliness. Followers of Shinto take baths, wash their hands, and rinse out their mouths often. The last affirmation

4514-797: Is sister to the bamboos, Bambusoideae , and the cereal subfamily Pooideae . The rice genus Oryza is one of eleven in the Oryzeae; it is sister to the Phyllorachideae . The edible rice species O. sativa and O. glaberrima are among some 300 species or subspecies in the genus. other grasses (inc. the C4 grasses , maize , sorghum ) Streptogyneae Ehrharteae Phyllorachideae Wild rices inc. Zizania other rice species and subspecies O. sativa (Asian rice) O. glaberrima (African rice) Bambusoideae (bamboos) Pooideae (grasses and cereals inc. wheat , barley ) Oryza sativa rice

4636-540: Is something external to them, because they project their shadow onto others. Jung interpreted the story of Jesus as an account of God facing his own shadow. In 2007, Philip Zimbardo suggested that people may act in evil ways as a result of a collective identity . This hypothesis, based on his previous experience from the Stanford prison experiment , was published in the book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil . The Baháʼí Faith asserts that evil

4758-634: Is stickier, and is used for sweet dishes, and in Italy for risotto ; and sticky short-grain rice is used in Japanese sushi as it keeps its shape when cooked. White rice when cooked contains 29% carbohydrate and 2% protein, with some manganese . Golden rice is a variety produced by genetic engineering to contain vitamin A . Production of rice is estimated to have caused over 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. Predictions of how rice yields will be affected by climate change vary across geographies and socioeconomic contexts. In human culture, rice plays

4880-438: Is subjected to a steaming process before it is milled. This makes the grain harder, and moves some of the grain's vitamins and minerals into the white part of the rice so these are retained after milling. Rice does not contain gluten , so is suitable for people on a gluten-free diet . Rice is a good source of protein and a staple food in many parts of the world, but it is not a complete protein as it does not contain all of

5002-456: Is that necessarily makes a thing valuable, or in what the source of value consists. One attempt to define goodness describes it as a property of the world with Platonic idealism . According to this claim, to talk about the good is to talk about something real that exists in the object itself, independent of the perception of it. Plato advocated this view, in his expression that there is such a thing as an eternal realm of forms or ideas, and that

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5124-422: Is that the good is based on the natural love, bonding, and affection that begins at the earliest stages of personal development; another is that goodness is a product of knowing truth . Differing views also exist as to why evil might arise. Many religious and philosophical traditions claim that evil behavior is an aberration that results from the imperfect human condition (e.g. " The Fall of Man "). Sometimes, evil

5246-477: Is the mythological figure Amaterasu -ōmikami, the sun goddess of the Shinto pantheon. Although these kami can be considered deities, they are not necessarily considered omnipotent or omniscient , and like the Greek Gods , they had flawed personalities and were quite capable of ignoble acts. In the myths of Amaterasu, for example, she could see the events of the human world, but had to use divination rituals to see

5368-406: Is to flood the field to a depth of 5 cm (2 in), then to let the water level drop to 15 cm (6 in) below surface level, as measured by looking into a perforated field water tube sunk into the soil, and then repeating the cycle. Deepwater rice varieties tolerate flooding to a depth of over 50 centimetres for at least a month. Upland rice is grown without flooding, in hilly or mountainous regions; it

5490-496: Is to practice matsuri , which is the worship and honor given to the kami and ancestral spirits. Shinto followers also believe that the kami are the ones who can either grant blessings or curses to a person. Shinto believers desire to appease the evil kami to "stay on their good side", and also to please the good kami . In addition to practicing the four affirmations daily, Shinto believers also wear omamori to aid them in remaining pure and protected. Mamori are charms that keep

5612-471: Is used as a model organism in biology. Dry rice grain is milled to remove the outer layers; depending on how much is removed, products range from brown rice to rice with germ and white rice. Some is parboiled to make it easy to cook. Rice contains no gluten ; it provides protein but not all the essential amino acids needed for good health. Rice of different types is eaten around the world. Long-grain rice tends to stay intact on cooking; medium-grain rice

5734-469: The Engi Era ) was promulgated in fifty volumes. This, the first formal codification of Shinto rites and norito (liturgies and prayers) to survive, became the basis for all subsequent Shinto liturgical practice and efforts. It listed all of the 2,861 Shinto shrines existing at the time, and the 3,131 official-recognized and enshrined kami . The number of kami has grown and far exceeded this figure through

5856-494: The dualistic antagonistic opposite of good , in which good should prevail and evil should be defeated. Evil is often used to denote profound immorality . Evil has also been described as a supernatural force. Definitions of evil vary, as does the analysis of its motives. However, elements that are commonly associated with evil involve unbalanced behavior involving expediency , selfishness , ignorance , or negligence . The principal study of good and evil (or morality)

5978-440: The essential amino acids in sufficient amounts for good health. World trade figures are much smaller than those for production, as less than 8% of rice produced is traded internationally. China, an exporter of rice in the early 2000s, had become the world's largest importer of rice by 2013. Developing countries are the main players in the world rice trade; by 2012, India was the largest exporter of rice, with Thailand and Vietnam

6100-473: The existence of God , and the right relations that humans ought to have to the divine first cause . Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population , particularly in Asia and Africa . Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice)—or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Asian rice

6222-535: The kami to secure their blessing for a bountiful harvest. A yearly festival, Niiname-sai, is also performed when a new Emperor comes to power , in which case it is called Daijō-sai ( 大嘗祭 ) . In the ceremony, the Emperor offers crops from the new harvest to the kami , including rice, fish, fruits, soup, and stew. The Emperor first feasts with the deities, then the guests. The feast could go on for some time; for example, Emperor Shōwa 's feast spanned two days. Visitors to

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6344-454: The kami to their presence and desire to commune with them. During the last bow, the supplicant offers words of gratitude and praise to the kami ; if they are offering a prayer for aid they will also state their name and address. After the prayer and/or worship they repeat the two bows, two claps and a final bow in conclusion. Shinto practitioners also worship at home. This is done at a kamidana (household shrine), on which an ofuda with

6466-546: The kami was manifested in rituals and ceremonies meant to entreat the kami to grow and protect the harvest. These rituals also became a symbol of power and strength for the early Emperors. There is a strong tradition of myth-histories in the Shinto faith; one such myth details the appearance of the first emperor, grandson of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu . In this myth, when Amaterasu sent her grandson to earth to rule, she gave him five rice grains, which had been grown in

6588-525: The kami . The pantheon of kami , like the kami themselves, is forever changing in definition and scope. As the needs of the people have shifted, so too have the domains and roles of the various kami . Some examples of this are related to health, such as the kami of smallpox whose role was expanded to include all contagious diseases, or the kami of boils and growths who has also come to preside over cancers and cancer treatments . In ancient animistic Japanese belief, kami were understood as simply

6710-412: The kami . Ceremonies and festivals are long and complex because they need to be perfect to satisfy the kami . If the kami are not pleased with these ceremonies, they will not grant a Shinto believer magokoro . Good and evil In philosophy , religion , and psychology , " good and evil " is a common dichotomy . In religions with Manichaean and Abrahamic influence, evil is perceived as

6832-515: The material world should be shunned and the spiritual world should be embraced. Gnostic ideas influenced many ancient religions which teach that gnosis (variously interpreted as enlightenment, salvation , emancipation or 'oneness with God' ) may be reached by practising philanthropy to the point of personal poverty, sexual abstinence (as far as possible for hearers , total for initiates ) and diligently searching for wisdom by helping others. Similarly, in ancient Egypt , there were

6954-506: The sun , mountains , rivers , trees , and rocks ; some animals ; and ancestral spirits . Included within the designation of ancestral spirits are spirits of the ancestors of the Imperial House of Japan , but also ancestors of noble families as well as the spirits of the ancestors of all people, which when they died were believed to be the guardians of their descendants. There are other spirits designated as kami as well. For example,

7076-478: The 21st century as people in Asia and elsewhere ate less grain and more meat. An exception is Sub-Saharan Africa, where both per capita consumption of rice and population are increasing. Rice is a commonly-eaten food around the world. The varieties of rice are typically classified as short-, medium-, and long-grained. Oryza sativa indica varieties are usually long-grained; Oryza sativa japonica varieties are usually short- or medium-grained. Short-grain rice, with

7198-688: The Americas by the Spanish. In British North America by the time of the start of the American War of Independence , rice had become the fourth most valuable export commodity behind only tobacco, wheat, and fish. In 2021, world production of rice was 787 million tonnes , led by China and India with a combined 52% of the total. This placed rice fourth in the list of crops by production, after sugarcane , maize , and wheat . Other major producers were Bangladesh , Indonesia and Vietnam . 90% of world production

7320-680: The Chronicles, and many of them have not survived. The Chronicles of Japan cites certain passages (e.g., "Ichi Sho Saying" and "Aru Hon Yun" in most volumes of the Nihon Shoki), but the original recorded documents have been lost in later generations. Tsu is a case particle in Old Japanese , meaning "god of heaven" or "god of the country" in modern Japanese. Sometimes written "Amatsugami" or "Kunitsugami. Amatsugami are also called Tenjin, and Kunitsukami are called Chigi ( 地祇 ) . Some people believe that

7442-702: The German Übel and Dutch euvel are widely considered to come from a Proto-Germanic reconstructed form of *ubilaz , comparable to the Hittite huwapp- ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European form *wap- and suffixed zero-grade form *up-elo- . Other later Germanic forms include Middle English evel , ifel , ufel , Old Frisian evel (adjective and noun), Old Saxon ubil , Old High German ubil , and Gothic ubils . The nature of being good has been given many treatments; one

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7564-671: The Kunitsugami to the Amatsu deities led by Ninigi is described as Kuni Yuzuri . It is thought that the deity worshipped by the people of the region ( Emishi , Hayato , etc.) who were pacified by the Yamato Kingship became the Kunitsugami, and the deity worshipped by the imperial family and powerful clans of the Yamato Kingship became the Amatsukami. Many of the original traditions of the Kunitsugami were altered when they were incorporated into

7686-460: The Philippines have traditionally managed weeds and pests by the polycultural practice of raising ducks and sometimes fish in their rice paddies. These produce valuable additional crops, eat small pest animals, manure the rice, and in the case of ducks also control weeds. Rice plants produce their own chemical defences to protect themselves from pest attacks. Some synthetic chemicals, such as

7808-553: The affairs of humans. The ancient animistic spirituality of Japan was the beginning of modern Shinto, which became a formal spiritual institution later, in an effort to preserve the traditional beliefs from the encroachment of imported religious ideas. As a result, the nature of what can be called kami is very general and encompasses many different concepts and phenomena. Some of the objects or phenomena designated as kami are qualities of growth, fertility, and production; natural phenomena like wind and thunder ; natural objects like

7930-456: The analogue of evil in it. Pyrrhonism holds that good and evil do not exist by nature, meaning that good and evil do not exist within the things themselves. All judgments of good and evil are relative to the one doing the judging. Benedict de Spinoza states: 1. By good, I understand that which we certainly know is useful to us. 2. By evil, on the contrary I understand that which we certainly know hinders us from possessing anything that

8052-557: The arts of maintaining the connection between the kami and the people. In addition to these festivals, ceremonies marking rites of passage are also performed within the shrines. Two such ceremonies are the birth of a child and the Shichi-Go-San. When a child is born they are brought to a shrine so that they can be initiated as a new believer and the kami can bless them and their future life. The Shichi-Go-San (the Seven-Five-Three)

8174-454: The basic meanings of κακός and ἀγαθός are "bad, cowardly" and "good, brave, capable", and their absolute sense emerges only around 400 BC, with pre-Socratic philosophy , in particular Democritus . Morality in this absolute sense solidifies in the dialogues of Plato , together with the emergence of monotheistic thought (notably in Euthyphro , which ponders the concept of piety ( τὸ ὅσιον ) as

8296-465: The benefits these could bring. In 2022, greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation were estimated at 5.7 billion tonnes CO2eq, representing 1.2% of total emissions. Within the agriculture sector, rice produces almost half the greenhouse gas emissions from croplands , some 30% of agricultural methane emissions , and 11% of agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. Methane is released from rice fields subject to long-term flooding, as this inhibits

8418-427: The concepts of Ma'at , the principle of justice, order, and cohesion, and Isfet , the principle of chaos, disorder, and decay, with the former being the power and principles which society sought to embody where the latter was such that undermined society. This correspondence can also be seen reflected in ancient Mesopotamian religion as well in the conflict between Marduk and Tiamat . In Western civilisation ,

8540-448: The core principle of spiritual evolution, the Sikh idea of evil changes depending on one's position on the path to liberation. At the beginning stages of spiritual growth, good and evil may seem neatly separated. However, once one's spirit evolves to the point where it sees most clearly, the idea of evil vanishes and the truth is revealed. In his writings Guru Arjan explains that, because God is

8662-506: The crop would be lost under these conditions. In the Po Valley in Italy, the arborio and carnaroli risotto rice varieties have suffered poor harvests through drought in the 21st century. The Ente Nazionale Risi  [ it ] is developing drought-resistant varieties; its nuovo prometeo variety has deep roots that enable it to tolerate drought, but is not suitable for risotto. Rice yield can be reduced by weed growth, and

8784-454: The decline of the popularity of slavery across cultures is the work of descriptive ethics , while advising that slavery be avoided is normative. Meta-ethics is the study of the fundamental questions concerning the nature and origins of the good and the evil, including inquiry into the nature of good and evil, as well as the meaning of evaluative language. In this respect, meta-ethics is not necessarily tied to investigations into how others see

8906-504: The divine forces of nature. Worshippers in ancient Japan revered kami of nature which exhibited a particular beauty and power such as ghosts , the ocean, the sun, waterfalls , mountains, boulders, animals, trees, grasses, rice paddies, thunder , echoes , foxes and fox spirits , and Asian dragons . They strongly believed the spirits or resident kami deserved respect. In 927 CE, the Engi-shiki ( 延喜式 , literally, Procedures of

9028-448: The early hunter-gatherer groups in their daily lives. They were worshipped as gods of the earth (mountains) and sea. As the cultivation of rice became increasingly important and predominant in Japan, the kami's identity shifted to more sustaining roles that were directly involved in the growth of crops; roles such as rain, earth, and rice. This relationship between early Japanese people and

9150-478: The end of the Torah: "I knew their devisings that they do". Thus from beginning to end the heart's "yetzer" is continually bent on evil, a profoundly pessimistic view of the human being. However, the Torah which began with blessing anticipates future blessing which will come as a result of God circumcising the heart in the latter days. The yetzer hara is man's misuse of things the physical body needs to survive. Thus,

9272-418: The evil kami from striking a human with sickness or causing disaster to befall them. The kami are both worshipped and respected within the religion of Shinto. The goal of life to Shinto believers is to obtain magokoro , a pure sincere heart, which can only be granted by the kami . As a result, Shinto followers are taught that humankind should venerate both the living and the nonliving, because both possess

9394-432: The examination of Buddhist scriptures , and the use of anthropological evidence from traditional Buddhist societies, to justify claims about the nature of Buddhist ethics. In Hinduism the concept of dharma or righteousness clearly divides the world into good and evil, and clearly explains that wars have to be waged sometimes to establish and protect dharma; this war is called Dharmayuddha . This division of good and evil

9516-425: The exception of Spanish Bomba, is usually sticky when cooked, and is suitable for puddings. Thai Jasmine rice is aromatic, and unusually for a long-grain rice has some stickiness, with a soft texture. Indian Basmati rice is very long-grained and aromatic. Italian Arborio rice , used for risotto , is of medium length, oval, and quite sticky. Japanese sushi rice is a sticky short-grain variety. Cooked white rice

9638-425: The field where they will grow, or seedlings can be grown in a seedbed and transplanted into the field. Direct seeding needs some 60 to 80 kg of grain per hectare, while transplanting needs less, around 40 kg per hectare, but requires far more labour. Most rice in Asia is transplanted by hand. Mechanical transplanting takes less time but requires a carefully-prepared field and seedlings raised on mats or in trays to fit

9760-444: The fields of heaven ( Takamagahara ). This rice made it possible for him to transform the "wilderness". Social and political strife have played a key role in the development of new sorts of kami , specifically the goryō-shin (the sacred spirit kami ). Goryō are the vengeful spirits of the dead whose lives were cut short, but they were calmed by the devotion of Shinto followers and are now believed to punish those who do not honor

9882-565: The first question by researching the world by use of social science, and examining the preferences that people assert. However, one may answer the second question by use of reasoning, introspection, prescription, and generalization. The former kind of method of analysis is called " descriptive ", because it attempts to describe what people actually view as good or evil; while the latter is called " normative ", because it tries to actively prohibit evils and cherish goods. These descriptive and normative approaches can be complementary. For example, tracking

10004-523: The following generations as there are over 2,446,000 individual kami enshrined in Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine alone. Kami are the central objects of worship for the Shinto belief. The best English translation of kami is 'spirits', but this is an over-simplification of a complex concept - kami can be elements of the landscape or forces of nature. Kami are believed to have influence over the forces of nature and over

10126-406: The future. There are considered to be three main variations of kami : Amatsukami ( 天津神 , the heavenly deities) , Kunitsukami ( 国津神 , the gods of the earthly realm) , and ya-o-yorozu no kami ( 八百万の神 , countless kami) . (" 八百万 " literally means eight million, but idiomatically it expresses "uncountably many" and "all-around"—like many East Asian cultures, the Japanese often use

10248-417: The gods of heaven and earth" and conveys a sense of reverence and commitment. The origins of the term can be traced back to ancient Chinese classical texts, where the expression " 天地 " (Tenchi) and " 神明 " (Shinmei) were often used together to refer to the gods of heaven and earth, or to the gods and the universe as a whole. However, there are also instances where the expression was used to refer specifically to

10370-405: The gods of heaven and earth. In Japan, the term 天地神明 has been in use for centuries and is often associated with the image of the numerous gods and deities that have been worshipped in Japanese folklore and mythology. Susanoo-no-Mikoto , who was cast out of Takamagahara, and his descendants, such as Ōkuninushi , are considered to be Kunitsugami. Ogasawara Shozo  [ ja ] proposed

10492-581: The good inclination is "born" and able to control his behavior. Moreover, the rabbis have stated: "The greater the man, the greater his [evil] inclination." Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha , or other enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas . The Indian term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is Śīla or sīla ( Pāli ). Śīla in Buddhism

10614-419: The good, or of asserting what is good. A satisfying formulation of goodness is valuable because it might allow one to construct a good life or society by reliable processes of deduction, elaboration, or prioritization. One could answer the ancient question, "How should we then live?" among many other important related questions. It has long been thought that this question can best be answered by examining what it

10736-503: The grain, and cleaning by winnowing or screening . The rice grain is dried as soon as possible to bring the moisture content down to a level that is safe from mould fungi. Traditional drying relies on the heat of the sun, with the grain spread out on mats or on pavements. The edible rice species are members of the BOP clade within the grass family, the Poaceae . The rice subfamily, Oryzoideae ,

10858-485: The greatest of the ideas and the essence of being was goodness, or The good. The good was defined by many ancient Greeks and other ancient philosophers as a perfect and eternal idea, or blueprint. The good is the right relation between all that exists, and this exists in the mind of the Divine, or some heavenly realm. The good is the harmony of a just political community, love, friendship, the ordered human soul of virtues , and

10980-519: The guardian spirits of the land, occupations, and skills; spirits of Japanese heroes, men of outstanding deeds or virtues, and those who have contributed to civilization, culture, and human welfare; those who have died for the state or the community; and the pitiable dead. Not only spirits superior to man can be considered kami ; spirits that are considered pitiable or weak have also been considered kami in Shinto. The concept of kami has been changed and refined since ancient times, although anything that

11102-575: The herbicide 2,4-D , cause the plant to increase the production of certain defensive chemicals and thereby increase the plant's resistance to some types of pests. Conversely, other chemicals, such as the insecticide imidacloprid , appear to induce changes in the gene expression of the rice that make the plant more susceptible to certain pests. Plant breeders have created rice cultivars incorporating resistance to various insect pests . Conventional plant breeding of resistant varieties has been limited by challenges such as rearing insect pests for testing, and

11224-495: The kami created, on their own; therefore, magokoro ( 真心 ) , or purification, is necessary in order to see the divine nature. This purification can only be granted by the kami . In order to please the kami and earn magokoro , Shinto followers are taught to uphold the four affirmations of Shinto. The first affirmation is to hold fast to tradition and the family. Family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. For instance, in marriage or birth, tradition

11346-466: The kami") . To be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi ( 随神の道 or 惟神の道 , "the way of the kami") . Kami is the Japanese word for a deity, divinity, or spirit. It has been used to describe mind , God, Supreme Being, one of the Shinto deities, an effigy , a principle , and anything that is worshipped. Although deity is the common interpretation of kami , some Shinto scholars argue that such

11468-410: The later years of the 20th century decreased rice yield by between 10% and 20% across 200 farms in seven Asian countries. This may have been caused by increased night-time respiration. IRRI has predicted that Asian rice yields will fall by some 20% per 1°C rise in global mean temperature. Further, rice is unable to yield grain if the flowers experience a temperature of 35 °C or more for over one hour, so

11590-768: The leader of the fallen angels Satan . In the New Testament the Greek word poneros is used to indicate unsuitability, while kakos is used to refer to opposition to God in the human realm. Officially, the Catholic Church extracts its understanding of evil from its canonical antiquity and the Dominican theologian, Thomas Aquinas , who in Summa Theologica defines evil as the absence or privation of good. French-American theologian Henri Blocher describes evil, when viewed as

11712-417: The machine. Rice does not thrive if continuously submerged. Rice can be grown in different environments, depending upon water availability. The usual arrangement is for lowland fields to be surrounded by bunds and flooded to a depth of a few centimetres until around a week before harvest time; this requires a large amount of water. The "alternate wetting and drying" technique uses less water. One form of this

11834-492: The mind and lead one astray from the prosecution of righteous action. These are: One who gives in to the temptations of the Five Thieves is known as " Manmukh ", or someone who lives selfishly and without virtue. Inversely, the " Gurmukh , who thrive in their reverence toward divine knowledge, rise above vice via the practice of the high virtues of Sikhism. These are: In the originally Persian religion of Zoroastrianism ,

11956-406: The name of their protector or ancestral kami is positioned. Their protector kami is determined by their or their ancestors' relationship to the kami . Ascetic practices, shrine rituals and ceremonies, and Japanese festivals are the most public ways that Shinto devotees celebrate and offer adoration for the kami . Kami are celebrated during their distinct festivals that usually take place at

12078-520: The names "Tenjin Chigi ( 天神地祇 ) " and "Jingi ( 神祇 ) " are derived from the Chinese classics. The different theory that the concept is completely different and different from the Japanese one has been presented. Another similar concept is Tenchi Shinmei ( 天地神明 ) . 天地神明 (Tenchi-Shinmei) is a Japanese four-character idiom that refers to the gods of heaven and earth. It is used in expressions such as "I swear by

12200-426: The nature of God. It is believed that one must choose not to be evil to return to God. Christian Science believes that evil arises from a misunderstanding of the goodness of nature, which is understood as being inherently perfect if viewed from the correct (spiritual) perspective. Misunderstanding God's reality leads to incorrect choices, which are termed evil. This has led to the rejection of any separate power being

12322-455: The need for food becomes gluttony due to the yetzer hara . The need for procreation becomes promiscuity, and so on. The yetzer hara could thus be best described as one's baser instincts. It is not understood as a demonic force. According to the Talmudic tractate Avot de-Rabbi Natan , a boy's evil inclination is greater than his good inclination until he turns 13 ( bar mitzvah ), at which point

12444-424: The number 8, representing the cardinal and ordinal directions, to symbolize ubiquity.) These classifications of kami are not considered strictly divided, due to the fluid and shifting nature of kami , but are instead held as guidelines for grouping them. The ancestors of a particular family can also be worshipped as kami . In this sense, these kami are worshipped not because of their godly powers, but because of

12566-428: The other largest exporters. As of 2016, the countries that consumed the most rice were China (29% of total), India, and Indonesia. By 2020, Bangladesh had taken third place from Indonesia. On an annual average from 2020-23, China consumed 154 million tonnes of rice, India consumed 109 million tonnes, and Bangladesh and Indonesia consumed about 36 million tonnes each. Across the world, rice consumption per capita fell in

12688-463: The path towards goodness. It is possible to treat the essential theories of value by the use of a philosophical and academic approach. In properly analyzing theories of value, everyday beliefs are not only carefully catalogued and described , but also rigorously analyzed and judged . There are at least two basic ways of presenting a theory of value, based on two different kinds of questions: The two questions are subtly different. One may answer

12810-520: The priests to learn them. The priesthood was traditionally hereditary. Some shrines have drawn their priests from the same families for over a hundred generations. It is not uncommon for the clergy to be female priestesses. The priests ( kannushi ) may be assisted by miko , young unmarried women acting as shrine maidens. Neither priests nor priestesses live as ascetics; in fact, it is common for them to be married, and they are not traditionally expected to meditate. Rather, they are considered specialists in

12932-466: The religious concept of evil by the " slave mentality " of the masses, who resent their "masters", the strong. He also critiques morality by saying that many who consider themselves to be moral are simply acting out of cowardice – wanting to do evil but afraid of the repercussions. Carl Jung , in his book Answer to Job and elsewhere, depicted evil as the dark side of the Devil . People tend to believe evil

13054-812: The rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects , rodents , and birds , as well as by weeds , and by diseases such as rice blast . Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming , and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way. Many varieties of rice have been bred to improve crop quality and productivity. Biotechnology has created Green Revolution rice able to produce high yields when supplied with nitrogen fertiliser and managed intensively. Other products are rice able to express human proteins for medicinal use; flood-tolerant or deepwater rice ; and drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant varieties. Rice

13176-611: The right relation to the Divine and to Nature. The characters in Plato's dialogues mention the many virtues of a philosopher, or a lover of wisdom. A theist is a person who believes that the Supreme Being exists or gods exist ( monotheism or polytheism ). A theist may, therefore, claim that the universe has a purpose and value according to the will of such creator (s) that lies partially beyond human understanding. For instance, Thomas Aquinas —a proponent of this view—believed he had proven

13298-508: The shrines dedicated to their worship. Many festivals involve believers, who are usually intoxicated, parading, sometimes running, toward the shrine while carrying mikoshi (portable shrines) as the community gathers for the festival ceremony. Yamamoto Guji, the high priest at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine , explains that this practice honors the kami because "it is in the festival, the matsuri, the greatest celebration of life can be seen in

13420-1011: The soil from absorbing atmospheric oxygen, resulting in anaerobic fermentation of organic matter in the soil. Emissions can be limited by planting new varieties, not flooding continuously, and removing straw. It is possible to cut methane emissions in rice cultivation by improved water management, combining dry seeding and one drawdown, or executing a sequence of wetting and drying . This results in emission reductions of up to 90% compared to full flooding and even increased yields. Predictions of climate change's effects on rice cultivation vary. Global rice yield has been projected to decrease by around 3.2% with each 1°C increase in global average temperature while another study predicts global rice cultivation will increase initially, plateauing at about 3°C warming (2091–2100 relative to 1850–1900). The impacts of climate change on rice cultivation vary across geographic location and socioeconomic context. For example, rising temperatures and decreasing solar radiation during

13542-411: The source of all things, what we believe to be evil must too come from God. And because God is ultimately a source of absolute good, nothing truly evil can originate from God. Nevertheless, Sikhism, like many other religions, does incorporate a list of "vices" from which suffering, corruption, and abject negativity arise. These are known as the Five Thieves , called such due to their propensity to cloud

13664-461: The source of evil, or of God as being the source of evil; instead, the appearance of evil is the result of a mistaken concept of good. Christian Scientists argue that even the most evil person does not pursue evil for its own sake, but from the mistaken viewpoint that he or she will achieve some kind of good thereby. There is no concept of absolute evil in Islam , as a fundamental universal principle that

13786-677: The voyage to the rest of the Pacific. It reached Austroasiatic and Kra-Dai -speakers in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China by 5000 years ago. Rice spread around the rest of the world through cultivation, migration and trade, eventually to the Americas as part of the Columbian exchange after 1492. The now less common Oryza glaberrima (African rice) was independently domesticated in Africa around 3,000 years ago, and introduced to

13908-785: The wet season, while thrips outbreaks are associated with drought. Rice blast , caused by the fungus Magnaporthe grisea , is the most serious disease of growing rice. It and bacterial leaf streak (caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae ) are perennially the two worst rice diseases worldwide; they are both among the ten most important diseases of all crop plants. Other major rice diseases include sheath blight (caused by Rhizoctonia solani ), false smut ( Ustilaginoidea virens ), and bacterial panicle blight ( Burkholderia glumae ). Viral diseases include rice bunchy stunt, rice dwarf, rice tungro , and rice yellow mottle. Crop protection scientists are developing sustainable techniques for managing rice pests. Sustainable pest management

14030-517: The world is a battle ground between the God Ahura Mazda (also called Ormazd ) and the malignant spirit Angra Mainyu (also called Ahriman ). The final resolution of the struggle between good and evil was supposed to occur on a D ay of Judgement , in which all beings that have lived will be led across a bridge of fire, and those who are evil will be cast down forever. In Afghan belief, angels ( yazata ) and saints are beings sent to help us achieve

14152-530: The world of Shinto and it is the people of the community who attend festivals as groups, as a whole village who are seeking to unlock the human potential as children of kami". During the New Year Festival, families purify and clean their houses in preparation for the upcoming year. Offerings are also made to the ancestors so that they will bless the family in the future year. Shinto ceremonies are so long and complex that in some shrines it can take ten years for

14274-539: The year provided that sufficient water is made available. It is normally an annual, but in the tropics it can survive as a perennial , producing a ratoon crop. Like all crops, rice depends for its growth on both biotic and abiotic environmental factors. The principal biotic factors are crop variety, pests , and plant diseases . Abiotic factors include the soil type, whether lowland or upland, amount of rain or irrigation water, temperature, day length , and intensity of sunlight. Rice grains can be planted directly into

14396-563: Was considered to be kami by ancient people will still be considered kami in modern Shinto . Even within modern Shinto, there are no clearly defined criteria for what should or should not be worshipped as kami. The difference between modern Shinto and the ancient animistic religions is mainly a refinement of the kami -concept, rather than a difference in definitions. Although the ancient designations are still adhered to, in modern Shinto many priests also consider kami to be anthropomorphic spirits, with nobility and authority. One such example

14518-460: Was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane , maize , and wheat . Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of

14640-465: Was first domesticated in China 9,000 years ago, by people of Neolithic cultures in the Upper and Lower Yangtze , associated with Hmong-Mien -speakers and pre-Austronesians , respectively. The functional allele for nonshattering , the critical indicator of domestication in grains, as well as five other single-nucleotide polymorphisms , is identical in both indica and japonica . This implies

14762-559: Was introduced early into Sino-Tibetan cultures in northern China by around 6000 to 5600 years ago, and to the Korean peninsula and Japan by around 5500 to 3200 years ago. It was also carried into Taiwan by the Dapenkeng culture by 5500 to 4000 years ago, before spreading southwards via the Austronesian migrations to Island Southeast Asia , Madagascar , and Guam , but did not survive

14884-439: Was stored by rural households. The dry grain is milled to remove the outer layers, namely the husk and bran . These can be removed in a single step, in two steps, or as in commercial milling in a multi-step process of cleaning, dehusking, separation, polishing, grading, and weighing. Brown rice only has the inedible husk removed. Further milling removes bran and the germ to create successively whiter products. Parboiled rice

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