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Vance please pardon me if I come in on this, but I read Jeff's post and referred to the book "WABI SABI, the Japanese art of impermanance" by Andrew Juniper. This is what it says in the Glossery.
"Kami- The Shinto idea of gods or powers that manifest themselves in the world we perceive that can affect and guide the lives of men.There can be kami in a rock, in a hanging scroll. in a tree, in ancestors, or in the lives of great men".
Reading your post, I believe this is what you were saying when you referred to kami as "spirit". When I read the above definition, I certainly get the feeling that spirit is what is being referred to.
Jeff, what is your concept of kami? I'll bet that we're all on the same track.

Mike
Edit later. I've been looking around for meanings of "kami". One I've found for kami is "divine", which seems to fit with the above. From an unfortunate time in history, the term "kamikaze" means "divine wind".
More edit later. Searching on google I found this:

The Kami of Shinto
In Shinto there are eight million kami, however the number eight was also used to denote many, so lets just say there are lots of them. Every rock, animal, spring, emotion, quality and even person has a kami associated with it. The spirits of the dead are even kami. At some point it would be useful to define exactly what is a kami. There are number of possible answers to this, from the western perspective the easiest answer would be just to call them gods (in the Greek and Roman panthiestic tradition), but I think this mis-represents things. When your father dies his spirit becomes a kami. They quite literally permeate every aspect of Shinto culture.

26-Jun-2005	#19
mike_p bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Sep-2004 Location: South San Francisco, CA Posts: 2,023	Vance please pardon me if I come in on this, but I read Jeff's post and referred to the book "WABI SABI, the Japanese art of impermanance" by Andrew Juniper. This is what it says in the Glossery. "Kami- The Shinto idea of gods or powers that manifest themselves in the world we perceive that can affect and guide the lives of men.There can be kami in a rock, in a hanging scroll. in a tree, in ancestors, or in the lives of great men". Reading your post, I believe this is what you were saying when you referred to kami as "spirit". When I read the above definition, I certainly get the feeling that spirit is what is being referred to. Jeff, what is your concept of kami? I'll bet that we're all on the same track. Mike Edit later. I've been looking around for meanings of "kami". One I've found for kami is "divine", which seems to fit with the above. From an unfortunate time in history, the term "kamikaze" means "divine wind". More edit later. Searching on google I found this: The Kami of Shinto In Shinto there are eight million kami, however the number eight was also used to denote many, so lets just say there are lots of them. Every rock, animal, spring, emotion, quality and even person has a kami associated with it. The spirits of the dead are even kami. At some point it would be useful to define exactly what is a kami. There are number of possible answers to this, from the western perspective the easiest answer would be just to call them gods (in the Greek and Roman panthiestic tradition), but I think this mis-represents things. When your father dies his spirit becomes a kami. They quite literally permeate every aspect of Shinto culture. __________________ Bonsai is not a hobby. Bonsai is a way of life. MP@BBB Studio There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way Gautama Buddha