Tantric Buddhism in East Asia by Richard K. Payne Review By: Christal Whelan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol

Nanzan University

Tantric Buddhism in East Asia by Richard K. Payne Review by: Christal Whelan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2007), pp. 463-467 Published by: Nanzan University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233824 . Accessed: 11/01/2015 18:23

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This content downloaded from 206.87.122.72 on Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:23:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REVIEWS 463 feudalsystem" (p. 375).In additionto this ironicoutcome, the Mito emphasison public ritualserved to finalizethe shift awayfrom medieval conceptions of the power of secrecy into the modern suspicion of secrecy, and valorization of the public. It is rareto find a collectionof essaysin which all of the individualcontributions are themselves importantworks. This is one such case, making the whole worthy of readingand rereading.It fits togetherwell, is well-balancedand providesinsight into an aspectof Japanesereligious culture that is key to our understanding.The edi- tors,as well as the individualcontributors are to be congratulatedon the production of such a fine collection.At the same time, this work serves as a valuablecomple- ment to TEEUWENand RAMBELLI2003, which contains articles by many of the same authors.

REFERENCES

LEVY,Robert I. 1990o Mesocosm:Hinduism and the Organizationof a TraditionalNewar City in Nepal.Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London:University of CaliforniaPress. TEEUWEN,Mark, and Fabio RAMBELLI,eds. 2003 Buddhasand Kamiin Japan:Honji suijaku as a combinatoryparadigm. Lon- don and New York:RoutledgeCurzon.

RichardK. Payne Instituteof BuddhistStudies, at theGraduate Theological Union, Berkeley

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RichardK. Payne,ed., TantricBuddhism in East Asia Boston:Wisdom Publications, 2006, 3o4 pp.$19.95 paper, ISBN 0-86171-487-3.

IN THEINTRODUCTION to TantricBuddhism in East Asia, Richard Payne asks all the right questions:"Are we talkingabout a specific,clearly delineated lineage of trans- mission?A more generalmovement? A ritualtechnology? Or a diffuse set of practices and doctrinesthat permeateBuddhism throughout its EastAsian history?"In other words, how can one pin down the meaning of the floating signifier tantra? Thoughthe bibliographicterm "tantra" is now widely acceptedand largelyunques- tioned,"tantra"standing in for a categoryof religiouspractice is highlyproblematic. Theparticular usage in questionoriginated in the nineteenthcentury as a kind of communalfiction sharedby Europeannovelists, colonial administrators,and schol-

This content downloaded from 206.87.122.72 on Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:23:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 464 Japanese Journalof Religious Studies 34/2 (2007) ars in the study of Indian religion and culture.(Payne cites as his source Hugh B. URBAN'S rich study of Indian tantrafrom ancient to New Age forms in both East and West.)More often than not, the substantivenoun they invented-"tantrism"- servedas a projectionof their own fantasiesof a radicalreligious path that involved a dangerousquest for ecstasybut also signifiedthe decadentstage of a venerabletra- dition within a taken-for-grantedHegelian framework.According to this view,social institutionsdevelop organicallythrough stages from birth to dissolution.Thus, the tantrictradition represented the colorful finale of Indian Buddhism.Payne boldly interrogatesthe host of meanings accumulatedover time and in widely diverse social contexts in an attemptto establishthe integrityof a subjectfrequently mis- understoodand largelyneglected when not focused on eitherancient India or Tibet past and present.In short,this edited volume is a testimonyto a potentiallyfertile new field of inquiry-the studyofVajrayana or tantricBuddhism in EastAsia. The Vajrayanatradition gained recognition in the mid-196os aroundthe same time that it became far more accessible to Western scholars due largely to the Tibetandiaspora in the wake of the Chinese conquestof Tibet.Pioneering studies by GiuseppeTucci and HerbertGuenther paved the way for today'sTibet-focused Buddhistscholars such as DonaldLopez, Georges B. J. Dreyfus, Melvyn C. Goldstein, JanetGyatso, and RobertThurman. The confluenceof academicstudies on Tibetan Buddhismand the popularfascination with Tibet(a topic exploredby DonaldLopez, FrankKorom, and HarveyCox), contributedto the almost exclusiveassociation of TantricBuddhism with Tibetan culture.For this reason,knowledge of the tantric traditionin EastAsia has remainedin the shadowswhere it has been relegatedto a niche of specialists. Giventhe limitedstate of knowledgeof the EastAsian versions of VajrayanaBud- dhism, the present collection representsa significantcontribution to the field and could well serve as a course reader.While providinga wealthof informationabout EastAsian Vajrayana, it also has the ancillaryadvantage of placingthe Tibetanver- sion of Vajrayanain a largerframework than has been the norm in English-language scholarshipto date.The book bringstogether a numberof articlespreviously appear- ing in a wide rangeof journalspublished between 1945 and 1999that deal with both the popularand monasticaspects of the EastAsian tantrictradition. Read together, these gems form a compositepicture of diversitywithin the continuityof a shared tradition.East Asian tantra(Ch. mijiao,Jap. mikkyo, and Kor.milgyo) manifests in a variety of source languages-Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean,and Japanese-located within diverse religious cultures,lineages, and schools. The comparativescope of the articlesin this collection,both within and between culturesand diachronically acrosstime, makesfor fascinatingreading. TantricBuddhism in East Asia is divided into three sections:"History: China, Given Korea,Japan,""Deities and Practices,"and "Influenceson JapaneseReligion." the book'stitle, a readermay expect a balancedregional distribution, yet the book weighs heavilyin favorof Japan.Just one of its ten chaptersdeals with China,while two focus on Korea,and the remainingseven deal with Japan.Given the marked

This content downloaded from 206.87.122.72 on Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:23:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REVIEWS 465

Japaneseemphasis, it comes as a surprisethat only one of Japan'stwo schools of tantricBuddhism-Shingon-is representedat all in the collection.While the omis- sion of Tendaiis lamentable,compensation comes in the form of two excellentchap- ters by Helen Hardacreand ByronEarhart devoted to the tantric-infusedmountain asceticismof Shugendo.Hardacre's contribution explores the genderedspecificity of religious experiencein relationto a pilgrimageto Mt. Omine, drawingin part on Hardacre'sown participantobservations, and Earhartexplores the historicalfigure of En no Gyojacentral to Shugendotradition. Perhapsmore than anything else, this Japano-centriccollection reflects the stateof VajrayanaBuddhism itself in EastAsia. The tradition has largelyfaded in China,and the two Koreanschools of Vajrayana-Sininand Ch'ongji-becameabsorbed into a syncretisticamalgamation with Pure Landthat grew to dominance in late Korean Son as discussedby HenrikH. Sorensenin two illuminatingchapters. Only in Japan has Vajrayanaremained a robusttradition with adherentsnumbering over 12million today in the Shingon sect alone accordingto the Shuikyonenkan (200oo3). The focus on Shingon in the present volume is clear evidence of the growing popularityof the subjectin recentdecades. In-depth studies by YoshitoHakeda, Taiko Yamasaki, GeorgeTanabe Jr., Ryuichi Abe, Minoru Kiyota,Hayao Kawai, Mark Unno, Adrian Snodgrass,and RichardPayne himself have all contributedto a growing range of studieson Vajrayanain EastAsian Buddhism. From its origin, tantric Buddhism has offered an alternative to the stan- dard Mahayanapath of awakening.Of these two approachesto buddhahood,the Mahayanasutras advocated the slower way of the bodhisattvapath while the tan- tras taughtthat enlightenmentcould be achievedin a person'spresent lifetime, or as Kukaiexpressed "in this body"(sokushin jobutsu). For Kikai, the tantricpractitioner could activatethe supra-personalenergy of empowermentthat leads quicklyto the attainmentof enlightenmentthrough concentrated activity of the body,speech, and mind. Hisao Inagakiprovides an annotatedtranslation of Kikai'smost important workin this regard:"The Principle of AttainingBuddhahood with the PresentBody" (Sokushin-jobutsu-gi). In order to achieve this accelerated enlightenment, practitioners have long employed unique types of meditation coupled with extensive use of mandalas, mudras,mantras, and dharanis.Ian Astley examines one such practice:the ritual known as the "FiveMysteries of Vajrasattva"linked to the Rishukyo,a majorsutra of the Shingonschool. Throughthis ritualthe practitionertransmutes the passions for the purpose of enlightenment.Dale Todorooffers a translationof another ritual, a five-stagemeditation visualization (deriving from the that Kfikaiintroduced and recommendedall Shingon followerscultivate Tattvasam.graha)to perfection. JamesH. Sanfordsurprises with a discussionof a nenbutsupractice (normally asso- ciated with the Pure Land schools) unique to Shingon and advocatedby the priest Kakuban.According to a founder-modelparadigm, Chou Yi-Liangexplores within the contextof Chinathe lives of the threefounders of EastAsian tantricBuddhism: Subhakarasimha,Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra.

This content downloaded from 206.87.122.72 on Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:23:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 466 JapaneseJournal of ReligiousStudies 34/2 (2007)

While the contributionsdeal with various historical periods and personages, they arepredominantly textual studies. With the exceptionof Hardacre'schapter, as a whole the collection leavesthe readerin a state of suspension.After all, a person unfamiliarwith the region could easily finish the book and still wonder if Tantric Buddhismwas a living or dead religioustradition in EastAsia today.For example, Pol Vanden Brouckeexplores the cult of Daisho Kongo,a deity invoked in Shin- gon for victory in warfare.The scripturalsource for the relatedritual is the Yugikyo, a major text in both Shingon and Tendai.In addition to winning wars,Vanden Brouckeexplains that the ritual is effectivefor easy childbirthand winning horse races.The sourcescited rangefrom the twelfthto the fourteenthcentury with sev- eralpages devoted to the translationof key excerpts. While VandenBroucke's chapter represents a rich textual study,I found myself wishing that the author had developed the subject within a broader theoretical frameworkthat might shed light on the practiceeven in moderntimes. For instance, was this deity invokedduring the PacificWar, or is the deity invokedtoday in trans- nationalconflicts? While unreasonableto expect a studyto dealwith a subjectit has not set itself to undertakein the first place, I wish only to point out what appears to be a necessarydirection for futureresearch in the field.An age characterizedby transnationalcultural flows such as the presentone has renderedmany of our cat- egories antiquated,hermeneutically problematic, and in need of reflectingthe pro- found interconnectednessof the currentglobalized world in which we must live. Among other things,this would requirecarefully examining the concretestruggles and relationsof power that buttressvarious religiouspractices especially now but also in the past.Even an exceedinglybrief fieldworkvisit to engagewith contempo- rarypractitioners of the traditionwould greatlyenrich such textualstudies. To clarify my point, I would like to conclude with a personal observation.On a visit in 200oo4to the Shingon school's administrativeheadquarters at Koyasan,I noticed a strikinginnovation since my previousvisit in 2001.Two enormousman- dala murals representing the Diamond World and the Womb World had been erected in the entrancewayto the building with colorful revolving lights and a recordingof the New Age composerKitaro's music playing softly in the background. This concessionto popularculture struck me then, as it does now,as an exampleof whatAgehananda Bharati once describedas the "pizzaeffect" in termsof the osten- sibly Italianproducts of dough and tomato sauce exported to the U.S.where they hadbeen configuredinto somethingcalled "pizza." This "pizza" then returnedto Italy whereit was popularizedand againreturned to the US whereit was reconfiguredas somethingspecifically "Italian." In a similarfashion, might not a comparablephenomenon be at workin the present to the once sequesteredShingon? Could popularnew religiousforms of Bud- dhism that have drawnheavily from Shingonsuch as Shinnyo'enand Agonshi have grown robustenough to exert a reciprocalinfluence on that greatmonastic tradition?Or what sorts of exchangesoccurred during and afterKoyasan's designation as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2004? Futureresearch might explorethese com-

This content downloaded from 206.87.122.72 on Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:23:54 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REVIEWS 467 plex multi-directionalcultural flows and their impactsand meaning.For despite its seemingremoteness on top of Mt.Koya, Shingon is not suspendedin time.The lobby of its administrativecenter leaves us with an intriguingsuggestion for futuredirec- tions in the field of EastAsian Tantric Buddhism. The present volume servesto draw attentionto an areaneglected in Buddhiststudies and barelyheard of in the larger field of religiousstudies except perhaps glimpsed at throughthe mass media'srepre- sentationsof Tendai's"marathon monks:'." Richard Payne has establishedan exceed- ingly sound and stimulatingtheoretical framework that should invite a whole new rangeof studiesfor manyyears to come.

REFERENCE

URBAN, Hugh B. 2003 Tantra:Sex, Secrecy,Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress. ChristalWhelan Boston University

MariaRodriguez del Alisal,Peter Ackerman, and Dolores P. Martinez,ed., Pilgrimagesand SpiritualQuests in Japan London and New York:RoutledgeCurzon, 2007. xxi + 184pp. A75.oo/l$150.oo Hardcover.ISBN 0-415-32318-5.

PILGRIMAGESAND Spiritual Quests in Japan is a collection of essays on spiritual jour- neys that has been eleven years in the making.The volume traces its origins back to the Ninth JapanAnthropology Workshop (1996) on the theme "Pilgrimageand the InternationalEncounter:'." The workshopwas held at Santiagode Compostelain Spain,one of Europe'smost famoushistoric pilgrimage destinations. The collection consists of sixteen essays divided into four parts:1) pilgrimages,paths and places; 2) reconstructingthe Quest;3) the quest for the magic,luminal, and non-ordinary; and 4) the questfor vocationalfulfillment. In her preface,Joy Hendry alludes to the editorialchallenges the collectionfaced. She promisesthat the volume contributesin-depth studieswith innovativeanthro- pological perspectiveson pilgrimageand spiritualquests that"ultimately open the eyes of our readersto new ways of thinking"(p. xi). Thereare severalcontributions that fulfillHendry's promises: the chapterson pilgrimson Shikokuduring the Edo period and the contemporaryperiod by NatalieKouamb and Hoshino Eiki respec- tively,Joy Hendry'schapter on contemporaryJapanese theme parksas pilgrimage

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