Shingon Buddhism
He also began to organize a new school of esoteric Buddhism centered around Jingo-ji and wrote some key works which outlined the main teachings of Shingon.
In his later life, Kūkai continued to actively promote the efficacy of Shingon ritual among the elite even while also working to build Kōyasan into a major center.
His final request before his death in 832 was to construct a Shingon hall in Imperial palace grounds in order to accommodate the practice of the seven day ritual of chanting the Sutra of Golden Light.
[26] Shingon Buddhism enjoyed immense popularity during the Heian period (平安時代), particularly among the nobility, and contributed greatly to the art and literature of the time, influencing other communities such as the Tendai school.
[31] Over time, the two Shingon sub-schools also diverged doctrinally on such issues as the attainment of buddhahood through a single mantra and the theory of how the Dharmakāya teaches the Dharma.
[35] Also during this period, many followers of the Ji sect founded by Ippen (1234–1289) made Kōya-san their home, joining with the Kōya hiriji groups, and many halls for Amida centered Pure Land practice were built on the mountain.
[36] During the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), the Shingon schools continued to develop, some under the support of elite families or even emperors, like Go-Uda (1267–1324), who entered the priesthood at Tō-ji and helped revitalize the temple as well as Daikaku-ji.
[37] Meanwhile, on Kōyasan, Yūkai (1345–1416) was responsible for revitalizing Shingon doctrinal study and also for driving away all of the nembutsu hiriji (now mostly following the Ji sect) who had been living on the mountain.
[43] After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the state forced a separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) and abolished the Chokusai Hōe (Imperial Rituals).
The Shingon school was significantly affected by these changes (since it was closely connected with many Shinto shrines), as well as by the Meiji era anti-buddhist persecutions known as haibutsu kishaku (abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni).
[53] A similar phenomenon has occurred in South Korea, where two recent esoteric schools have been founded, the Chinŏn (眞言) and the Jingak Order (眞 覺), both of which are largely based on Shingon teachings.
Dale jingang bukong zhenshi sanmohe jing, Sutra of the Vow of Fulfilling the Great Perpetual Enjoyment and Benefiting All Sentient Beings Without Exception).
[61] Another important source for the Shingon school is the Awakening of Faith and a commentary on it called the On the Interpretation of Mahāyāna (Shi Moheyan lun 釈摩訶衍論, Japanese: Shakumakaen-ron, Taisho no.
[66][67] Hakeda also writes that in Shingon, Dainichi is "at the center of a multitude of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and powers; He is the source of enlightenment and the unity underlying all variety.
In the Vajrasekhara, the illumination of the Buddha's body of wisdom is symbolized as a vajra, Indra's indestructible adamantine weapon, and it represents the dynamic function of penetrating insight.
These great elements are all in a state of perfect interfusion (yuanrong, 圓融, i.e. they are all harmoniously interconnected), a teaching which was first articulated in the Huayan school by patriarchs like Fazang.
"[81] For Kūkai, the consequence of this doctrine is a complete non-duality between seemingly different phenomena like mind and matter, humanity and nature, sentient and insentient, and so on.
The non-dual nature of all mandalas and the interpenetration of all phenomena embodied as Mahavairocana's body and functions is a key Shingon view which also underlies its understanding of the practice of the three secrets.
As such, Kūkai explains how Shingon practice enacts the unity of all actions and things in the following important passage:[86] The six symbolic elements interpenetrate without obstruction and are in eternal union.
Since it is the power of the perfect mirror, this is true enlightened wisdom.As such, through the Shingon "three-secrets yoga" (sanmitsu yuga), a practitioner unifies his body, speech and mind with those of the Buddha's Dharmakaya.
According to the Commentary to the Mahavairocana Sutra (Da Rijing shu 大日經疏, T. 1796) of Yi Xing:The reason that only the Mantra Gate fulfills the secret is that [ritual is performed] by empowerment with the truth.
A key mudra is the añjali mudrā (Jp: gasshō) which symbolizes the unity of the Buddha realm with the world of phenomena and sentient beings.
[115] The letter A is an important symbol in Mahayana and in esoteric Buddhism, which signifies the Dharmakaya, the Buddha Mahavairocana, emptiness, Prajñaparamita, and non-arising (anutpada).
[121] Kūkai writes: "If we aspire to go far, unless we depend on our feet, we cannot advance; if we wish to walk the Way of Buddha, unless we observe the precepts, we cannot reach the goal.
For lay practitioners, there is no initiation ceremony beyond the Kechien Kanjō (結縁灌頂), which aims to help create the bond between the follower and Mahavairocana Buddha.
[93] The training involves esoteric rites focused on invoking specific buddhas or bodhisattvas (the honzon or “principal deity”) and also include pilgrimages to holy sites.
[93] According to Robert Sharf: All Shingon rituals and ceremonies are organized as a sequence of smaller liturgical procedures that typically consist of an incantation (a mantra, dharani, hymn, etc.)
[93] These complex rites are taught through oral transmission (kuden) between a master and a student, a process aided by numerous ritual manuals and texts.
The ritual is performed in most major Shingon temples; larger scale ceremonies often include the constant beating of taiko drums and mass chanting of the mantra of Acala by priests and lay practitioners.
[129][130] They are widely invoked in several liturgies and rituals, including the popular Thirteen Buddha Rites (jūsan butsuji 十三仏事) that are associated with the deceased and with merit making.
