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The nats (; ) are spirits worshipped in Burma (or Myanmar) in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest (i.e., spirits of trees, water, etc.). Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths (, lit. "green death"). They may thus also be called ''nat sein'' (; lit. green spirits). The word 'sein', while meaning 'green', is being used to mean 'raw' in this context. There are however two types of nats in Burmese Buddhist belief. Nat spirits are termed lower nats or ''auk nat''s (), whether named or unnamed, whereas ''ahtet nat''s () or higher nat dewas inhabit the six heavens. Much like sainthood, nats can be designated for a variety of reasons, including those only known in certain regions in Burma. Nat worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas, and is practised among ethnic minorities as well as in the mainstream Bamar society. It is however among the Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony and ritual is seen. Every Burmese village has a ''nat sin'' () which essentially serves as a shrine to the village guardian nat called the ''ywa saung nat'' (). An offertory coconut () is often hung on the main southeast post () in the house, wearing a ''gaung baung'' (headdress) and surrounded by perfume, as an offering to the Min Mahagiri (Lord of the Great Mountain), also known as the ''ein dwin'' () or ''ein saung'' () (house guardian) nat. One may inherit a certain member or in some instances two of the 37 Nats as ''mi hsaing hpa hsaing'' (; lit. mother's side, father's side) from one or both parents' side to worship depending on where their families originally come from. One also has a personal guardian spirit called ''ko saung nat'' (). ==Nat worship and Buddhism== Some disagreement in fact exists in academic circles as to whether Burmese Buddhism and Burmese spirit worship are two separate entities or just different dimensions of a single entity. Many Burmese themselves would say it is merely superstition and tend to downplay its role in society. Since the institution of the official 37 Nats was founded by King Anawrahta (1044–1077) of Bagan, albeit with later alterations, it has been argued that this may be interpreted as a process of Burmanisation and establishment of Bamar supremacy in the Irrawaddy valley after the unification of the country and founding of the First Burmese Empire was achieved by the king.〔 Worship of nats predates Buddhism in Burma. With the arrival of Buddhism, however, the nats were merged, syncretistically, with Buddhism. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nat (spirit)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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