Tantric Poetry of Kukai

7/28/2019 Tantric Poetry of Kukai

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TANTRIC PERY

OF KUA

(Kobo Daishi)Japn's Buddhst Saint

wih excpts from The Aahal'icn Sutr

and 1-Hing' Comentary f th t


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1987, 1982 Morgan Gibson ad Hiroshi Murakami

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our versions of Kukai 's poems, with some notes, were first pbished in Zero

Ill: Contemporary Buddhist Le and Thought in the autumn of 1979 and we

thank the editor, Eric rner, or permission to reprint these passages. This

olume was originay pblished by Mahachuaongkorn Buddhist University,

Bangkok, Thailand

e are also gratefu to Professor Montri Umavijani of Kasesart University,

Bangkok, for much vauable comment, to BonnieR Crown of the International

Literature and Arts Program in New York for usefu recommendations, to Keiko

Matsui Gibson for translating some recet commentaries of Shingon from

Japanese into Egish, and most of all to Keneth Rexroth fo much needed

criticism and encouragement of our efforts to render Kukais thought nd feel-

ing in modern Egish poetry

ISBN 0-934834-67-9

Designed by Wateshed Desig

Pubishe by White Pie Press

76 Center Street

Fredonia New York 14063


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CONTENTS

Kkai and Shingon, by Moran GbonFm kyamuni to Ka 2Kkai's Lfe nd Tot 8Madala and Manra 12

An American's Dscovery f Shingon 4Poes Tat ing Ten Images, by Kkai (Kb Daish) 2Singing Image of a Phantom 23Singing Image of Heat Waves 25Singing Image of a Drem 26Sining Image of a Shadow in a Mirr 27inng Image of Gandarva Castle 28Sinng Image of an Echo 29

Sinin mae of a Water Moon 30nin me of Foam 3nn me f a Flower n te ky 3n e f Wrn Rn of Fire 33ese e Ten nn m 34

Tw ouce of te oemsInroducon t THE MAHV AI OAN NI)

UTA, by Hrshi Murakam 37

TEMAHVAIROCANASUTRA (excerpt)

Entern te gon Gate: Te Mnd fo StayingThe 39

COMMENTAY ON THE MAHVAIROCANA SUTA,Inroducon to 1-Hsing's COMENTARY

rs Murakami

CONTAY ON T STA

b 1-Hsin

Bblorapy

4

45


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In memoriam Kennth Rxrth


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MAHACHULALONGKRRAJA VIDY ALAY A

BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY ND ROYAL PATROAG

(ahachula Buddhist niversiy)

Office of the Secretary-General

Tel. 2214859, 2221867 2221869

Preface

Wat Mdtu

Bangkk 2, Tad

Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist iersity undr Roya Ptrge

as a is main objecive he program of pubishing uddhis exts both

ahync and Theradi. I has aso been making grea emts to

promoe uddhst and philoophica sudie in eery asec. his cnobvisly be een from ariu pubicaions so ar underaken b the

Univerity oreoer, he udens of he niersy hae s wel o

unergo he core o uy in ahynic phioohy

is a maer o pleaur o sae here ha Dr onri jan

inrouced o us for publicaon his inuabe book of Tanric Poery

by Kka, Japan' greae dhis sin nd teacher nd rnstd

ino Egh by organ Gibon and Hirhi urakami famous oeand Buddhis schoar Tha he Taric Poery by Kkai is bed onhe Mah'ivarocana Sutra ad 1-Hsing's Commenty hs further

enriched he inauabiliy of he book nd he lofnes of he poetryherein

ahachuaongkorn Buddhis University i pleased to pubis this

inauabe book and offer i o he sudes of Buddhsm in prticuar

an o he public in general Our hnks are hus due to Dr onri

maijni for his keen ineres in he pubicaion of he bo; and o

the wo earned ransators or their pinsking effor in brinin to

igh ths rre literure.

(Vn. h Mh Nkon Khmpli .D.)Sty-Gl


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KUKAI AND SHINGON-Morgan Gibson

Kkai, whose posthumous name was Kb Daishi (774-835 A.D.),is one of the most prooundly influential igures n Buddhism, widelyevered as Japan's geatest saint A precocious scholar an wanderngmonk he was ordained at Tdaiji in Nara an later spnt two ears inChina (806), where he wa ornd as a Mstr of t Singon (Tue

Word) sect Returning to Japan, he established Shngon there, and tevetual became the dominant Tantic, or Esoterc, sect Ka helpedjoin Shn traditions with Tantrc Buddhism, for the symbol o the sunis central in bothepresenting the Shinto Sun Godess Amateasu as

well as Dainichi Nyorai (Mahvairocana, he Dharmaya, Budhamind, or uddha o Uivesal Illuminatio). Kkai was active in severalmaor temples in Kshu and Nara eoe uildin the vas monaseryand cemeery on Mount Kya, whch emains the cente of Shngon, adiisig Tji i Kyto. His oganizational achievements flowed fromhis theoretical and literary genius, expessed thouh unexcelled calligaphic atisty, and he is said to have peected the hiraganasyllabary,wich aowed the Japanese to write thei ow language. Dying i

meditation on Mout Kya, he is popularly thought to be awaitinMatrey, he future Buddha, wen he will reurn to actve fe.

Kkai's POEM TAT SING TEN IMAGES, translated in thisvolume, express the fundamental teaching of Mahyna and TantricBuddhism hat all orm is void (empty o substance, impermanent,egoless-incung the forms of Buddha (enligtend beng), Dharma(truth r law), and Samgha (communty of mons, nuns, and ay

practtner of Dharma In ths iw, al bng, no matter w sacred,turn ot to be a lusory as phantoms, hat wa, dreams, saows inmrrors, mrag-cast, choe, water moons, fams, fowrs n thes, an whng rng f fr bt, form may b "lfu mansfor relng h r f nnfr, that e manra "!, for aple, e numerabe Ba-t; b ngtnen beraton fro forms, acen from lobjt, toug, mag, com

sona eaatn tha a s nong: "Bs of h Ga V Ony!


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FROM 'KY AMUNI TO KKAI

Paradoxically, formal expressions of non-form are etraordinarily

complx in Shingon, whih is a philosophical, mythologial, artistic,

and organizational synthesis of many taditions, comparable to theRoman Catholi Church in terms of cultural rihness. How did the

Shingon synthesis, established by Kkai and still thrivng in Japan,

develop fromthe orgn teacgs of'kyuni Budda(558-78B.C)?

If/Skyamuni sould vist a Shingon temple today, he might wellask, with his familiar scepticism, why it is considered to be Buddhist.Wheras he had rejected the Hindu rituaism of his day, h would obseve

Shingon ceemonis performed before Mahvairocana-Dainichi, thersonification of Dharmakya-Budh-Mind, and many other Buddhasand Bohisatvah who were not porrayed, revered, or even known to

his folowrs uring hi liftime, and h ould be suprise to see his own

imag ong the other (for th rst sclturs and potraits of'kyunire mad long after his death). H old fin himself worshippd as

ivin ing, no the mortal tht h had insisted he was in teahing

tat ther s no trnl sou or go. woul oserv monks living

coforta in eml or homes, man ith wives, amilis, and roperty(ncling tle as fiy proerty, rather tha wandering an begging

in im if o th original Samga, or Community of monks. An

hras h ha itaed quietly, itout ceremony, an had taght by

gvin immiat answers t monks an others ho had questioned him,

Shingon monk woul seem to him to as dependent a rahmns on

eabora ceremonies, emple-ustoms, and mythological systems

O the other hand, "kyamuni would undoubtely share withmodern Shingon hists a basic attiude of ompassioa cntem plation, a silen oen- minded peacefulness underlying whatever is said

nd done. This basi attitude was originally embodied i "Skyamuni,whose compassion for thesick, old, nd dying-forall sentie beings

col not b satisfied or vn exprsse aequately through prevailingHind practices and elis, not through the ritualism of the ruling

aste of Brahmins, who ientified themselves with the uiversal spirit

of Brahma, nor through the ascetiis ofvarious schools of Yoga, nortrogh hlooicl ecuation, nor nihiism. Finding all prvailing

plosophica nd rgous sytm adqe for solving the problm

of unhappiness, 'kyun meditatd ner the bo tree until compassion


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expanded unhindered into full realization of liv ing undivied from others,

who were only apparently distinct beings. After some hesitation about

weher t keep silen, his compassionate ealization led him to teach te

Middle Way beween edonism and asceticism, desire and aversin, jst

as compasionate realization through Buddhist history ha pade

he eachngs into forms, such as Shingon, sitable fo helping crtai

people i certain sitatios, remote fom thos o th Bh's itm,

aain enlghenmen. The secre of Buddhim is not in the doctris as

iperonal abstrac principles, cerinly not in thinking of them a eternal

doga, u in reaiing how they have been insightful sponses to pople

in differen siuaion. Dhara, Buddhist trth, liv i the uxuation

of ife, and i soetimes expressed in word, sometimes in images and

eure, oeie in silece.1kyamunis words were not written

dwn uni afer i deat, jus a the wod of Jesus were not witten

dwn unl afer his death, perhaps because the living preence of these

rea iunar wa o cared wih meanig tha wriing seeme

uperuou, or even in violaion of hei vial spirit. How they oke,

pnaneul petic and dramatic, no dubt eemed even more impran n what tey aid, cerainly far more significant tan ods

n a page ever can e. en e Gospe and Stras wre writtn , oe

try, pares, myths evealed more of the oiginal spirit o sus andSkyamni than literal stateents. So in readig ay Bddist tet,

u never be ataced to he wrd as expresions o act o doctrin,u u let compassion exend ur minds hrough the angage, into

experience beyn wrd and ougt. Scholarship helps to prevent

fae nerpreain, u wiu copaionae insight and imagina

ion, charhip eaves us uddled over doctrines that were intde

remove hindrances to copasionae wisom, and were efctve i

certain siuaion and not in ohers.

Fro he ras we have a vivid impreion oryamunis beneven pernality an how e oke to his followers, ometimes with

e direct expresin o ethical an psychological ideas, bt moe oten

ndirecly, rouh paable and meaphor, and always to relive pi

and cnfuion, o hep liberate entien beings from th unsatisactori

ne of lfe (Duhkha). Three "baskets of witings volved-Stas,suppoedy containing the Buddhas words as ecaled through ol t

din, bu often, no doubt, imaginative recrations to eva th

piri, if no he leter, or'kyamuni's mssage; Viaya, ls o th


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Samgha or Community of monks; and Abhdharma, psychlogicaland hilosohcal doctrines. Among undamental teachis of the S-tras are the Four Noble Truths: Sffering (that lie is f1ndamentally il-lusoy, ehemeal, nsatisfactory) the Ogn o Suferng desire fra averson to objets whch are llusons he End of Sffering end-ng desire and aeson for obects ta seem o be separate from self,which s also an lluson, and the Eightfold Path to Nrvna (r the Ex-tinction of Sel). The Eightold Path is ote presented in three groupso principles: Mrality (Right Speech Condct, and Lilihd), Con-emlation Right Efort, Mndfulness, and Meditation, and WisdomRght Views and Aspirations. These doctines of t Middle Way

v been gven many interpreations throgh he ages always in tems

o e mmediate situation of thse on the Middle Way. So Dharmahas always been practical, a way of liberation and enlitenment, eenn its mre pilosophical expressions. In the Theory of InterdependentOrignation, for example the lss of Nirvna, throug ignrance, inthe diisin of whle conciusness into apparently separate obects fSamsra (te illusry orld f penomena), is suggest, rather thaneplained but the efect f the theory is to cut through attachments to

ojs by revealng thei impermanence and deendence n the ephem-

ral funtoning of conscousness. That s, the ind creates thoutswc we inorantly identify as obects in a eal world, but all we realynow ae the thoughts in One Mind which is epty of substance. Ifwe re atached to tese tughs, as if they were real w become con-

nl frusated wheeas we ealize tha thought are only thoghtsnclding the thought f self, we begin to be liberated frm illusory ob-

jets o desie and aversion. Only in full realization that all is changing,

emoay, and wthout substance or essence tha there s no perma-

et o objective sel or ego no absolute soul, can hee be compasson- eqimity ad liberation rom karma (the buden of ast acts).

At about the time f Christ Buddhsm went through a culturalevoluton knwn as Mahyna th Greater Vehicle), which spreadom ndia throughout Asa, no doubt because /Skyamuni's dret,ogna aproch was not eecive in new stuatons. In Mahynah LOTUS SURA and ohe wtngs presented he personality of

odhsattah, an enligtened being wh, instead of entering teol bliss o Nivna, postpones his entry until all sentient beings arell elghtened also. The cef Bodhisattvah, Avalokiteshvara (Kan-

o Jaa ees "silll meas o helping others, by assuming


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various forms and mehods, depending on eac situaion for all rusare non-dualisic, epy, originaing in he on fundmnal ru onon-or. a is, all forms are ony apperances including Budasan Bodisavahs, wose orms reveal he void of irvna. So Mayna is expressed hrough arisic symbolism poeic impicion myic ambiguiy rorical paradox in such PRAJNPRMIT (Per-ecion of Wisdom) SUTRAS s e HEART DIOD SSin wic ralizaion o form as void or Sms s ras e nio of unversl compsion om I ikdilcic, gr Buis o j Sco CA.D.) logicall dmols l ocrins s f cmending acmens o ideas evers M c preen as myic suggsions of rvn sc s ky bodies o Buda: amaya ( uniersl Budd-nu or Bmnd; Sambogakya (e lissbody of nligend realzion); ndirmanakya (he visible ody of a Bud suc s e socal

/Syani)bodies in wich all senien bings picp ofenwihou nowing i, for we are all nauraly and originll enlgdwihou realizing i unil suc hindrances s dsrs n vrsos

acmens o self nd or illuions drop .

Zen evolved s schoo of in C m f'kyamni originally praciced ilen nococ dsuc no-verbl mens of communicing Dm r in respose o quesion. edion s w bn m B

dism; bu only afer Bodidrma In S Cesablised Zen as a scool in Cin di mn bc o cla evn e r n Budds ere s \nnc fo Bdis pacc n een inimic o nlgm c oug re obcls. Zn monks or ue ofn piosopiz o silnc n l cz words re dcepi. In Cina n bo f

and is i of conlss cion K Jn wr i eer idesred uc flf n . Bcue in Zn p cemion mg re vo ner g f


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or the drinking of tea no less than in/Skyamuni's words i th stras;

so Zen arts of ctmpative living wr pracicd wid by rdiary

people as wll as monks, as tey ar o is day in Japa.

Out ofMahyna emerged Tatric, Esoteric, or Vajrayna Bud-dhism (Mikkyo in Japanese), whic bcame systemitized in Nepal and

Tibet in the Svnth Century, and passed tough China into Japan in

te early Nnth Centuy, broug by Kkai ad his frind and rival Saich6.

In Tantra, both Hidu a Buddhist, a gur initiats discples, wh r-

vere him as they practic cotemplativ yoga and magical rituals ivolv-

ing mantra and oter occult forms of anguage, mudra ad oter signi-

fcant gestures, mandalaad oter visal iagry, pilgrimags andothr

physical ordeals, and sometimes sexual yoga such as yab-yam. Philosophicall, Tantra centers on ineffable universal Being which is rvealedin dualistic, often sexal symbolism and rituals. Passions, rathr thabeing dplored and restricted as they wer by th origina followrs of

1kyamuni, are in Tantra regarded as avues to Enlightemt if meitation ad rituals ar practiced exactly, udr th absolut guidac ofa guru.

St wayo cotplativ, cpassionat, coprativ wisom,

originated by/Skyamuni, created many forms of nofor-images

of Buddhas ad Bodhisatvahs; stras, commentaries, an ptry; and

diverse kinds of organizational lifeas "skillful means for helpingmany diferent kinds of peope i divrse personal and historical cir-

cumstaces, on the Middl Way i th ralization of a sprital Utopia

on eart.

How did Buddism develop i Japa? According to E. Dal Sauders (BUDDHISM IN JAPAN,96), it entered Japan first by wa of

Korea, in theSixth Centy, ad functioned at frstaamagical meas of

protecting thestate from vil spirits, until te Regent Shtoku Taishi em-

hasized its etical bnefits in social wr. In 596 A. D. h built Siteji, a great temple which survived, in part, the air-raids o Osaka dur

ing World War II, and in6he wrote Japan's irst Constitution, which

emphasized such Bddhist values as peace andcooperatio. Buddismdeveloped rapidly under sponsorsip of the court when Nara was built

in 710, a capital city modelled on a Chiese plan. May emps wer

ercted, sponsoring charitabl and mical institutions, ad gendr-


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ing intense speculation about the Mahya doctrine of he Vid (Shnat, or Mu). In 94, Kyto was built on the plan of the Chinese T'ancaptal f Ch'ang-an, where Kka travelled to become the Eihth Patriarc f Shingon beore establihn that sect in Japan: yo remain

ed the capital city tough at tims only nominally) until1185.

Its founder, te Emperor Kammu, encouraged the rowth of Tendai Buddhismn and roud yto, to counter the rivalries of the Nara temples. Tenda, a synthess of several sools, was led by Saich (Deny6 Daishi),who studied Tendai, Zen, and Shnon in Chna at about the same timeas his friend Kkai, but returned before hm to led Tendai, wih Imperial approval. Sach seems to have encouraed Shnon as one ofsevral schools, alon wit Zen, within Tenda, whereas kai insisted

in leadn Shinon as the orthodox, all-comrehending form of Buim for Jaan.


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KUKAI'S LIFE AND THOUGHT

From Professor Yoshito S. Hakeda's definitive study of Kkai(UAI: MAJOR WORKS, 192) we earn that he was bon on June 15,

74, of aristocraic parents named Saei o Shikoku. He was caedTtomono and ao as a chid, and after his death on arch 21, 835,was given the tite of Kb Daishi geat teacher of Buddhist teachingsHe is popuary revered in Japan no ony as he founder of ShingoBuddhism in Japan and the creato of is main monastry on oun, aso as geat riter, thiner, caigrapher, an eary promor i not the inventor of the kana syabay, the originator of theigrimage route of eighty-eight tempes on Shikoku, an the spiritua

ater of Japanese cuture. e was the first Japanese to beieve that were a originay enightened, though binded by Samsra, and that eveyone h th potenti of ttining Enightenmen in This Very Existence''(expaied n an essay with this tite, regardess of socia stats o sex;so his teachings have appeaed to individuas of a kinds, rathe hamere to te upr ras, who had benett most fom the Na tempes.

s a hid Kai sdied Ch a o hs c, Otai, an emi Cofciaist ho a d Co iThen Kkai ent o coee, doped o o ad n th otais whee, ifeced by e ata Wisdo choo o Bddhsm aswe as by Shin Shamanism, had visions of Bodhisatva eawhie, in 794, the Empeo Kammu esabishd hi ew caia a yo,but city ife repeed Kkai, thogh he peiodicay ned o yo

or study. t24,

he wrote NDCONS, advocating Buddhism ovConfuciism d Tasm, d eventuly e a Buddhist novice, shavinis hd d reivig prepts at Mainn Tempe. Reading the HVAR ANA STR (a pr of which we incude in this vome), he deded o stdy Esotei Bddhism in Cia H aied ee 84, aage 3, sponsored by the mperia Govemen of Japan, indin ostay for twenty yas, but tning o yeas ae He ived i Ch'aan, the capita of the T'ang Dynasty and ca cente of oien,

where man eigions ineracted He tdied fo i-kuo o Keika,746-805), the courtsponsored Patriah of Esoeic Buddhism, ccessor of Pu-k'ung moghavajra, ho i tu as h scceso oajrabodhi, who had begun teachin in Chia in 72. ou yea e-


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fore that, Esoteric Buddhism had been brought to Cha by the IndianMaster Subhkarasima (637735), who had translated the MAHVAIROCNA SUTR from Snskrt to Chinese with 1-Hsing (683-727: parts of his COMMENTARY on the STRA are inclded n this

boo). Jst before Kai's teacher, Huikuo, ded, he ordaied Kkaias the Eighth Patriarch, directing him to propagate Esoteric ddhismin Japa. So Kai cut sot his stay, returning to Japa in 806.

Kai brought om China many stras and other litertre, Mandaa essetia in Esoteric practice (the Diamond and Womb, or Matrix,

Mandala), other works ofart, and rital implments, hich he isted in

hisMEMORIAL, petitioningthe statefor support ofhs new relign i

Japan. fter a threeyear delay, becausehis friend and rvalSach had

brought soteric Buddhism to Japan before him andhad attemped to

incude it in the ndai Establishment, the court finally ahorized

Kkai to reside in Taaosanji (later named Jingoji) Temple in yto,

were his rligious and rtistic influnce quicly spread as Saich's de-

clined. Kai initiated Saic ut rfused to grnt him advanced nitia-tion, or la him ooks, syg that Dhama had to be trsitted direc

from mind to mind, ot b ooks, thus isisting on his ow total autho-

rit as Shngon Patriarch of Japan. kai was also appoited administrator of the great Tdaiji Temple in Nara (810-83), ad in 816 EperorSaga grantd his equest to establish a new monastery on ont a,where, according to legend, he had found, hangig in a pe ree, a vajra(ceremona implement representig the thunderbolt of elghtenent)

that he had thrown from China towars Japan. So yasan becamehis spiritual home, which he preferred to all other places. t n 823 theEmpror sent him to Tji in Kyto, to supervise its completion to protect the southern entrance of the city, and to establish the Shgo Sectthere for its exclusive usethe frst time "Shingon had been ofciallyused for a distinct sect. Near it, kai built, in 828, the frst school inapan for universal education regardless of socal stats, and copilea dictioary for the students, the oldest i Japan. He also spervisedpublic wrks projcts, the restoration and reproduction of Chese artworks, and many ceremonies at court and in teples. In 82, he retiredto Kya-sn, wherein 835he died n meditation. Accordg tolgd he

continues to be in meditatio to tis da.


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Kukai wrote over fifty work, inerpreing and yemiizing EotericBdhi a h oplete trth expreed by Daiichi-MahvairocnBdha, he emodiment of DharmyaBddhaNre Accordingto Proeor Hakea, "The aertion hat Mahvairocana i the Dhar

aka apear irt in the commenary on e MAH V AIR OCANASUTRA xpouned y Subhkarasimhaand writen downby his disciple

1-Hi .. ahvairoana, an abtract polation conceived by tereligio ei of India, became le abrac when intrpreed by ehi , a trned onrete when tranmitted by kai to JpnWhen reinterpreted, Mahvairocana became congenial o the indigenoentality having been deined a the Exience of all exitence, a pntheitionotheiti Spreme Being with peronalitywidom nd

copionwho cold be fond here and now in nre and in or mind(p 93) So very being i Mahvairocana and every ond i harm

The MHVAIROCANA TR revealed the L rincile of mpasioat catvity inmany forms, as visualized in the WomborMatr

Manala; a the VAJRSEKHAR STR or DIAMOD CRONSUTR, ot o be confed with the RJRIT DIAONDSUTR) reveale the Diamond idom of relized Enlighenmen isuaize i the Diaond Mandala; but each is no-dualistic nd inseparabfom he other in Kkai's practice, though thy had evolvedseparately Ia. Kkai's syhesis of Buddhis teachings, meditionpactc, cemoes atistic forms, and sial organizatios w original

a aazy sstemati. In TH PRECIOUS KY TO THE SECRETASURY, fKkai's bc works translate by Professor Hakeda dtv udy Kkai datd ten stages of Elightement,. t o esires, through Conucianism ad elmentaryBddh through aspirations for imotality, the Arhat's realiza-to tha o s iperaent pshophysical uncios, thePatkabha's ucoitioed sympathetic concern for others, he

aiato (o rjna ad othe) that the mind i ( he Ta reaation of origial priy of mind and

i t an t th Hayen ealiation of ind a t a ri aiation o evey eing' part t T e of , a peeh in the

aaaiih. hth or not we t o ot oy sive vaiety

ofBhst that ha evoled throughoutAsia over he centuries,


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but also he religious practices and social relations of a variey of forms

of Buddis, in a kind of aesthetic Utopia, in which each part reected

the whoe, unirsa Budda of non-form.


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MANDALA AND ANTRA

Knkai's itellectual ad orgaiztioal accomplishmts were gratly facilitated by ritualistic practices bsed o cotemplatio of the Dia

mod ad Womb Madala, ad ivolvig mudr (esues), matra(souds imagied, chated, or writte), ad other techiques. I aissue of SUN MOOK joural (No5,Tokyo, February 10, 1979) devotedto KKAI AND KYA-AN, Katsuyama Sesei explais how, accordig to the MAHV AIR OCANA STRA, Madala (meig obaiig the essece") origiated i aciet Iia folk-rituals i which sacrdd was marked with strig tid to four poles. I this area priestswould make a altar of soil, covered with maure from sacred cows

ad sprikld wih perfume ad jewels, which would b destroyedfter the ceremoies were completed. A similar ritual is performed iJapa to this day, i buildig ordiry houses as well as tempes. Madala were brought to Chia by Tatrc moks, ad from Chia to apaby Kkai whe Buddhism was i crisis, ad a imagiative sythesis wasrequired for the wellbeig of Japa. Shigo Madala were symbolicmodels for a ew Buddhist age i which every aspect of life woudreect the Buddha-mid of Daiichi. Su-like, this uiersal Buddha

shies from the Womb Madala, his compassio like the red warmthof a womb aroud a baby about to be bor, as those who meditated oit awake i the world of elightemet.

The Madala used by Kkai hve bee magificetly photographedby Yasuhiro shimoto i MANDLA: SHINGON MANDAA OFTWO WORLDS AT TJI TEMPLE (Kyoto, o date, but issued i

the late 1970's, with Japaese texts by Toshiteru Maabe ad others).These Mala are Natioal Treasures at Tji, whre I saw them exhibited i the late 1970's. Well preserved fter more tha thousad years(fro about 899), they were paited with brilliat colos profusioof reds ad greeso silk, each bout 183 x 163 cetimeters. Ishioto's book cotais elrgeets of sectios that reve the sesuousforms of the Buddhas ad Bodhisattvahs. The red lotus-petals resemble vagias, as do some of the mudrs, ad there is much phallic symbo

lism i the vajra swords ad head-dresses ad whole bodies peetratig vagi-like haloes. Each beig is vibrat, as if dacig, further cotributig to the erotic itesity of the copoitio. For i Shigo, Wisdomis xpressed erotically.


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According to Manabe's essay, the stude of Mandala may ex

plore them in two rectos, satng wih the Womb Mandala a

procding to the Diamond Mandala. We may procede counterclockwisero t oridinary world of Samsra to th Buddha-worlds of Nirvna

or clocwise rom Nvna to Samsa: but both ways are one, just asNirvna s Samsra an Dachi is everyne. So the seses, passions

even seual deight and othe Kamc illusions may be ways into enligh

nment. All o the bings portrayed in the two Mandala ae emana

tions o Dainichi Nyorai, represeted a the top of the Diamond Ma

daa and in the center of the Wom Mandala. His compassionate wisdom

is ie the lazing sun. He s white (enlightened) and rd (passionae)

Eploring the Wom Mandala we encounte bengs hat appaetl

surroun us, as a womb nrtues a baby; ut exploing the DiamoManaa, we struggle with our own spi o libeao. At the en of

successful training, whch volves elaboate medtaos ad rtual

focusse on each image in n the stude envsos the blazg face

of Dainch, which blins h he soun of the mara, "Ah! The

the suent touches Daich, full lotus o the ght le a

ouchin a dangli ewel is terife of the Budha who is le a lv

woman an ma beyo aliies of male ad female boy ad spi

wsdom and compasson, humaiy and spritbengs.

The manra "Ah! s he "mother of all he first leter of te

Sansrit alphabet, and the seedsyllable of MahvaocaaDaich

from whom evolve all othe mantras, languages poetry and thought

according to Kais rtings. (Haeda, p. 249.) Hece the name of

Kkais Buddhism: Shingo, which means "True Word. "Ah! s

true, according to Ka, not only ecause it stands for Danich, the

Body of ruth, ut alo cause whn pon its virations so spiritualie the body, if prepared prope ritual and meitaton, that the soun

is revaed to e no ess than the ody of Dharma, Dainchi himself.


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14

AN AMERICAN'S DISCOVERY OF SHINGON

I first learned about Kkai from enneth Rexroth, wose work asa poet and translator of Chinese and Japanese poetry has been deeply

influenced by Shingon Buddhism. Afer my book on Rexroth was pub-lished in 1972, I wanted to live in Japan for many reasons among themto deepen m understanding of Buddhism for its own sakeand as a ayino dimensions of Rexroth's poetry that were obscure to me. Thanks

to his help, I was invited to teach at Osaka University, 1975-9, and dur-ing this period I explored Buddha Dharma in Zen and Tantric temples,

wih the guidance of monks philosophers poets, Rexroth himself, and

his wife he poet Caol Tinker. Sin i my home in Osaka during a

lecure our of American Centers, Rexroth encouraged me o work withmy friend Hiroshi Murakami, poet anslator, and an editor of AO

poetry journal, on he ranslaion of Kkai's poems and sources that

appear in this volume. Rexroh subjected our efforts to much-needed

criicism, an I am profoundly indebted o him and Muraami for any

understanding that I have of Kkai's poery. I take responsibility for

faults in he final English version.

Kkai wrote the poems in Chinese. Hiroshi Murakami roduda rough English version from the oiginal Chinese version and recentJapanese translaions by Shk Watanabe and Shunky6 Katsumata. Ireworked Murakami's English version in close consultation ithhim. Yoshito S. Hakeda's monumental study, KUKI: MAJORWORKS, (1972), was an indispensible aid. Murakami and I beievethat e haveproduced thefirst edition ofall ofKkai's POMSTATSING TEN IMAGES rendered as modern Englis poetr.

Besides he close textual work with Murakami and Rexrot, theexperience of Buddha Dharma and especialy Singon in Japan was in-dispensible in the preparation of this book and I am grateful to mycolleagues at Osaka University for the opportunity of teaching thereand of living in Japan during those crucial years.

In addition to Rexoth, I had learned something of Budha Dhaain America, before moving to Japan from Allen Ginsberg, GarySnder, Alan Watts, and Chgyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, whosemeditation-seminars at Tail of the Tiger (the Tibetan Tanric Buddhist


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commune later namd Karme Chling) I attended while diecting Hmanities Cenr a Goddard College in Vemont, 1972-5. I learnedfrom Trgpa Shamaha (Calmness) and Vipassyana (Insight) mediation, ang wih fndamental teachings of Theravda, Mahyna, andVajayna (Tantric) Dharma. In eptembe of 1974 I was initiaed bythe Gyalwe Kamapa, the supeme head of Trungpa's lineage, theKagu, in an Abhisheka in New York, folowing the first eformanceotside of Asia of the Blac Crown Ceemony (in which the Kamapabee Avalokteshvaa, the eat ohisattvh of Comssion). Andi a seon initiation, the followig Januay, at ame Ch


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Buddhist and Japanese life generally, but had great trouble findinanyone to help me with Tantr.

My first encounter was on February 21, 197, whn Koren

Japanese friend took me to Shitennji, Osaka's oldest temple, to

commemorate the day on which Kkai had died in medtation n ismonastery on Mount Kya, in 835 A. D. The atmophere of Shtenji

etranced me even more than that o Asakua Kannon Temple. Old

omen danced for Kkai and other dead, wreathed in the smoke of incense. Others wrote prayers on papers that monks burned or dropped

i a stream. A bent-over woman told me to take care of old folks and

not ask the Buddha for the impossible. Men in white, wearing aprons

o animal skins, massaged people's backs and legs. The were

bushi wandering Buddhist shamans who had come down from theountains near Nara to perform exorcit cures. One, after blowing a

conchshel ho, went to work on my sine, whch had ach for monhs,canting as he vibrated a vajra (bronze thunderbolt) down it, warming,

reaxing, and energizing my whole body, and told me to thnk Kkai.

A couple o days ater, walking through a maze of nes near myaartment in Suita, a suburb in which modern uildig were mixed

with ancient farmhouses, I was lost, then discovered, on a hill of bamboo, a temple, where a monk introuced himself as Fukuoka, a if expecting me. He guided me through the temple, showig me many

Buddhas, Bodhisattvahs, and Guardians, commenting on eac one,

then sat with me in front of the main alr. He explained tht the temple,

named Enshji, had originally been built by Ennin in 856 as a Tdai

temple for a huge area nort of Osaka, but four hundred year ler it

had become Shingon. e worshipped Dainichi Nyorai (Maairocna).Looking inently at me, Fukuoka Sensei suddenly waved is right arm

in a great circle, shouting, "Dainichi everywhere! Dainic eerybody!

Everything ainichi! Then, putting his finger on his forehead he

closed his eyes and aid, "I Dinichi! I was stunned, m mind blank.

eading me to his home, he introduced me to his wife d daughter,

invited me to lunch, and urged me to retur any time. I bgn gon to

Enshji every morning before dawn, earing the big gong reverberatingi the cold darkness. Fukuoka Sensei would lead me into the temple

ad perform daily rituals, which invoved chanting sras and mantras,

as well as sprinkling water and lighting candles around Madala. Some


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time a younger monk from Kya-san asssted him. I leaed from Fukoka Sensei that Shingon, ike Tendai, is a form of Esoteric (mikkyo)

Buddhism, unlike the exoteric '(kengy) forms of Jd, Jd Sh, and

Nichiren. n kengy people are dependet o Buddhas for enlighten

met whereas n mkky people ae elt detly of ud

das iriki, are elteed i ts lf d by ate than

after dath, and may enter Nirvna anywhere (kakush. Eventually,

Fuoa Sensei led me into an inner sactum, we potats of hs

acestors staed at me as he rubed a vajra o hs osay ad chatd

stras before Buddhas beside a large ed mro (epesetng Dichi

the sun-Buddha). Deeply onored to be guded so compassoatly by

im, I nevertheess did not feel that could become a Shgo mok,

not only ecause of language difficulties, but because of a kind of spiritual intoxication induced by the rituals which was ot cleared away

until I passed through Zen training.

Singon as remained maor source of Dharma-insght for me.

earned al could of its traditions, and especialy about its Japanese

founde, Kkai. Explorng the pilgrimage route oginated y kai

on Sioku, passed through a om-ike cave devoted to him, as Ishi

tei, and sa othe memorals to him throuthout Jpa. eet Reoths return to Japan in 978 as a great inspiration to me, not only

ecause of fequent discussions aout Kkai and Singon but because

of hs readings of LOVE POEMS OF MARCHKO strongly iuencedy Shingon, which he had recently completed. ate that year, on Oc

tober 6, I as marred in eian Shre in Kyoto, to eko Matsui, a

poet of Shngon ancesty whose love pofoudly eriched my sese of

Dham.

n arch of 99, shortly efore the 4th anversary of Kkas

death eiko and I made a grimage to his tomb te vast cemetery

and monastery on Kya-san where, with Murakami ad our poet

fred ohn Solt, we celebrated the completion of these traslatos.

We stayed at Saina (South West emple, founded y Kkas assis

tant) where after ot mneral baths and dne served y young monks,

e told stores about Kkai nd colectivey traslated ts poem by B

sop Jchn (or Jien,55225:I am thankfl

in the shade f the crgs f Ky-an

Dsh stll lves


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Then Murakami translated an anonymous poem based o the fundamental mantra of Sigon:

The children of "Ah!having departed from heir hometownreu to their home-town of "Ah!

We awoke before dawn for the monks' service, then after brakft aKkai's portrait and andala in a museum, visited th fiv mjoBuddhas and many Bodhisattvahs in the Geat Pagoda, ad waredthrouh the immense graveyard to his tomb, where we taked im forthese POEMS THAT SING TEN IMAGES.

Despite his life-work in transforming Sigon for Jaaee conditions and nurturin it there through preachin, writin ceremonies,ad the buidin of temples, Kkai cautioned aainst al attachments,een to Buddha, Dharma, and Samha, for no wors, thoughts, orimaes can represent, define, or describe Nirvna or the exact wy tot, and even te enlihtened mind is temporary, dwelling lwas in theworld of illusion. Only "Detachment revls the pure Buddamind

(in "Singin Image of a Phantom)but tis is beyond the mere idea ofBuddha-mind, for this too is an illusion. I this rspect, ai's tacin is not unlike that of Zen insofar as Zen means uattacd compasionate cotemplation, bu nt ecessaril if Zen mean t pcificpractices of Rinzai, St, an baku sect, which volvd in pnover three and a alf cetuies aft his de ctually, cpicis owards the foms of Budda, Darma, ad Smg runs d gsuch basic ayna texts as the PRJNPRMI S0RS,

LOTUS SRA, and grjua's VLDY RIand even back to'kyamuni imslf. Becuse Kkai's imag ntouht in the poems were adapte from HE MH IR C(DAINICI STR and 1-sing's COMENRY ON HE SR,we have included excerpts of ts Tantric classics. logth, texts that we ave translated sow how all xprienc is iluso onsubstantial, foms of void, for evything is depndn o cis ofcausation rtr than being autonomous ad tenal So ll xic

is likened to pantoms, heat waves, and ote epmer. Onl compassionate contemplation of chane librtes t mid from ttachments, strivin, caving. Enligtenmet is te ralization of emptiness.


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In the transmissio of Buddha Dharma to the Wet, as it apparetly

declies in Asia, we have much to lear from Kkai, who creatively

trasfomed Buddhist thought ad practice to aid th popl of Japa,

just as Bodhidharma had adapted Dharma, origiatig i dia, t co

ditons in China. We America have much to lea from Buddhism a

it has been practiced hroughout Asia i may forms, but it caotrow ta in our country without radical chnges i forms of exress

on an socia orgaizatio. Buddha Dharma, which is on-duaistic,

has too og been compromised, I thik, i the patriachal tradition i

which wome have paed a subordiate role. Buddhists have some

times forgotten the origial socia fuctio of the Samgha as a pacifist

commuity of Utopia perspectives in which the poor ad oppressd

found iratio ad ralizatio i compassioate cooperatio. As welear from Kkai, let us ot e attached to his patriarchal role i tra

mittg Dharma from ia to Japa, or to ay of the specific form

of Shigo, all of wich revaled, i certi situatios, the fudamtal

truth of oform. Let u try to go to th ourc of i thougt ad

poetry, th way th mid veal Buddaid throug image ad

other ilsios, the way Nirva alizd as Samsra void a form.

May readers of POEMS THAT SNG TN MAGS fid

realizatio!


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PEM TT NG TEN MGE

by KUKAI (KOB DAISHI: 774-835 A. D)


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1) SINGING IMAGE OF A PHANTO

AlI can see is a phatom.

All comes from the chain of causation

Oe basic ignorance and all karic acts,Neither inside nor outside, lead atray ordinary mortals.

The Trefd World is a creation of creative powers.

The Ten-sided World of Truth is the lotus palace

23

That canot be expressed simply by "Emptiness or "Existence or

even by "The Middle Way

The Threfold Truth, harmozing all thg as they are, s detached

from name and form

Peach and plum blossoms i the pring garde dazzle the eyesMooligh in autumn watr toxicates chldish people

Clouds come a go like h oess ovr the Lake Distrct o Ch '

Evryhn is mpy, lk so o the Lo Ch 'a River blo n thei

Crazed atachm crats paful illuso o e Triple World

Daachmet reveals the pr BddhamidTh ol go tray ho otemplates truth?

Ring abov th orl retu o the palace of the eteal word, "Ah!

NOTES: In meditating on the Ten Images of these poems-a phatom, heat waves, a

dream, a shadow, Ghadarva Castle, an echo, a water moo, foa, a false wer thesky, a whirling ing Of fire-a Shing studet reaizes that a fm s v d that a at

tachmets ae vai.Basc igoraAce: Ignonce of emptess (osubstatialty) s the fuaeta caus

of unappiness.

The Threefold Wold: The world of eightemet of Buddas, the wor f setet

begs, ad the wrd of osetet begsCreative pwers: The sx great eemets (earth, water, fre, w, sky, a ccuses

are al vdThe Tesed Wrd f Tuth:The ten sides of the uiverse are east, sut, west, oth,

southeast, southwest, ortheast, othwet, above, a belw s uvese s

o dffeet from the otus paace of Nva, fr f s vdThe Threefld Tuth: Eveyhg is empty, eveg s temp (catve hasesof pheomea), ad everythig is te Mdle Way betwee ete a tem

poralty The pepetual cooperato f tese thee tuts s calle the reefolTruth i Ifte Hamoy


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The gddess over the Lake District of Ch'u: Acordng to a legend of the Chinese Feudal

Period, the First Emperor of Ch'u went on a picnic to the detached palace cled

Coud-Dream, where a beautiful woman came in a dream to make love to him. As

they pated te next morning she told the Emperor that she was the goddess of

Mout W appearing as a cloud in the morning and rain in the evening

Sow o t Lo ': The transient beut of the goddess of the Lu Ch'uan River

The Tripe Word: he mutable world of desire form and nonform

"h!: Te True Word, or undamenta mantr of hingon the irst etter of the

anskrit aphabet the origin o al sounds voices languages and Truth and the

symbo o Mavairaa Buddha


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2) SINGG MAGE OF HEAT WAVS

Sunlight streams on the spring landscape.

Heat wavs shimmer in the eadow.

Their essence is entirely empty and not existing.

In it the astray are distressed, forgetting their ome.

Heat wavs far off look real, but close up are tig.

Heat wavs look like running horses or a stream but are otig.

Fantasies arise from wrong thinking.

Beautul men and women fill a fortress;

But it is wrong to think that men and wome ave essetial bei.

Sags and wise men are only assumed to be so.

25

The all-voidness of the five functions of body and mid is the real truth.Th Four Devils and Buddhas ar also inconceivable.

Yog-ind is uniquely enlightened.

A flame of the World of Truth is s-illuminating.

Do not b conceited or se-satisfied. Even Yoga-mind is temporary.

Bliss of the Great Void Only is my true Empress.

Five functions of body and mind: Five skandha orm, senation, com:ption, volition,onsciousness.

Te u Del efileens sanda deat and ust

he Geat Vid Ony deepest Enigtenment.


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3) SINGING IMGE OF A DREM

A short sleep has millions of dreams.Full of inconceivable pleasure and painHell and heaven are in the mindWe wail, then sing Only grief is left

Facts in sleep are the fancies of dreamsAfter waking we know they were the play of dreamsWe are long sleeping visitors in the ark room of basic ignoranceThere is so much weariness in this worldDo not love blindly even the heavenly palace of magical powersNever stay in the prison of the Triple World

Breathing in and out gives birth to our leWe leave this world of earh and water as to have a estPerfect kings, aristocrats, and ministersProsper in spring, fall in autumn, an pass on ie a steamMeditate deeply to know the very bottom of the mindWhere the Great Mirrorlie isdom of Mahvairocana sines infinite

virtue a around

The Great Mirrorlike Wisdom, sometimes compared to clean and calm water reecting all

phenomena, appears when the dust of the mind has been swept away.

Mahvairana Tathgata, or the Great Sun Bddha of Universal Illumination, personifies

Dharmaya, the universal Buddha-mind, as the highest truth of Shingon DharaAll Buddhas and Bodhisattvahs emanate from Mahvairocana and attribute their

works to his virtue, as do all other phenomena, so mountains an rivers preach

Dharma any place, any time


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4) SINGING MAGE OF A SHADOW I A IRROR

A shadow in the round mirror in the ower of a mllinae,Or a silhuette in the square mirror he palace of he Em f Chin:

Who knws where they have come fm?They are temporary figures mae fom e chin of cau.They are neither existing nor nothig and re detached f any they.They are unreachable by huma h.Do not peak of se-cause, caue by se and other, ce by e.People of false doctrines are entangled in fantaies.Buddha in the mind is not the same as we nor is dferen fm s,For he comes out o the chain of cauation like echoe fm a voce.

Ilusions diminish by medtating in a quiet roomOr hanting stras and burning incense in a temple.The Three Myseries become as calm as the ashes of the deadAnd Buddhas ome at once to answer prayers.Do no e joyu or angry This is the World of Truth.The ord o Truth and Mind Only are not separate.

The round mirror in the tower of a millionaire: According to Indian legend, te van mil

lionaie Yajadaa went mad one day wen e could not find is beautiful face in

his mirror and imgined himsef a goblin.

The Emror of Chin made judgmen concerning good and evil by studying silouettes in

his mirror.Sef-cause, cause y elf and other cause by oter: Tree teories of causation, none

adequate

The Three Myseries of Body Speech and ind in eac person are also in avairo

cana


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5) SINGING IMAGE OF ANDHARVA CASTLE

Seeing a solemn castle over the seaThoed wih horses an people,Fools immeiately think it is reality.he wise know it is temporary an empty.Heavenly hals, temples, earthlypalaceshat once looke real retu tQ nothingHow laughable, how chilish the astray are! Do not love linlyMeitate eaestly an quickly live in the palace of Suchness

Gandharva Castle: Amirage. Gandharva, he god ofmusic serving ndra buit a hea-

venly castle.

Suchness: Taht.


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6) S IMAGE OF AN ECHO

In an empty hall of a outh or canyon

A voice or echo arises fro vibrations of the air.

Foolish and wise ones hear it in dferent ways

As anger and pleasure are really dferent.

Seekin he oriin, we find that thins have no essence.

All is unborn, iperishable, and has no beinning nor end.

Stay in the One Mind of no discrimination.

Voice and echo only deceive the ears.

29


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7) SINGING IMGE OF A WTER MOON

fu moon hangs in the sky.

Moonght reects on thoands of rivers and on al the jars f water.

The Buddha-mind is calm in the Great Vid.It dwels in al people in the world f illion. water moon in a round mirrr is deceptive.

So is the se we put on.With the heart of Fud I wuld reah t eple:

Plee wear the clothes of the Budda's great comsion.

A fu moon is the sybol of bodhicitta or t supreme right awakning, since it is prect

ly ound and pue. Moon mditation (Gachirin gan), in whic monks concentrton the image of a full moon is one of the most important practics in Singon

Fud Myoo, a in who turned from Mahvairocana for the ppose of defeating all t

devils or efements, loos coss-eye with anger as he sits in ames sword in

hand, but his hart is compassionate


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8) SINGNG MAGE OF FAM

A fine ran fals from heaven.Many kinds of foam spreading on water

Ae born then perish as water changes

31

They are not bo from se or othe, but from the chain of causationThings arising in visions are mystyinBuddhas n the mind make them Neve susect o doubt themFundamentally, Truth and Mind ae oneNot to kno this is extremely pitul


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9) SINGING IMGE OF A FLOWER IN THE SKY

Doe a flower blooming in the ky hv any reality?

Wiou real form it ha only a na.

Fundamenta, the Void i never changd by pollutin r prityIn clou, we peak f poluion; in fin weather, w pak f prityThing are they are and the Truth i ne tat

Te ra ee ditortion of the catl f th Tripl r.

Te Four Deil and Thre Poion are empty phantm

D not bafraid or urpred Get ri f' n ccins.

A ower in the sky is a fantasy ceated by an ye disas.

The Three Poisons: Greed, atd, and delusion

Si sensory consciosnesses: Eye ear, nose tongu body, md. Dedc hs

cases esion and pain


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10) SINGINIMAGEOF WHRLNGRGOFFR

Whirling fire becomes a square nd a circle as the hand mves.

Many changes are made according to our will

One eteal ord, "Ah! tus int many others

Expressi innumerable Budha-trths

"Ah! is not smply a seed-syllable and firs ler of he Sanskri lpb, u lo

ln symbol f he life force, o pna, conmpl n Sgo prcc o

he Womb Mandala, and no only reprens Mvrocn u is ron.Fom A! ll Dharmas ow,emning from Mvroc pro rr

visully in he Womb Mndal, in whic ec Bu n Bo rrg

arn vairocna, s a seedylll born of n copl

manr along wih he appropriate img.


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THESE ARE TEN SINGIN IMAES:

a bright mirror for students, a boat ad a raf for seeker after Buddha.Once chanted and sung, they will have e eaning of innumerable s

ras. Once contemplated and spoke i prayr, they wil gain he trutf innumerable manuscripts. Thereore, I have taken u my brush toake a gt for Maser Kchi on Tzan Mountain. May others reember my intention every ime hey se se poes. May they forge

for many thousands years. I a prayin fr he wl-bei f enaion and for prci by Kuniu-kai, t od of the natin.

Marc 1, te Four Year Tenc (827 A. D.)Monk of a Shingon Temle, Min Bisop, All-Ilumnain Vajra

Master Kochi was a priest in Shimtsuke Prvince (Tchigi Prefctre).

Vajra: Lightning-blt


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SOURCE NO.I

THE MAHA V AIROCANA (DAINICHI SUTR

(excerpt)

Volume I, Chapter 1ENTERING THE SHIGON GATE: THE IND FOR

STAYNG THERE


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INTRODUCTION TO THE MAHVAROCANA

( NCH) STRA

37

-Hiroshi Murakami

When young Kkai was earnestly seeking ltimate truth, it is saidthat he foun THE MAHVAIROCANA SUTRA (called DAINCHIKY in Japanese) in the East Tower of Kume-dera Temple in Nara Prefecture. It fasinated him so deeply that it came to be his motive for moreconcentrad study of Tantric Buddhism and his passage to China tomaster the epths of it

This Stra and THE VAJRSEKHARA (DIAMOND CROWN)SUTRA are the most important Sas of Shingon Budhism. AfterTHE MA V AIROCANA STRA was wrtten, supposedly in themiddle of te Seventh Century in western or central India, EsotericBuddhism base on it prospered Nalna Temple n central IndiaSubhkarasimha (637-735 A D.), the fifth ancestor f te Shingon EAncestors of Inheritance Singonshu denji hasso, was iven the Dharma and Stra from Dharmagupta of Nalanda. Sbharasimha broughtthe Stra o China and translate it into Chinese from 724 to 725 withhis disciple 1Hsing The Chinese translation was brought to Japan asearly as 77 After that, it was copied and interpreted in lectures

THE MAH V AROCANA STRA was the first Stra to sstemitize Tantric Buddhism, wich had sproted within Mahyna d

dhism an had been in a process of organization since the Sixth Century. The Stra consists of seven volumes containing thirty-six chapters It is written in the form of a dialogue, in which Mahvairocanareplies to questions rom Varapnighyadhipati, Lord of MysteriesThe first chapter, "The Min for Staying There, gives a summary ofthe whole Stra and the theoretical basis for obtaining complete wisdom The later parts are about concrete means for attaining wisdomand the sstems of practice. In the first chapter, the thoughts of oid

Only of the dhyamika school, Mind Only of the Yora school,and the thoght of Tathgatagarbha (that everyone has an embro oftruth, a potential for becoming a Bddha, despite the defilements ofSamsra) appear Three Propositions proclaim that the seed of odhi


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citta poduces the roo of great comassionate practice and bea hefruit of great awakening. Eigh Mn, compared th gwh oplants from seeds develop fom ininive n in Deva (Go)waking to goodness; and Sixty in, varieies of our oly hea,

such as greedy mind not-greedy min, the mind of hte, meciind etc. are also explained. An Six Means of Reoving Pe(Rku mu are revealed a ix psyholgical pocesse f veingbreath fro the table exisene ife and h.

We learn systes of Tanric raic fm the son chae: Mandala cereonies initiation (Abhisek Jane j) fi evie(hoa o Japanese gma, d, n mana. Amng hm, Goji

nshn Kan (Japanese) y be the mos ypica pacice esib inthe SOta. It is a editation of Mahvaiocana's seedwrs of he fvegreat elemens:

". (ah eath), q (va water) 1 (, fi), (ha, win), R (khasky) These are ixed on the abdomen navel hea bw, n op fte head for the purpose of findin ot the Dhaaka whh i innately in all sentien beings.

Unfortunatey, he orginal Snskrit ext oe n min annly pars of i eain as qatin n he S he ansaed ino Tibean b/Siendraobh nd dPabtseg in he beginningof the Ninth Century. But he follwing English version is based on Japanese edition of a Chinese text. (Taishshinsh Daizky, Volue

XVI pp. 3-4).


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THE MAHVAIROCANA SUTRA (excerpt)ETEING THE SHINGON GATE: THE MIND FORSTAYING TERE

0 Lord of Mysteries, Bodhisattvahs who practice the Bodhisattvah

practices under the Shingon gae should deepl practice and observe Ten

Images, and should deeply master Singon practices and be enlighteed.

And wha are the Ten Images? ey are a phantom, heat waves, a

dream, a shadow, Gandharva Castle, an echo, a water moon, foa, a

s flowr in he sky, and a hirling ring of fire. 0 Lord of Mysteries,

Bodhisattvahs who practice Bodhisattvah-practices under the Shigon

gate shoud observe as abov.

And wha maks a phaom? Since such vaious images o os

which arise from incanaios, miaculous poers, cativ ows a

hei caions dazz s, ou se ral is. Ahou

appea and vanish o sis various chni sha, hy

neihr pssig no noassi. Why is i so? Becaus h ssc o

hm is pur. ikeis, h Snon phanoms cad b successuatti of Shingo icion.

d, 0 ord o sis, ssenc of ha avs is m.

H avs aris rom asis and wron hikin o po. i

wis, pheomena cread by Singon are only temporarly namd and

empty.

And,0

Lordof Mstis, in a dra ou may xperiece a oo-

da, an hour, a momen, or a ear, and you may se many strange hingsand feel hppiness ad uhiss i many ways. But when you areawakned om th drm, ou il realize ha i is jus a dream. Youmus know that th Shingon dream is empty as such, too.

NOTES (not repeaed for erms explained n Noes o he en poems):

Lord of Mysteres (Guhakdhpat) s Vajrapn (lerall: a man wth a vajra-thunderbl

n hand), also somemes called Vajrasatvah.Fors (Rpa) are hngs ha transform and collape, hngs anfesed as phenoena,

hng tha canno occup one space smulaneousl wh ohers

Ten-sded: Ea, south, wes, norh, souh-eas, souhwes, norh-eas, norhwes,

above, below


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And, 0 Lord of Mysteries, with the Image of a Shao you should

nderstand that Shigon creates siddhi very well. You must know assc t te siddhi of Singon is bo as if a face, releced in the mir-

ror, ms an image of a face.

And, 0 Lord of Mysteries, you should uderstand that the palaceofhi is atined lie he ge of Gandharva Castle.

And 0 Lord of Mysteries, you should understd the Shingon

voice wih the Image of an Eco. s a voice makes an echo, stdents

of hingon shold nderstand it in this way.

And, 0 Lord of Myseries, as the rising moon makes a silhouette

reected on calm water, a chanter should express the Image of a Wateroon.

And, 0 Lord of Mysteries, you should kow hat many chages

of Shigon siddhi appear like foam made by a rainfall from heaven.

And, 0 Lord of Mysteries, there are no ordinary mortals, o spa

of life, and no creators in the sky. Because your mind s strayig andconfsed, sc varios fantasies as these are born.

And, 0 Lord of Mysteries, thigs are bon from he vo as a

image of a ring of fire is born from a torch aming n he had.

0 Lord of Mysteries, these are the essence of Mahya, the es-

sence of Mind, the essence of nequalled Truth, the esece of dead

certainty, the essence of supreme right awakening, ad he essece for

prodcing progressive Mahyna wisdom. If you gain the treasures ofTrt yo will attai many inds of great wisdom, and you will kow

all re reality of mind as it is

Siddhiare magical powes from fine mysteious ss o he nd, o scenes h c b

attane by armony of te Tee Mteies.


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SOURCE NO.2

COMMENTARY ON H MAVAIROCANA SUTR

Volwe III (excerpt)

by 1-HSING


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INTROUCTON TO IHSNG'S COMMENARY

- Hiroshi Murakami

I-Hsing (683-727 A. D.) has been better known n tory a aastroloer who made a calendar, tha a a priet e wa o expert in medical cience, pharmacy, and matheatc fte a peocious chdhood he mastered not only clascal Chnee tde bu aloZen, Ritsu, and Tendai Buddhism (T'ie-t'a), a wel a atroloy ewas deepy respected and trusted by the Empeor a Hu ( 713755 A D.). We are told tha he firt ecounteed Eoter Budmhrugh Vajrabodhi (67-74, the great Tatric Mater of the VJ-

KAA SUTRA genealgy, who initiated im oo after ente

Ch'n-a, he cital o T'ang China, from Idia, in 719 After t,I-sing olaboraed ith anher great master, Subh_araimha 63775, h hd carried soric Buddhism of the MA:AIR OCNSTRA gnealgy han-an r ears bere Vajrabodhi, ad as as highy rsece among the aristocrats a cour. 1-sigsss rs rsing h A VAIR AASTRA rm he Sansrit, nd atr hearing Subhkarasimha lecturen Sr, I-sing re his COMNTARY.

Te OMMENTARY ha been cloely exaed, alo wtIsing's great attainment in Tenda thot, aor otbto toBuddhis cuure. In his day, the new sytemtzed Esoteric Budbrough the Tang court by Subharamha ad Vajrabodh wagenerally hough to be spiriually superior to Taoim, whch alo hagreat infuence, protected by he Emperor HsanHun Since had been the mos intelligen priest, scientit, ad atoloer faar

wih clasical tude in China, ad enoyed muc repet from te Eperor, te court, and even the Taoits, h devoto to Eote ddhism ws of the greatet help in rootn it n Chee soety, thohe as only foryfour when he died.

This COMENTARY, a major iflence on the late devopment o hinese sotrc Buddhim, eormouly elped k n or

zing his houhts for etabihi Shion Buddm n apa Japan, espcially in the Shion Eotercm of the T hoo, t CMMETARY was indipenible for tudy te HROCSRA, and as smetims regarded as more mrtant ta e


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MAHVAIROCANA STRA itself. The translation of this excerpt isbased on te text contaned in T AISH0-SHINSH DAIZO-KY,Voume XXXIX, pp. -69.

Quotations in the OMENTARY refer to the AHVAIROCANA URA e following passage of the COMMENAY beginswith Mavairocana's answer to a question posed y Vajrpai: "0Great Budda, the Savior, please teach us what mind is. How can weBodhisattvahs find peace in the min?"


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1-HSING'S COMMENTARY ON TE MVA

CANASUTRA

The Sutra says: "0 Lord of Mysteries, Bohisattvas w prcice

t Bodhsattvah-practies under e Shigon gate sould deply pcte an observe Ten Images, an shou eeply mster Sig pc-

tes and be enightened... You will kow all tue eali o i i

s." This is the abidged answer of the peceing quesio o e

rates. The urpose of a the practices for puifying a getig i

of drt n the nd s ompletely achieved by these Te Imges. e-

for yo shoud kno that these Ten Images are te most ipot.

Shnon students shoud think much of tis, above al. Nw, e Te

Imaes, n this hapter, hav three meaigs, which ca be iey s-arzd as foows. First, these Ten Images may be contepltd o

rn u o attahmen to fixed thigs by observig the fcios of

body and mind. Accordng to this viewpoint, Ilusion is Voi Oly.

Sond the Ten maes are ontempated for the purpose of curig

us o atahments throuh observng that all is but a chage of mi.

As rahed before, acordn to this viewpoint, Iusion is Mi Oly

read y laya-osousness.

NOTES:

The functions of body and mind: Five skanda: form, snato, p, vl,

consciousness.

Alaya-cosioues i univerl uiue r deep ubJO>S, l the Eight-consiousnss bcaus it is orii crs v coscious

esse (of ee, ear, nose, Ogue, boy, ind, ad manas. The sevnth, maas-

cnsciousness, lyin in the depth f the other six, is go-ocins). Aaa

mag tr, th r f ll x h r bd drecgnit fr prp d S -

keps nitsel all xistece as osbl, l t b -r-consiousnss (rva-bijka vijm). Al l of our existnc, ur karm dd r y g gd r vl r qrhav ben plad t o a sd, r f w l T ,rieig in laya-us vull pr r x Allayconscu dp ubu, p wr f xistece ad ou, k a wrur udrru wu pp r

evn a momt. All thg ar llu r b lu to hat has kep n wing frm erniy, a w wic i Sm. T ccpof ay-nuss was devlpd thruh p p Yogcra hl of Mid Ol, whh I r b Tr FhCentry A. D.


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Thirdly, the Ten Images may be contemplated to detach us from te

world o being and non-being throuh observng the tuth in te min

deeply, when, as preached before, w are fee from all kama an ele

ments athgh we depend on karma and eements at the same time. In

this iew, Ilsion is Mystery The Ten Images i THE MAHA

PRAJNA

PRMIT SVTRA also cntains te three meanings. Here, " ... eepypratice and observe reers to the third, that is, that Illusn is Mystey.

Kma: Activities of by, sch, mind, selfonsciousnss, and thir uence, causaly,on the ftre; from the idea of Ssa.

Delements Kle Evil wokings of the mind, mental activities that stay from presentpain d lease, indlgence in lust, violent emotion, and stupidity caus mental and

hysica confsion and distotion. Bad kama from delements e inheited in thefute, eate in vios forms throgh many cycles of lif and dath, until th bration of Enighenmen

THE MAHPRAJNPRAIT SUTRA, trsated by Kumrajva, contains TeImag simlar to those found in THE MAHVAIROCAA TRA, 1-Hsin'sCOMMETARY, and Kkai's POEMS THAT SIG TE IMAGES "Eveyhinis like a htom, heat waves, a water moon, the sky, an echo, Gandha Castle, ae,a sihete,an image in a mirro, magica transfomaion.(ASH6-SHISHU DIZ


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7

Now, when a student practices the Three Mysteries in yoga, the student's

call for Buddha-sprt and te reply of Budda-sprit armonze wth each

other. Ten, all at once Mavarocana as the Absolute manfests s

body as Dhamakya lessed an Blessng, o as Dhamakya n Transformation, o as Dharmakya n Emanaton

Mahvairocana as the Absolute. Dharmakya inEmanation:

Mahvairocana is revealed inchanging figures that can be divided into Four Types of

Dharmakya: I)Dharmakya as the Absolute, r the essential body ofeverything, in-

cluding all Buddhas, holding everything inclusively ut as transcending everything at

the sae time. He hastw aspects: the aspect fmaterial principle or law ofte uni

verse, expressed by Mahvaircana in the Wmb Mandala and symbolized y theSix Great Elements f earth, water, fire, wind, sky, and mind; and the aspect ofmental principle wisdm, expressed by Mahvaircana in the Diamond Mandalaand symblized by consciousness f the Six Great Elements 2 The armakyaBlessed and Blessing, manifested into the crrelative wrld of phenomena from theAsolute, in tw aspects the Dharmakya Blessed, receiving asolute awakeningand enjying it fr himself, lie 'kyamuni just after attaining enlightenment

under the bo tree; and the Dharmaya Blessing, helping thers awaken y preaching the trut to advanced Bdhisattvahs and other seers f the tuth. T Daay Blessed and Blessin s symbolied by Asbhya (Japanese Ashuku, Ratnasambhava (Hosh), Aitbha (Amida), a Amghasiddhi (Fukjyju) in theDiamnd Mandala, and by the Fur Buddhas f Rtnetu (d), Samuumitarja (Kaukeu), Amityus (Muryju), Divyadundubi Meghanirgosa (Tenku-rai) and Fur Bdhisattvah of Samantabhadra (Fuken) Majrf (Mnjyu),Avalitevara aze), and Matreya (Mirku) in the Wm Mandala 3) TheDharaya in Transfrmatin, als called the Incarnation, preaches to ordinary

peple r ler Bodhisattvahs, transfrming himself according to their ability tounderstand: fr exaple, the hstorical Buddha yamuni 4 The harmakyain Emanatin appears in the frm f the one to whm he/he preaces the truth-asa demn t a demon or as a girl to a girl, for instance Because of compassin, thisDharakya anifests himselfherself in everything and keeps on woring


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At this time, we will know that our mnds ae, afe all, pue and Buddha's mind s pue oo. y the way, f we assume te tuden's mndas self and Buddha's mnd as he othe, wich is hs pue bodhcitabon fro, self o ohe, o i causeles? Evn thoug we may observe ts fom he pespectve of he MADHY AMAKA KRIK, eorigin of tis pue bodhicta's bth s ncompehensibl

Stil it (bodhicitta) exists like a voice That is, the wold of Dhama slke ths If we want to call hs an luson, it is an illusion. If we wantto call is he world of Dama, t s he wold of Dama. If we wantto call this existing-everywhee-universally, it is existng-eveywhee

univesally. Since we call this an luson, we call this Illuion, MyseryAnd, to "deeply pactice means that wle the seed of pure bodicitapoduces te oot of geat compassionate practices and beas the fruitof geat awakenng, a suden should obseve evey occuance throughhe Ten Images.

Bodhicitta generaly means a devout disposition that seeks the wisdom of supreme enlightenment and heps others t be enightened, but in Esoteric Buddhis, particuarly in

MAHVAIROCAN SUTRA, it means enightenment itself. Bodhicitta is tesame as he mind, whic is epty.MADHY AMAKA KRIK was written by Ngrjuna (abou 150-250 A D.) and trans

ated into Chinese by Kurajva (33443) in 409. In this, one of the ost important works of te Madhyamika schol of Ngrjuna, he carifies ogicay watemptiness in the PRAJPRAMIT STRAS means, through a process of Eightfold Negation, argung tat "things are unborn, iperishabe, unceasing, nonconstant, nonidentica, not different, not going away, and not coing, for eerythingtat comes from interdependent origination is empty Howeer, Ngrjna uses theterm "emptiness Shnyat) ony temporaiy, to hep peope, for utmate truth

ies in the idde Way detached from te two extres of existence and emptiness

Deepy prctice is from the quotation frm te Stra, in te beginning f tis ecerpthe seed of pure bodhicitta produces the root of great compassionate practices and bears

the frit of great awakening: Kkai wrte in THE MEANING F THE WORDHM, "What te MAHVAROCANA STRA and the VAJRAEKHARA STRA intend to teach is no other than the Three Propositions, tat the seed of bodhicitta prodces the root of great copassoate practices and bears the fruit of greatawakening. f e simpify the extensie teachings and et the branches reduce to teroot, a the doctrines wi be within te Tree Propositions (San ku in Japanee)THE COMLT WORKS OF KB DAISHI, I pp.55055)


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He must observe deeply if enighenmen i o be deep By he way, he

Four Nobe Truh have innmeabe diciinaive name aready in

hi and of he iving. Evn oe he are cesponding ruhs in

he infinie ord of h Dha ow can a suden mase a of hem?

o, in a poary h f pe-ind a uden does maer heFour Nobe Truh, hich hv inneabe h ike dus Spaking

of mptiness i is unborn innay; speaking of Exisence i is beyond

any phase speaking of he Midd Way a is conan Since his Three

fod Truh doe no have any fixd phase, we ca his Iusion, yery

The am hing as the Four Nobe Tuhs can be appied o a he ohe

harma gaes Theefore, ahgaas who horoughy pracice his

mediaion of he Ten Imags i reach he deph of tuh

The Four Noble Truths, taught fist b/Skyamuni in te Deer Park (Mrgadva) to te

fiv scics seven days afte he had atained great enlightenment undr the bo tree,ae I) All is suffering; 2 Suffering is the cause of defilemes ad desires; 3Exicto ofdefilements and desies leads to Nirva; 4 The means to Nirvna is

h Eihfol ah of Right Vws Right Though Rght Words Riht Deds.

Rgh Llhood Righ Eneaor Right Memor and Right Mdtaion


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The Stra preaches the Ten Imags aftr discussin ur bodhicita. iss to sum up thins frm the beinnin to the end inclusivly and osumarize eery step. I have already explained my viw Do no iqure nqustely. No I will clarif what his Stra mans, o

frm the MAHPRAJPRAMI 'SRThe Sta says, "And what are the Ten Imas? y ar a

phanm, hea waves, a dream, a shadow, Gandharva Castl, ancho, a water moon, foam, a false flower in th sky, a wirlin rin offir... And wha makes a phanto? Sinc such various iaes offorms which arise from incantation, miraculous owers, creaivpowrs and thir creatins dazzl th ys, you s rally rar

tins Althouh hy apar and vanish n all en-sides, variouslycanin shape, hy ar neither assin nor not-passi Why is iso? Bcaus ssnc of m is r Likwis, h hion aoms ar crate by succssful ataimn of Sinon incantaionHr, Mahvairocana Budda racs mysris of miraculouspwrs, and such miraculous powrs as yin in t sky, cocalit body, walkin on waer, walkin in fir cannot b xplained wlloically by any heortician why and ow thy occur. You may suspc

tem wil you conmla, and you should not sek m inquisiivly For hy ar beyond human judmnt. Only thos wo actuallycarry ou miraculous owrs know em wll And arious imasof forms f crativ owers ad th crations by miraculous owrscan b rconized obviously by th fiv sensory consciousnesses, thouhsekin aftr h oriin, hey have no place of birth

MAHPRAJNPRAMIT 1SSTRA is grjuna's commentary on the MA-PRAJPRAIT SUTRA.


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The images appear and vanish on a tn-s, can vouly bt

he are not passing. This is on ua tout I

MHPRJNRIT 'ASRA tr i a diaoe btwnBddha and Terl. ddha had askd l, "Wat bout t ouphms tha visionar sees? T m wt wa a voy

is rigin inside of im. t s rd, "No So u

her agan, "Te me eter at a vsiona s is otsd o oesehee of insid and outsid o , wtr t a co o l

from he previos ife and is goin awa to t nxt , w r nd perishae, and heter tr s evn on tn tt n

tom makes. t she denied them a So udda sa, " a you

seeig ad hearing a performance tat our viionay ow cat

She replied, "Yes, it is te ver tn tat I a n and n So,Bddha asked aain "f a patom is an mpt lluo t ut b

deepive and have no reai And ow can it vbl o aubl?

he sid "0 Lord of Great Virtue, pnonon of a ano s a anifesai of natre and eernit a it is Altou t do not a

essee, it is visie and adie da sad, "So bac

norane. t does ot eist iside of us no outsd o us o lw

of inside and otside of s. does not co fro t pvou l o

go aa o the net ife. t s neite orn or ps ut bac orane eists ad asi igoranc causs vrtin ot ol

ord. hen asi ignorane is externat, vertin o t o

mena rd i e etermiated too

Terf was woman visinary Her dialogue with the Budh is quot fro th MAHPRAJNPRAITSSTRA, Volum VI (AISHO-SHISHU DAZOKY,Volue XXV, p. 02)


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Buddha preaced openly like tis. A te preset cntes e Shngn gae can learn from his Tat is, by practicn te TreeMysteries we can ttain all te niqu ysteos tis hrdly explain wit he Four Propositions ow unqe a yteoins are born Tey are natural an etenal s tey e Tey oting but pure-mind an are free an ysterious as tey e It s otwat a reat eoreticia or oter ceve ad wise peope c ess ts known only to te one wo practice seely nd ttis siddhi ohimself

he SOtra sys, "nd 0 Lord of Mysteries, te essence of eatwaes is empty Heat waves arise fro fantasies and wron tinkin ofpeople Lkewise phenoena create by inon re ony temporarilynamed and empty nd the MHRAJNRMI/TRays hat wen the wind moes te st i te sunbea s tou widhorses move in the wilderness te inorant, seein it first, will tikhat there is a river eope will tink so Wen te wn o evi orwron hinking moes e dus of eryin in te snbe o colecteeleens hng urn ou o be amid the wilderness of fe and deathose wo do nt hae wisdom will assume one enoenon as man

and anoher as woman r lookin at is from a distance ey mayhink i a rier but close by tey will fnd no water

The Four Propositions are that unique and mysterious things are not self-caused, orcaused by others, nor caused by both self ad others, nor causeless.


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In this way, those who are away from the Holy Truth ae so igoat ofselessess ad emptiness of everyhig that they oduce suc ataie,th ugh the Psence of the fve fucios of boy ad mid, ad he TeveSensefields, and the Eighteen Wolds, is empty. f we appoach heHoly Truth, we will know the true ealiy of everything, hen the aseideas an all kinds of fantasies wil be etiel gotte id o Wha thisStra meas here is that ideed people who look oe the wideess

often see the heat waves in the diace ad ueaal ik thatthey ae eal, but the essece o hem i icompeheibe a eptTheefoe, as the Sta say, heat waes aise fom aaie a wogthining When a Shigon student i oga ees cetai ki uiquescenes or the cogregation o Buddhas iiitely soem like te ea, he

should cntemplate his meditatio of Hea Waes a houl detachrom idle attachment and ealize that they ae ol eoal asum-ed and empty. When we go much closer to enligheme, we il

know that various mysterious chages by the gace of Buhas are othing but flames of the World of Tuth. Teefore, it is sai at such''phenoea created by Shigon are o teorai aed d emy

The Twelve Sensefields are Six Sense Organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, boy, and mind)and the Objects of the Six Sense Organs (fom, voice, smel taste, ouc, and

Dharma).

The Eighteen Worlds are the Six Sense Organs and the Objects of the Si Sense Ogans

and the Six Consciousnesses (of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and min)


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The Stra says, ''0 Lord of Mysteries, in a dream you may expe

rience a noonday, an hour, a moment, or a year, and you ay see many

strange thgs and feel happness and unhappiness n mny ways. But

when you are awakened from the dream, you will realze that it s just a

dre. You must know that the Shingon drem is empty as- /. -such, too." And the AHAPRAJNAPARAMITA SASTRA says that

yo may think in dreams that thngs in dreams are true, hough they are

not really true. But after wakng you will ealze that they are nothing,

then you wll smle to yourself. Also, because the power of inducng

the sleep of asc gnorance s so great, you mistake non-truth as truth,

you delght in what is not pleasant, you et angry at wha you should

not get angry at, and you are horrfed by n orror. People are as such.

The power of inducing the sleep of basic ignorance creae anger, pleasure, weariness, horror, and so on, even though they should be avod

ed. Therefore, I am gong to eplan the mysteries of dreams. In a

drea we may experence a day, two days, or infinte years and we may

see various lands and people and oter ivin things. We may go to he

heaveny palace at one tme or to hel at another tme, and we may ac

cept all kinds of pleasures and pain. But when we wae up from the

drea we wll know tat tey are wat appened in a momntary thouh

After we wake up we may seek after tis reason in e aw of dreams bymeans of the Four ropositions but we ardy can comprehend at te

end However, we eep in mnd wha appened in a dream clearly with

out any confusion, or we even find mions of years i a momenary

thought and eernity in one mind. is is wat wise me have carefully

studied and experenced te depth of i, so we should no doubt it. Only

he dreamer knows the dream intimatey. So a Shingon student knows

a yoga dream. He sees the eternal race of uddha in a momen, or he

knows many eons in a stting, or he maes an excursion to the land ofBuddhas and he becomes intimate with them, holds a ass for them,

and he benefts people. his yoa dream of a Shinon sudent, who

may seek the cause in each, has no place of orignation but t s in a

momentary thought of puremind, benefittin us. Is there anybody

who can answer why? Only he who is self-elghtened knows it. When

a Shngon studen s gong to experence such siddhi, he hould medtte

on the Imge of a Dream, so as not to be left wth any doubt or ny t

tachent. hat s, a stuent should contemplate nfnite solemnty nhe ream of beautful imges of Buddha. This s to practce the Ten

Imges deeply.


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The Stra says, "0 Lord of Mysteries, with the Image of a Shaow

you shold understand that Shingon creates siddhi very we. You must

know as such that t siddhi of Shingon is born as if a face, refcted in

th irror, aks an iag of a face." And the Shadow" in this meansth sa as th ag in a Mirror statd in hMAHAPRAJNPR

MITASTRA. This comentary says that the Image in a Miro

is not mde by the mirror , nor by the face, nor by the one who hols the

mirror, not is it independent being, or is it from causeessness. Why

isn't it mde by th mirror? It is because a mirror cannot make an im

age of a ace without a face to refect. hy isn't it mae by the face? It

is becaus if thr is not a mirror there is no image. Why isn't it made

by the holdr of th irror? It is because there is no image without a

mirror and without a face. Why isn't it independent being? It is bcausan image cannot b when ther are no face and no mirror, and becaus

a mirror aits for a fac and fac waits for a mirror, and after tht an

imag cos to b. And why isn't it made from causelssness? It is b

caus if an imag can b ad without the chain of causation,nothing

nss ust b xisting s pranently fixd xistnce, and an imag

must co out indpndntly vn hn a irror and a face are gottn

rid of. Trfor, an iag in irror is not mad without th chai

of causation. You should know tat vrything is lik this. Becaus itis incomprhnsibl why and how w are, becaus verything cannot

have com to be indpendntly, and becaus vrything belongs to th

chain of causaion, nothing is slf-ad. Becaus everything coms

from the chain of causation and cannot exist independently, nothing

outside th sef can make things indepndently. So, nothing is mae by

an Other. If evrything wer ad by an Other,our positive powers of

performing good and evil activities would be ost. And nothing is made

either by sef or Othr, becaus if so there ar doube errors. Also, no

thing is causess. As we get pains and peasures according to karmic

causation from former existnce and activities of good and evi in pre

sent ife, likewise everything has always the chain of causation, tough

peope do not eaize it ony because of their stupidity. A wise man will

augh at a chid who loves his own image in a mirror but breaks the

mirror to get it, osing himself. Also, it is fooish to lose himsef in chas

ing pleasures. A saint who has attained the Way wil augh at him. Now,in this Shingon gate, suppose that the pure body of the Three Mysteries

of Tathgata is a mirror, and that a student's practice of the Three Mys

teries is a chain of causation for making an image in the mirror; so,


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like the image in the mirror, siddhi will be born. A studnt sould ob

serve thee thig i meitatio like th Img in a Mro fro te i

o attaiig siddhi til th awakening of fv suprnatul powrs

a livig log eeg the Ten-idd World initly nd n

a excrio to the Bha Land By t way wich does blessin

o the Bha origiate fro, Self or Oth? If blssg of h ud

dha or a image i a irror is ndowd only by t gr of r

teries of Tathgata as te Othr, rat opsson of uddmt be realized ven beor we strt pratiing Tr Mysrs: so

the practices of the student's hre Mysrs would to b unns

sary If the Self makes t blssng, t is, if t blssn of t ud

dha is attaied oly by practies of t studn's r Mystrs,

the grace o the Three Mysteris of T s to e unnssya Tathgata ha to be of no use If an i in ror or t bls

sig o the Bha is md by bot Slf nd Otr, r r doubl

errors I the siddhi cannot be ad unl us in our nds ts

other conditon should w in t blssn ofsdh s lr

dy bee containd in th caus or t s no bn onind n i

from the begining?

The ve suratural powers: Supernural iin f he fuur, hering, ding of thr'

md kowig the past power of changing th wrld or ying n the sky.

Sel or Othe: The studet or the Buddha.


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f the blessing had aready been in the cause from he begnning, oher

conditions are unnecessary because the lessng of the Bddha, if so,

exss in our mnds from the begnnng. If the blessng had not been n

the cause from the beginnng, other condtion are of no use ecause

nothngness cannot make existene. Stll this attanment of siddhi can-not come wthot the chan of causaon. Therefore, as stated n the

summar pem n the MAHPRAJNPRAMITA ASTRA," ...Thngs ae nether exstng nor nthng, nor exting and nothng.

These words are tl nadequate. The tth s n the Mddle Way. Y

huld not e lke those chlren who lndly prode attachment. If astden medtates wth the Image of Shadow n a Mor, hs mnd wll

have no attachment nor lusve thinkng Therefore, the Stra says,

"You must know as sch...

The summary poem follows comments on the Imge in Mirror in the MAHPRAJN

PRAMIT

/

SSTRA, Volum VI (TASHO-SHSHU DAZOKY,VoeXXV, p. 105):If Jhings are born from the chain of causaion,

The essence is really empty.

If things are not empty,

They have not come from the chain of causation

As an image in a mirror

Is not made by the mirror and not by he face,

Nor by the holder of the mirror

Nor by se nor by causelessness,

Things are neither existing nor nothing,

Nor existing and nothing

These words are sill inadequate.

The truh is in the Middle Way


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The Sutra says, "And, 0 Lor of Myseries, yo shold nder-

stand that the paace ofsiddhi is aained like the Image of Gandharva- ,

Caste. And the MAHAPRAJNAPARAMIT A SASRA says hat

when the sn rises in the morning yo see gates and towers and a palace

with peope coming in and ot. Ad it fades away when the sn goesp very hgh. This case is visibe b does not really exist. Nobody

thn t mrage t t. The qcker nd the coer yo g plesraby,thnin t rea, the re the caste fades, nd finally vanishes whenthe sn goes p high. When yo see hot air moving like a wild horse in

the great distress o thirst, yo may think it a river, bt even if yo may

go there to get water yo wi not be able to find anythin and wll be

only exhsted. When yo contemplae and are disillsioned, the thirs-

ty mind il cam down. So does a sdent. When yo rlize with wis-dom that thngs are seless and no fxed, the distraced mind will

become still. The Image of Gandhava Casle is no fond i Srvakastras, thogh we find in them hat a casle is compared o orselves. In

them it s preahed that many casaions making s realy are exising.

Yo ms, however, know hat it was preached so emporarily i order

to break or egoism. We Bodhisavahs are wise enogh o ene he

emptiness of everyhing so deeply ha we adop Gandharva Casle as

an image for meditaion.

Srivaka were dscples of kyamun who actually heard hm preach befoe he lft thsword; ut Srvaka stras may, more generally, be pre-Mahyna st.


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In meditato, he palace ofsiddhi has superior, middle, ad nferior

levels. The superio level is the Secret Solemn Buddha Ld fr away

fom he riple Wold, and Buddhas of Two Vehicles c hrdly kow

i. e middle level is the en-sided Pure ad Solemn Buddha Lad

e inferior level is he Palace of Deas ad Asuras Whe a studet is

going to be a hemi of icanttio of these ids ofsiddhi, he should

live in peace in suc a palace ofsiddhi d cotemplte this e Ashe air of he sea and the sunbeam ake a irae of a rd solemown wit billia hills and people, fools produce illusory tthets

Neve join the fools who thin hs lke hese are real d chse them

Ad he puremind wll ot be hidered ee amo the ewlerly

beauful five dus.

The Secret Solemn Buddha Land is Mavaiocana's Land of Purity, the Lotus World in

whch Mahvarocana s seated in te center and all living ceatues i te unverseare bessng each other.

The Triple World: the mutable world of desire, form, and non-form

Two Vehices ae the rvaka Vehicle (the way of those released y eaing t preacigof te Four Noble ruths ofSkyamun) ad te PratykaBuda icle (t ayof tose selfenlghtend, contemplating te tlvefold car of causation, itoutthe rect teachng of Skyamuni

The Tensded Pure and Solemn Budda Land, of Amitba or MaiteyaThe Paace of Devas and Asuras s the Land of Purity of common mortalsFve dusts are the Five Objects of t Sense Organs (form, voice, smell, taste, ad

touch), which are "dusts because tey tend to pollute ou tue natue, causigdefilements


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The Stra says, "And 0 Lord of Myseris, you sould under -stand he Shingon voic with the Imag of an Echo.As a voic makes

an echo, students of Shingon should understand it in ths way. And ._ - / -

the AHAPRAJNAPARAMT SASTRAsays that when a voice vi-

brates n a canyon in deep ountains, or n a deep valley, o in a grandept house, a voce makes another voice. We call this an echo. Ignorant people will think it a real voice owever, the wise know that t snot real, but it is an echo that

Tantric Poetry of Kukai

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