"The response of Japanese culture to all of life’s ‘boundary situations,’ as existentialists have called them, is purification to seek renewal. It can be performed in the sea, in a river, or under a free-flowing waterfall. The form we will discuss here is waterfall purification because it is dynamic and profoundly inspirational to those who have performed it. Its purpose is to commune with the kami of the falls, to be united with nature, to touch the cosmos, and to seek renewal through cleansing. . . .
”There is ultimate authenticity in the act of standing under the falls and being immersed in nature itself. You will not know where your physical existence ends and the flow of the falls begins. For that moment, you and nature are one. Misogi simultaneously creates the awareness and satisfies the longing of the spiritual hunger to feel and experience nature in a way that affirms our roots. Standing under the falls, we are a part of nature's process for that time, an indistinguishable element of it, returning to the source of life.”
