What Shinto says about reverence
Reverence in Shinto is mostly done with the body. You pass under a gate, rinse your hands, bow, clap twice, bow again. The concepts below describe both what is being approached, the kami, and the small physical grammar for approaching it. Nine follow. Several carry no citation, because the library records them as shrine practice rather than as scripture.
Kami - The Sacred Spirits
Kami are the sacred presences the tradition orients itself towards: in mountains, rivers and trees, and in some remarkable people. They are described as near rather than remote, which is what makes the reverence practical.
Kojiki-den
Shizen - Nature as Divine Manifestation
Nature is not the dwelling place of the divine so much as its body. On this reading a mountain is not holy because a kami visits it.
Shinto teachings
Torii - The Sacred Gateway
A torii marks where ordinary ground stops. Walking through it is the act that puts you in shrine space, and nothing else is required to do so.
Shrine teachings
Temizu - Hand and Mouth Washing
At the water pavilion you rinse your hands and mouth before going further. It takes a few seconds, and it is the point at which most visitors stop being in a hurry.
Shrine protocols
Sanpai - Shrine Worship
Worship follows a set order: through the gate, wash, approach the hall, offer a coin, ring the bell, bow twice, clap twice, pray, bow once more. Knowing the sequence is most of what a visitor needs.
Shrine protocol
Shinboku - Sacred Trees
Particular old trees are treated as dwelling places of kami, marked with a rope and never cut. Reverence here has a very specific address.
Shrine teachings
Kansha - Gratitude
Gratitude, rather than petition, is the ordinary register of Shinto practice: thanks for a meal, thanks at harvest.
Shinto teachings
Makoto - Sincerity
Makoto is sincerity, meaning inner feeling and outward act lining up. The tradition consistently rates it above elaborate offering.
Shinto teachings
Shinzen - Living Before the Kami
Shinzen is the awareness of being always in the presence of the kami. It takes the shrine's manners and extends them to how you walk about the rest of the time.
Shinto teachings
What is striking is how low the barrier is. No belief is examined at the gate and no text has to be read first; the sequence does the work, and it is meant to be done sincerely rather than expertly. Whether that counts as thin or as unusually generous is left to the visitor.