At the Mountains’ Threshold: A Comparative Study of Religious Heroes in the Semitic and Japanese Traditions in the Context of Monomyth Theory

Authors : İbrahim Emre Şamlıoğlu

Pages : 309-332

Doi:10.37697/eskiyeni.1790750

View : 84 | Download : 221

Publication Date : 2025-12-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This comparative study applies Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory to examine how the classic hero’s journey—comprising the stages of departure, initiation, and return—manifests in Semitic and Japanese religious traditions. Campbell’s paradigm of a universal hero narrative provides a framework to compare the prophetic narratives of the Abrahamic faiths with the hagiographies of Japanese Buddhist founders. The article analyzes the life stories of key figures from the Semitic tradition (Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad) alongside those from the Japanese tradition (Kūkai, Shinran, and Nichiren) to illustrate the monomyth’s three stages in each context. Despite vast cultural and doctrinal differences, these accounts exhibit striking structural similarities and shared motifs: each figure undergoes a departure from ordinary society, faces transformative trials or visionary encounters often set on a sacred mountain or in a cave (signifying a form of symbolic death and rebirth), and ultimately returns to establish or renew a religious community. Notably, Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad are depicted as guided by direct divine revelation, whereas Kūkai, Shinran, and Nichiren derive insight through meditative visions; nonetheless, all six figures fulfill an analogous departure–initiation–return cycle. For instance, Moses’s revelation on Mount Horeb, Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, and Muḥammad’s first vision in the Cave of Ḥirāʾ find parallels in Kūkai’s enlightenment on a sacred peak, Shinran’s exile and spiritual rebirth, and Nichiren’s near-execution miracle, respectively. Such parallels highlight a common departure–initiation–return pattern underlying disparate traditions, demonstrating the model’s cross-cultural applicability in the study of religious founders. In conclusion, the analysis underscores the sacred mountain as a liminal threshold between human and divine and affirms the universality of the monomyth pattern, suggesting a Sophia Perennis—a perennial wisdom—shared across cultures. It further shows how individual mystical experiences are transformed into institutionalized traditions, as each hero’s personal journey becomes the foundation for enduring communal practices and beliefs.
Keywords : Dinler Tarihi, Monomit, Musa, İsa, Muhammed, Kūkai, Shinran, Nichiren

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