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Shingon
Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi (; the Esoteric School in Tang Dynasty of China), these esoteric teachings would later flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai (), who traveled to Tang China to acquire and request transmission of the esoteric teachings. For that reason, it is often called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism. The word ''shingon'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese word ('), which is the translation of the Sanskrit word ("mantra"). History Shingon Buddhist doctrine and teachings arose during the Heian period (794-1185) after a Buddhist monk named Kūkai traveled to China in 804 to study Esoteric Buddhist practices in the city of Xi'an (), then called Chang-an, at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kūkai
Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sect (Hakeda, 1972 p. 14). Accordingly, Kūkai's birthday is commemorated on June 15 in modern times. This lunar date converts to 27 July 774 in the Julian calendar, and, being an anniversary date, is not affected by the switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Similarly, the recorded date of death is the second year of the Jōwa era, on the 21st day of the third lunar month (Hakeda, 1972 p. 59), i.e. 22 April 835.), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese bran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism In Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a major influence on Japanese society and culture and remains an influential aspect to this day.Asia SocietBuddhism in Japan accessed July 2012 According to the Japanese Government's Agency for Cultural Affairs estimate, , with about 84 million or about 67% of the Japanese population, Buddhism was the religion in Japan with the second most adherents, next to Shinto, though a large number of people practice elements of both. According to the statistics by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2021, the religious corporation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan had 135 million believers, of which 47 million were Buddhists and most of them were believers of new schools of Buddh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring to Buddhist traditions associated with Tantra and "Secret Mantra", which developed in the medieval Indian subcontinent and spread to Tibet, Nepal, other Himalayan states, East Asia, and Mongolia. Vajrayāna practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through the teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to texts as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of mantras, dharanis, mudras, mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. Traditional Vajrayāna sources say that the tantras and the lineage of Vajrayāna were taught by Śākyamuni Buddha and other figures such as the bodhisattva Vajrapani and Padmasambhava. Contemporary historians of Buddhist studies meanwhile argue that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantra
A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and literal meaning, while others do not. The earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit in India. At its simplest, the word ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as a mantra, it is believed to be the first sound which was originated on earth. Aum sound when produced creates a reverberation in the body which helps the body and mind to be calm. In more sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a human longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Some mantras without literal meaning are musically uplifting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangmi
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist ''Zhenyan'' (, "true word", "mantra") tradition from 716 to 720 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It employed mandalas, mantras, mudras, abhiṣekas, and deity yoga. The Zhenyan tradition was transported to Japan as Shingon Buddhism by Kūkai as well as influencing Korean Buddhism. The Song dynasty (960–1279) saw a second diffusion of Esoteric texts. Esoteric Buddhist practices continued to have an influence into the late imperial period and Tibetan Buddhism was also influential during the Yuan dynasty period and beyond. In the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) through to the modern period, esoteric practices and teachings became absorbed and merged with the other Chinese Buddhist traditions to a large extent. In Chinese these traditions are also ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist ''Zhenyan'' (, "true word", "mantra") tradition from 716 to 720 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It employed mandalas, mantras, mudras, abhiṣekas, and deity yoga. The Zhenyan tradition was transported to Japan as Shingon Buddhism by Kūkai as well as influencing Korean Buddhism. The Song dynasty (960–1279) saw a second diffusion of Esoteric texts. Esoteric Buddhist practices continued to have an influence into the late imperial period and Tibetan Buddhism was also influential during the Yuan dynasty period and beyond. In the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) through to the modern period, esoteric practices and teachings became absorbed and merged with the other Chinese Buddhist traditions to a large extent. In Chinese these traditions are also terme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heian Period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. It is a period in Japanese history when the Chinese influences were in decline and the national culture matured. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Two types of Japanese script emerged, including katakana, a phonetic script which was abbreviated into hiragana, a cursive alphabet with a unique writing method distinctive to Japan. This gave rise to Japan's famous vernacular literature, with many of its texts written by court women who were not as educated in Chinese compared to their male counterparts. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honzon
, sometimes referred to as a Gohonzon ( or ), is the enshrined main image or principal deity in Japanese Buddhism. The buddha, bodhisattva, or mandala image is located in either a temple or a household butsudan. The image can be either a statue or a small scroll and varies from sect to sect. It can be a singular image or a group of images; the ''honzon'' in the main (''hondou'') or treasure (''kondou'') hall of the temple can be for that particular hall or the entire temple complex. Sometimes ''honzon'' is the central image (''chuuson'') of a cluster of three (''sanzonbutu'') or five (''goson'') images. The physical creation of an icon is followed by a consecration ceremony (known as ''kaigen'', literally 'opening the eyes' or 'dotting the eyes'). It is believed this transforms the ''honzon'' into a 'vessel' of the deity which in its own right has power. Butsuzō A honzon that takes the form of a statue is called a ''Butsuzō'' (), most likely crafted out of cypress wood or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amoghavajra
Amoghavajra ( sa, अमोघवज्र ; , 705–774) was a prolific translator who became one of the most politically powerful Buddhist monks in Chinese history and is acknowledged as one of the Eight Patriarchs of the Doctrine in Shingon Buddhism. Life Born in Samarkand of an Indian merchant or a brahmin father and a mother of Sogdian origin, he went to China at age 10 after his father's death. In 719, he was ordained into the sangha by Vajrabodhi and became his disciple. After all foreign monks were expelled from China in 741, he and some associates went on a pilgrimage to gather texts, visiting Sri Lanka, Indochina and India. During this voyage, he apparently met Nagabodhi, Vajrabodhi's master, and studied the Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra at length. He returned to China in 746 with some five hundred volumes. In 750, he left the court to join the military governorship of General Geshu Han of the Tang dynasty, for whom he conducted large-scale tantric initiations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrabodhi
Vajrabodhi ( sa, वज्रबोधि, , 671–741) was an Indian esoteric Buddhist monk from Kerala and teacher in Tang China. He is one of the eight patriarchs in Shingon Buddhism. He is notable for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism in the territories of the Srivijaya Empire which subsequently evolved into a distinct form known as Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism. Biography Vajrabodhi was the second of three Vajrayana missionaries to eighth-century China. He was born in Kerala in South India, which was once a great homage of buddhism, and his father was a priest for the royal house. Vajrabodhi may have converted to Buddhism at the age of sixteen, although some accounts place him at the Buddhist institution of Nālandā at the age of ten. He studied all varieties of Buddhism and was said to have studied for a time under the famous Buddhist logician Dharmakīrti. Under Santijnana, Vajrabodhi studied Vajrayāna teachings and was duly initiated into yoga. Leaving Agasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śubhakarasiṃha
Śubhakarasiṃha (637-735 CE) () was an eminent Indian Buddhist monk and master of Esoteric Buddhism, who arrived in the Chinese capital Chang'an (now Xi'an) in 716 CE and translated the ', better known as the ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra''. Four years later another master, Vajrabodhi (670-741 CE), and his pupil Amoghavajra (705-775 CE), would arrive and proceeded to translate other scriptures, thus establishing a second esoteric tradition. Along with these other masters, Śubhakarasiṃha was responsible for bringing Esoteric Buddhism to the height of its popularity in China. Life in India According to the Chinese sources, Śubhakarasiṃha was born in India as the oldest son of Buddhakara (Fo-shou Wang). Li Hua's ''Shan-wu-wei-hsing-chuang'' states that his family originated in Magadha. Because of unrest in their native kingdom, they had migrated to Odra (in present-day Odisha). Modern scholars theorize that Śubhakarasiṃha may have been an ancestor of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ākāśagarbha
Ākāśagarbha (, Standard Tibetan ''Namkha'i Nyingpo'', Vietnamese ''Hư Không Tạng Bồ Tát'') is a bodhisattva in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Buddhism who is associated with the great element (''mahābhūta'') of space ( ''ākāśa''). He is also sometimes called Gaganagañja, which means "sky-jewel." Overview Ākāśagarbha is regarded as one of the eight great bodhisattvas. His name can be translated as "boundless space treasury" or "void store" as his wisdom is said to be boundless as space itself. He is sometimes known as the twin brother of the "earth store" bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, and is even briefly mentioned in the ''Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra''. Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, met a famous monk who is said to have repeatedly chanted a mantra of Ākāśagarbha as a young Buddhist acolyte. Kūkai took a tutorial with him on Kokuzou-Gumonji (a secret doctorine method, 虚空蔵求聞持法). As he chanted the mantra, he experi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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