Coastal Carolina University From the SelectedWorks of Ronald Green 2003 Kuk̄ ai, founder of Japanese Shingon Buddhism : portraits of his life Ronald S Green, Coastal Carolina University Available at: https://works.bepress.com/ronald-green/26/ KŪKAI, FOUNDER OF JAPANESE SHINGON BUDDHISM: PORTRAITS OF HIS LIFE. by Ronald S. Green A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Buddhist Studies) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – MADISON 2003 KŪKAI, FOUNDER OF JAPANESE SHINGON BUDDHISM: PORTRAITS OF HIS LIFE. Ronald S. Green Under the supervision of Professor Gudrun Bühnemann At the University of Wisconsin-Madison This dissertation is a study of the life of the Kūkai (774-822), known posthumously by the honorific title Kōbō Daishi (Great Teacher who Propagated the Dharma). Kūkai is best known as the founder of Japanese Shingon Tantric Buddhism. The study is based primarily on writings attributed to him and his immediate followers and secondarily on early legends (those apparently dating from the Heian period) as identified by modern researchers. These writings show that Kūkai was involved in a variety of social activities. In some instances I have attempted to understand the socio-political intention of Kūkai’s biographers, his followers and others. However, I devote more time to interpreting the biographical stories and Kūkai’s words in light of their literary, iconographic and religious images. I have based a large part of my own interpretations on modern iconographic guides, various encyclopedias and dictionaries of Buddhism. In addition to exploring the specifics of Kūkai’s religious practices based on those early writings, I point to the amount of time and effort he spent on other activities, based on those same writings, and examine the nature of these activities. Such activities include writing poems, compiling poetry anthologies and works of literary theory. The early writings indicate Kūkai must have also spent much time on fundraising and administrative tasks at various temples around Japan as well as charitable activities such as overseeing the building of ponds. i KŪKAI, FOUNDER OF JAPANESE SHINGON BUDDHISM: PORTRAITS OF HIS LIFE. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………………… iii ABBREVIATIONS …... …………………………………………………………………… iv INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………… 1 1. The purpose of and sources for this study. 2. The terms “Tantric Buddhism” versus “Esoteric Buddhism” versus “Mikkyō.” 3. Other notes on procedure. I. KŪKAI’S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD …………………………………………… …… 13 1. Kūkai’s Ancestry. 2. Kūkai’s Childhood. 3. Kūkai’s Siblings. II. IMAGES OF KŪKAI’S MOTHER AND OTHER WOMEN ……………………...…………… 37 III. KŪKAI IN NARA ……………………………………………………………………… 46 1. Uncle Ato Ōtari and the University. 2. Nara in Relation to Kūkai. 3. Sangō shiiki. IV. MOUNTAIN ASCETICISM ……………………………………………………………… 67 1. Leaving the University. 2. Gonzō. 3. Kūkai and Gyōgi. 4. Beginning Mountain Ascetic Practice. 5. Kūkai in his Twenties. V. KŪKAI IN CHINA …………………………………………………………….………… 105 1. From Departure to Arrival in China. 2. Kūkai, Tang Politics and Chinese Tantric Buddhism. 3. Kūkai’s Relationship with Huiguo. 4. After Huiguo. 5. The Return Trip to Japan. VI. RETURN TO JAPAN …………………………………………………………………… 138 Kanseon Temple and Makiōsan Temple. ii VII. THE “TAKAOSAN PERIOD” …………………………………………………………… 154 1. Saichō and the Appointment to Takaosan. 2. Living Proof of Sokushin jōbutsu: Kūkai becomes Henjō. 3. Saichō, Kūkai and Taihan. 4. The Rift Between Saichō and Kūkai. VIII. MOUNT KŌYA ……………………………………………………………………… 185 1. History and Early Legends of the Founding of Mount Kōya. 2. Kūkai’s Poetry. IX. KŪKAI AT TŌJI TEMPLE AND SHINGON AS THE NATIONAL RELIGION OF JAPAN ……… 205 X. KŪKAI’S MEDITATION: THE AJIKAN …………………………..….…………………… 237 1. The Syllable ‘A’ in Kūkai’s Writings. 2. Standardized elements in the Ajikan. 3. The five-syllable mantra used in the Ajikan and its relationship to the Shingon Meditation on the Six Elements. 4. The ‘A’ character used in the Ajikan. 5. The Moon Disk and transformation of images. 6. The Lotus Flower of the Ajikan and Hdaya. 7. Conclusion. XI. KŪKAI’S TEN GREAT DISCIPLES ……………………………………………………… 267 XII. BELIEF IN NYŪJŌ (入定信仰); KŪKAI’S PERPETUAL SAMĀDHI ……………………… 278 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………….………… 292 APPENDIX: A List of Biographies of Kūkai ……………………………………………… 296 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sources used in this dissertation and for further research on Shingon … 299 DICTIONARY AND GLOSSARY: Technical Terms, Names, Calendar Periods, etc………… 323 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Gudrun Bühnemann for her unflagging encouragement and support in this and other endeavors. Also, to Professor Minoru Kiyota, who advised me during my first years at UW-Madison and allows me to continue to work closely with him on projects related to Shingon. Thanks are also due to Professor Robert Joe Cutter for providing me with a position as a Project Assistant at the Center for East Asian Studies and allowing me to teach Introduction to East Asian Studies. I wish to thank Professor Stephen Kohl at the University of Oregon for his patience and guidance as I questioned nearly every word of Oku no hosomichi, for his part in granting me the Yamada Scholarship to study in Japan, and for his support of my decision to engage in Buddhist Studies. I greatly appreciate the generous scholarship and kindness of Mr. Osamitsu Yamada. Thanks also go to Professor Etsushi Yoshida of Meiji University in Tōkyō for his instructions and for being my ‘older brother’ while I was in Japan. iv ABBREVIATIONS DZ Dengyō daishi zenshū (the Complete Works of Dengyō Daishi, i.e., Saichō). KZ Kōbō daishi zenshū (the Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi). KKZ Kōbō daishi kukai zenshū (the Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi Kūkai). T Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (the Taishō Tripiaka, i.e., the complete Chinese Buddhist Canon compiled in Japan during the Taishō era). Ten Stages of Mind Himitsu mandara jūjūshinron, Mysterious Maala of the Ten Stages of Mind. C. Chinese J. Japanese S. Sanskrit 1 Introduction. 1. The purpose of and sources for this study. The purpose of this dissertation is to present a study of the life of Kūkai (空海, 774-822), known posthumously by the honorific title Kōbō Daishi (Great Teacher who Propagated the Dharma), based primarily on writings attributed to him and his immediate followers and secondarily on early legends (those apparently dating from the Heian period) as identified by modern researchers. While I have sometimes alluded to later legends, I have done so only in cases when so doing illuminates the meanings of earlier stories or explains important events of Kūkai’s life according to Shingon today (e.g., his date of birth). In some instances I have attempted to understand the socio-political intention of the biographers. However, I devote more time to interpreting the biographical stories and Kūkai’s words in light of their literary images. As all representations of the life of Kūkai must be interpretive, I have strived to base a large part of my own interpretations on modern iconographic guides, various encyclopedias and dictionaries of Buddhism, all noted. I do not claim to understand Kūkai’s experiences on a personal experiential basis. However, as a philologist, I have noted the frequency with which Kūkai’s uses certain terms apparently indicative of his experience or interpretation of a situation in his life. For example, Kūkai often uses the term mysterious (秘密, J. himitsu), which is always central to his explanations of Shingon and what he identifies as the highest stage of human consciousness. In regards to Kūkai’s usages of such terms, it occurs to me in some instances that the explanatory entries in the above mentioned sources are inadequate in that they do not convey the importance he apparently placed on these ideas. In such cases, where possible, I attempt to 2 provide an alternative explanation based on my training in philology and other aspects of Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin. In particular, I have looked at the life and practices of Kūkai in relation to literature, iconography and comparative religions. Some of the writings used in this dissertation are those that Shingon has come to consider the major biographies and resources on or by Kūkai. These biographies or writings with biographical information appear in the Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi Kūkai (弘法大師空海全 集, Kōbō daishi kūkai zenshū, hereafter KKZ). An earlier version of Kūkai’s complete works was published in six volumes from 1901-1911, under the title Kōbō daishi zenshū (弘法大師全集, Complete Works of Kōbō Daishi, hereafter KZ). I have consulted both of these versions in order to examine Kūkai’s writings in what is considered the original Chinese as well as a turn of the century Japanese translation of these writings from the KZ and a modern Japanese translation from the KKZ. The Japanese translations in the KKZ are interpretive and do not always follow the Chinese strictly. Researchers today rely on the earlier KZ rather than the KKZ for reading and translating Kūkai’s writings. In my view, there are several advantages to consulting the KKZ as well. Not only does the KKZ provide a contemporary interpretation of Kūkai’s writing by translating them into pre-modern and modern Japanese, it supplements these with detailed footnotes. The KKZ also furnishes several extremely useful indexes. These include a chronological index based on the dates appearing in Kūkai’s writings, of which I have made extensive use. A brief summary of the biographical writings I have consulted, compared, contrasted and interpreted is as follows. A more complete list of those works considered by Shingon to be the 3 major biographies of Kūkai, with a translation of their titles and brief description, is provided in an appendix to this dissertation. 1. The Biography of Sōzu Kūkai (空海僧都伝, Kūkai sōzu den) by Kūkai’s direct follower Shinzei (真済, 800-60), found in KKZ 8:5. This is the earliest biography of Kūkai extant or known to exist and therefore is often thought of as the most accurate.