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SHINGON BUDDHISM

Shingon Buddhism is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in India from the third to fourth century C.E that originally spread to China and Korea. The esoteric teachings later flourished in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai, who traveled to Tang Dynasty 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 Kanji for the Chinese word Zhēnyán, meaning "True Words", which in turn is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word Mantra (मन्त्र).

Shingon Buddhist doctrine and teachings arose during the Heian period (794-1185) when 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) under the Chinese Esoteric Buddhist master Huiguo, a favorite student of the legendary Amoghavajra and returned to Japan as his lineage and Dharma successor. Shingon followers usually address Kūkai as Kōbō-Daishi; lit. "Great Master of the Propagation of Dharma") or Odaishisama; "The Great Master"), the posthumous name given to him years after his death by mperor Daigo.

Before he went to China, Kūkai had been an independent Buddhist monk in Japan for over a decade. He was extremely well versed in classical Chinese prose, calligraphy and Buddhist sutras. Esoteric Buddhism was not considered to be a different sect or school yet at that time. Huiguo was the first person to gather the still scattered elements of Indian and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism into a cohesive system. A Japanese monk named Gonsō had brought back to Japan from China an esoteric mantra of Akasagarbha known as the Kokūzō-gumonjihō , lit. Akasagarbha Memory Sadhana) that was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Buddhist patriarch Subhakarasimha (Zenmui-Sanzō). This mantra has the effect of greatly strengthening one's memory and concentration when practiced diligently. When Kūkai was 22, he learnt this from Gonsō and would go into the forests of Shikoku regularly to practice this mantra for long periods of time. He persevered in this mantra practice for seven years and mastered it, gaining siddhis of super human memory retention and learning ability. Kūkai later gave great praise and credit to the power and efficacy of this Kokuzō-gumonjiho practice because it enabled him to remember all of Huiguo's teachings in only three months.

His respect for the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha was so great that he would regard him as his Honzon or main deity, the single most important divinity to him, for the rest of his life. It was also during this period of intense mantra practice that he dreamt of a man telling him to seek out the Mahavairocana Tantra for the doctrine that he sought. The Mahavairocana Tantra was only recently made available in Japan. He was able to obtain a copy in Chinese but large portions were in Siddham Sanskrit which he did not know and even the Chinese portions were too cryptic and "esoteric" in the truest sense of the word for him to understand. He knew that this teaching was a door to the truth he sought but he was unable to fully comprehend it and there was no one else in Japan who could help him with it. Thus, he made his resolve to travel to China to spend the time necessary to fully understand the Mahavairocana Tantra.

When Kūkai reached China and first met Huiguo on the fifth month of 805, Huiguo was age sixty and on the verge of death from a long spate of illness. Huiguo exclaimed to Kūkai in Chinese, "At last, you have come! I have been waiting for you! Quickly, prepare yourself for intiation into the mandalas!" or something to that effect. Huiguo had foreseen that Esoteric Buddhism would not survive in India and China in the near future and that it was Kukai's destiny to see it continue in Japan. In the short space of three months, Huiguo initiated and taught Kūkai everything he knew on the doctrines and practices of the Mandalas of the Two Realms as well as mastery of Siddham Sanskrit and (presumably to be able to communicate with Master Huiguo) Chinese language. Huiguo declared Kūkai to be his final disciple and proclaimed him to be his Dharma successor, and was given the lineage name Henjō-Kongō , biànzhào jīngāng), meaning "illuminating adamantine vajra". In the twelfth month of the same year, Huiguo died and was appropriately buried next to his master Amoghavajra.

More than one thousand of his disciples gathered for his funeral. The honor of writing his funerary inscription on their behalf was given to Kūkai. Kukai returned to Japan after Huiguo's death. If he had not, Esoteric Buddhism might not have survived because thirty-five years after Huiguo's death in the year 840, the infamous Emperor Wuzong of Tang assumed the throne. An avid Taoist, the new emperor despised Buddhism and thought of monks as useless tax-evaders. In 845 he ordered the destruction of 4,600 Buddhist monasteries and 40,000 temples. Around 250,000 Buddhist monks and nuns had to give up their monastic lives. Wuzong cited that Buddhism was an alien religion and promoted indigenous Taoism zealously. Shortly, he was assassinated by his own inner circle but the damage had been done. Ancient Chinese Buddhism never fully recovered from the persecution, and many esoteric elements were infused into other Buddhist sects and traditions.

After returning to Japan, Kūkai collated and systemized all that he had learnt from Huiguo into a cohesive doctrine of pure esoteric Buddhism that would become the basis for the Shingon school. Originally, he did not establish his doctrine as a separate school and did not specifically name it "Shingon-Shū" as it is known now. It would be the Emperor Junna, who favored Kūkai and Esoteric Buddhism who would coin the term "Shingon-Shū"; "The Mantra School") in his imperial decree which officially declared Tō-ji Temple in Kyoto as a purely Shingon temple that would perform official rites for the state. Kūkai actively took on disciples and offered transmission until his death in 835 at the age of 61.

Kūkai's first established monastery was in Kōyasan ; "Mount Kōya"), which has since become the base and a place of spiritual retreat for Shingon practitioners.

Shingon enjoyed immense popularity during the Heian Period , particularly among the Heian nobility, and contributed greatly to the art and literature of the time, as well as influencing other communities, such as the Tendai School (天台宗) on Mount Hiei. Also,Shingon's emphasis on ritual found support in the Kyoto nobility, particularly the Fujiwara clan. This favor allotted Shingon several politically powerful temples in the capital, where rituals for the Imperial Family and nation were regularly performed. Many of these temples such as Tō-ji and Daigo-ji in the South of Kyōto and Jingo-ji and Ninna-ji in the Northwest became ritual centers establishing their own particular ritual lineages.

The Shingon lineage is an ancient transmission of esoteric Buddhist doctrine that began in India and then spread to China and Japan. Shingon is the name of this lineage in Japan, but there are also esoteric schools in China, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong that consider themselves part of this lineage (as the originators of the Esoteric teachings) and universally recognize Kūkai as their eighth patriarch. This is why sometimes the term "Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism" is used instead.

Shingon or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism maintains that the expounder of the doctrine was originally the Universal Buddha Mahavairocana but the first human to receive the doctrine was Nagarjuna in India. The tradition recognizes two groups of eight great patriarchs - one group of lineage holders and one group of great expounders of the doctrine.

The Eight Great Lineage Patriarchs (Fuho-Hasso )

The Eight Great Doctrine-Expounding Patriarchs (Denji-Hasso )

This division primarily arose out of a political dispute between Kakuban , known posthumously as Kōgyō-Daishi ship at Kongōbuji the head of Mount Kōya and the authority in teaching esoteric practices in general. Kakuban, who was originally ordained at Ninnaji in Kyōto, studied at several temple-centers including the Tendai temple complex at Onjōji before going to Mount Kōya. Through his connections, he managed to gain the favor of high ranking nobles in Kyoto, which helped him to be appointed abbot of Mount Kōya. The leadership at Kongōbuji however, opposed the appointment on the premise that Kakuban had not originally been ordained on Mount Kōya.

After several conflicts, Kakuban and his faction of priests left the mountain for Mount Negoro to the northwest, where they constructed a new temple complex, now known as Negoroji . After the death of Kakuban in 1143, the Negoro faction returned to Mount Kōya. However in 1288, the conflict between Kongōbuji and the Denbō-in came to a head once again. Led by Raiyu, the Denbō-in priests once again left Mount Kōya, this time establishing their headquarters on Mount Negoro. This exodus marked the beginning of the Shingi Shingon School at Mount Negoro, which was the center of Shingi Shingon until it was sacked by the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585.

There is no supreme being or God in Buddhist Doctrine. Mahavairocana (Jap. Dainichi Nyorai) as the centralprimordial buddha in Esoteric Buddhist doctrine is not an actual "entity" or a God but the true nature of all things and phenomena, the totality of reality in all form and formlessness, arising and non-arising. Though supernatural beings like Devas may be more powerful and live longer than humans, they are nevertheless afflicted by suffering and death.

When the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier first arrived in Japan, he was welcomed by the Shingon monks since he used the word Dainichi for the Christian God. As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he changed it to Deusu from the Latin and Portuguese word Deus. At that point, the monks realized that Xavier was preaching a rival religion.

The teachings of Shingon are based on early Buddhist Tantras, the Mahavairocana Tantra , the Vajrasekhara Sutra and the Susiddhikara Sutra and not Sutras despite their names. The mystical Mahavairocana and Vajrasekhara teachings are expressed in the two main mandalas of Shingon, The Mandalas of The Two Realms - The Womb Realm (Skt. Garbhadhātu, Jap. Taizōkai ) mandala and the Diamond Realm (Skt. Vajradhātu, Jap. Kongōkai mandala. These two mandalas are considered to be a compact expression of the entirety of the Dharma, and form the root of Vajrayana Buddhism. In Shingon temples, these two mandalas are always mounted one on each side of the central altar. The Susiddhikara Sutra is largely a compendium of rituals. Tantric Buddhism is concerned with the rituals and meditative practices that lead toenlightenment. According to the Shingon doctrine, enlightenment is not a distant, foreign reality that can take aeons to approach but a real possibility within this very life, based on the spiritual potential of every living being, known generally as Buddha-nature. If cultivated, this luminous nature manifests as innate wisdom. With the help of a genuine teacher and through proper training of the body, speech, and mind, i.e. "The Three Mysteries" (Sanmitsu), we can reclaim and liberate this enlightened capacity for the benefit of ourselves and others.

Kūkai also systematized and categorized the teachings he inherited from Huiguo into ten stages or levels of spiritual realisation. He wrote at length on the difference between exoteric mainstream Mahayana Buddhism and esoteric Tantric Buddhism. The differences between exoteric and esoteric can be summarised as:

  1. Esoteric teachings are preached by the Dharmakaya Buddha which Kūkai identifies as Mahavairocana . Exoteric teachings are preached by the Nirmanakaya Buddha, which in our world and aeon, is the historical Gautama Buddha or one of the Sambhoghakaya Buddhas.
  2. Exoteric Buddhism holds that the ultimate state of Buddhahood is ineffable, and that nothing can be said of it. Esoteric Buddhism holds that while nothing can be said of it verbally, it is readily communicated via esoteric rituals which involve the use of mantras,mudras, and mandalas.
  3. Kūkai held that exoteric doctrines were merely provisional, skillful means (Skt. Upāya) on the part of the Buddhas to help beings according to their capacity to understand the Truth. The esoteric doctrines by comparison are the Truth itself, and are a direct communication of the "inner experience of the Dharmakaya's enlightenment". A simple way to put it would be to say that whenGautama Buddha attained enlightenment in his earthly Nirmanakaya body, he realized that the Dharmakaya body is actually reality in its totality and that totality is Mahavairocana.
  4. Some exoteric schools in the late Nara and early Heian Japan held (or were portrayed by Shingon adherents as holding) that attaining Buddhahood is possible but requires a huge amount of time (three incalculable aeons) of practice to achieve, whereas esoteric Buddhism teaches that Buddhahood can be attained in this lifetime by anyone.

Kūkai held, along with the Chinese Huayan school that all phenomena could be expressed as 'letters' in a 'World-Text'. Mantra, mudra, and mandala are special because they constitute the 'language' through which the Dharmakaya (i.e. Reality itself) communicates. Although portrayed through the use of anthropomorphic metaphors, Shingon does not see the Dharmakaya Buddha as a god, or creator. The Dharmakaya is in fact a symbol for the true nature of things which is impermanent and empty of any essence.

Is Shingon Vajrayana?

It is important to note that during Kūkai's time, Tantric Buddhism was still in its early stages of development in India and would not develop into the "School of Vajrayana" as we know it today until several centuries later. Many prominent Indo-Tibetan tantras like The Guhyasamaja Tantra, The Hevajra Tantra and The Kalachakra Tantra developed over this later period were never transmitted to Japan. Also, although Tibetan Buddhism and Shingon share similar teachings and practices, they are actually quite different as a whole. Thus, there is debate on whether Shingon should be classified under Vajrayana in terms of doctrine. However, based on the doctrine of The Three Vehicles (Skt. Triyana), Shingon is clearly Vajrayana by virtue of its tantric and esoteric nature. Nevertheless, one should always bear in mind that even though Shingon is a Vajrayana vehicle, it had little to do with its development as a subset of Buddhism.


In Shingon, Mahavairocana Tathagata ) is the universal or Primordial Buddha that is the basis of all phenomena, present in each and all of them, and not existing independently or externally to them. The goal of Shingon is the realization that one's nature is identical with Mahavairocana, a goal that is achieved through initiation (for ordained followers),meditation and esoteric ritual practices. This realization depends on receiving the secret doctrines of Shingon, transmitted orally to initiates by the school's masters. The "Three Mysteries" of body, speech, and mind participate simultaneously in the subsequent process of revealing one's nature: the body through devotional gestures (mudra) and the use of ritual instruments, speech through sacred formulas (mantra), and mind through meditation.

Shingon places special emphasis on the Thirteen Buddhas , a grouping of various buddhas and boddhisattvas:

Mahavairocana is the Universal Principle which underlies all Buddhist teachings, according to Shingon Buddhism, so other Buddhist figures can be thought of as manifestations with certain roles and attributes. Each Buddhist figure is symbolized by its own Sanskrit "seed" letter as well.

Practices and features

A typical Shingon shrine, with Mahavairocana at the center of the shrine, and the Womb Realm (Taizokai) and Diamond Realm (Kongokai) mandalas.

One feature that Shingon shares in common with Tendai, the only other school with esoteric teachings in Japan is the use of Siddham Sanskrit Seed-syllables or Bija along with anthropomorphic and symbolic representations, to express Buddhist deities in theirMandalas. There are four types of mandalas: Mahā-Maṇḍala , Anthropomorphic Representation), the Seed-Syllable Mandala or Dharma-Maṇḍala , the Samaya-Maṇḍala , representations of the vows of the deities in the form of articles they hold or their mudras), and the Karma-Maṇḍala representing the activities of the deities in the three-dimensional form of statues, etc. An ancient Indian Sanskrit syllabary script known as Siddham is used to write mantras. A core meditative practice of Shingon is Ajikan , "Meditating on the Letter 'A'", which uses the Siddham letter representing the sound "Ah." Other Shingon meditations areGachirinkan , "Full Moon" visualization), Gojigonjingan (, "Visualization of the Five Elements arrayed in The Body" from the Mahavairocana Tantra) and Gosōjōjingan, Pañcābhisaṃbodhi "Series of Five Meditations to attain Buddhahood" from the Vajrasekhara Sutra.

The essence of Shingon Mantrayana practice is to experience Reality by emulating the inner realization of the Dharmakaya through themeditative ritual use of mantra, mudra and visualization of mandala i.e. "The Three Mysteries" All Shingon followers gradually develop a teacher-student relationship, whereby a teacher learns the disposition of the student and teaches practices accordingly. For lay practitioners, there is no initiation ceremony beyond the Kechien Kanjō, which is normally offered only at Mount Koya but can also be offered by larger temples under masters permitted to transmit the empowerment. It is not required for all laypersons to take.

In the case of disciples wishing to train to become acharyas - Shingon priests, it requires a period of study until the practitioner is able to undergo an examination to be certified as a Shingon Acharya. In either case, the stress is on finding a qualified and willing mentor who will guide you through Shingon practice at a gradual pace. A Shingon Acharya is a committed and experienced practitioner who may guide and teach beginning practitioners with the guidance of a Maha-acharya . They may also, only when explicitly given the approval, give initiations and transmit teachings directly on behalf of a Maha-acharya. Only Maha-acharyas have the authority to accept disciples, give initiations and transmit teachings. Acharyas are not. One must be an acharya for ten years at least before one can request to be tested at Mount Koya for the possibility to qualify as a mahaacharya. Acharyas are priests in the sense of the word, but they are not required to be full bhikkhus, or monks. Because of this, they are not required to take the vows of monkhood, so therefore acharyas have the option to choose to either be celibate, vegetarian or both. The Shingon Risshu school, on the other hand, is one exception, where both the traditional vinaya code for monastics plus the full esoteric teachings are taught.

Apart from prayers and reading of sutras, there are basic Mahayana Buddhist mantras and meditative techniques that are available for laypersons to practice on their own but all Shingon practices are strictly "esoteric." All practices require the devotee to undergo initiation orabhisheka in Sanskrit into each of these practices under the guidance of a master before they may begin to learn and practice them. As with all schools of Vajrayana, great emphasis is placed on the empowerment and oral transmission of teachings from teacher to student. Until the 1920s-40s (around the time of the arrival of Shingon outside Japan), nothing had ever been published on any Shingon or Mikkyo teachings in Japan or anywhere else. Everything was passed down orally for more than 1,100 years. Undergoing any Shingon practice on one's own without empowerment and guidance is extremely frowned upon not only because it is considered a serious offence but also because it can be dangerous to the practitioner if not done properly, as is true in the Tibetan counterpart of Vajrayana Buddhism. Shingon is a "purely" esoteric tradition for committed practitioners. There are very limited exoteric teachings in Shingon, of which most of it is fundamental Buddhist refuge and vows.

Shingon/Esoteric Buddhism outside Japan

Esoteric Buddhism is also practiced, in the Japanese Tendai School (天台宗), founded at around the same time as the Shingon School in the early 9th century (Heian period) although Tendai doctrine contain mostly exoteric teachings. The general term for Esoteric Buddhism in Japan is mikkyō "secret teachings"). In order to differentiate between the esoteric practices from the two schools, Shingon practices are also known as Tōmitsu while Tendai esoteric practices are known as Taimitsu .

In China and countries with large Chinese populations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism is commonly referred as Tángmì "Tang Dynasty Secret Buddhism," or Hànchuánmìzōng "Secret Buddhism of the Han Transmission" or Dōngmì "Eastern Secret Buddhism", separating itself from its Tibetan Esoteric counterpart. These schools more or less share the same doctrines as Shingon; in some cases, Chinese monks have themselves traveled to Japan to train and to be given esoteric transmission at Mount Koya.

The Chinese term mìzōng "The Secret Way" is the most popular term used when referring to any form of Esoteric or VajrayanaBuddhism including the Tibetan, Nepalese, Chinese and Japanese traditions.


The Homa Ritual of consecrated fire is unique to Vajrayana and Esoteric Buddhism and is the most recognizable ritual defining Shingon amongst regular Japanese persons today. It is perhaps also the most mystical and cognitively powerful. It stems from the Vedic Agnihotra Ritual and is performed by qualified priests and acharyas for the benefit of individuals, the state or all sentient beings in general. The consecrated fire is believed to have a powerful cleansing effect spiritually and psychologically. The central deity invoked in this ritual is usuallyAcala. The ritual is performed for the purpose of destroying negative energies, detrimental thoughts and desires, and for the making of secular requests and blessings. In most Shingon temples, this ritual is performed daily in the morning or the afternoon. Larger scale ceremonies often include the constant beating of taiko drums and mass chanting of the mantra of Acala by priests and lay practitioners. Flames can sometimes reach a few meters high. The combination of the ritual's visuals and sounds can be trance-inducing and make for a profound experience.

The ancient Japanese religion of Shugendō has also adopted the Goma Ritual except that theirs is usually performed at a much larger scale outdoors.

Today, there are very few books on Shingon in the West and until the 1940s, not a single book on Shingon had ever been published anywhere in the world, not even in Japan. Since this lineage was brought over to Japan from Tang Dynasty China over 1,100 years ago, its doctrines have always been closely guarded secrets, passed down orally through an initiatic chain and never written down. Throughout the centuries, except for the initiated, most of the Japanese common folk knew little about its secretive doctrines and the monks of this "Mantra School" except that besides performing the usual priestly duties of prayers, blessings and funeral rites for the public, they practiced only Mikkyō , literally "secret ways" in stark contrast to all other Buddhist schools and were called upon to perform mystical rituals that could summon rain, improve harvests, exorcise demons, avert natural disasters, heal the sick and protect the state. The most powerful ones could even render entire armies useless.

Even though the Tendai School also contains esoteric teachings in its doctrines, it is still essentially an exoteric Mahayana school at its core. Shingon teachings are purely esoteric and are in all likelihood also the most secretive Buddhist teachings in the world. As such, in-depth academic study will continue to prove difficult as it had been in the past and it will probably always be the least understood Buddhist tradition in the West.



A large number of deities of Vedic, Hindu and Indo-Aryan origins have been incorporated intoMahayana Buddhism and this synthesis is especially prominent in Esoteric Buddhism. Many of these deities have vital roles as they are regularly invoked by the practitioner for various rituals andhomas/pujas. In fact, it is ironic that the worship of Vedic-era deities, especially Indra, the “King of the Heavens,” has declined so much in India but is yet so highly revered in Japan that there are probably more temples devoted to him there than there are in India. Chinese Taoist and Japanese Shinto deities were assimilated into Mahayana Buddhism as "Deva" class beings; for example to Chinese Mahayana Buddhists, Indra is the Jade Emperor of Taoism.Agni , another Vedic deity, is invoked at the start of every Shingon Goma Ritual. The average Japanese person may not know the names Saraswati or Indra but Benzaiten Saraswati and Taishakuten (Indra) are household names that every Japanese person knows.

In Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism, divine beings are grouped into six classes.

The Five Great Wisdom Kings

The Five Great Wisdom Kings are wrathful manifestations of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.

Other well-known Wisdom Kings

The Twelve Guardian Deities (Deva)

  • Brahmā - Lord of the Heavens ; Guardian of the Heavens (upward direction)
  • Indra - Lord of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven and The Thirty Three Devas ; Guardian of the East
  • Varuṇa - Lord of Water ; Guardian of the West
  • Vaishravana or Tamonten - Lord of Wealth ; Guardian of the North
  • Yama (Emmaten ) - Lord of the Underworld ; Guardian of the South
  • Agni (Katen ) - Lord of Fire ; Guardian of the South East
  • Rakshasa (Rasetsuten ) - Lord of Demons ; Guardian of the South West
  • Shiva or Maheshvara (Daijizaiten or Ishanaten ) - Lord of The Desire Realms ; Guardian of the North East
  • Vāyu (Fūten )- Lord of Wind ; Guardian of the North West
  • Sūrya (Nitten ) - Lord of the Sun
  • Chandra (Gatten ) - Lord of the Moon
  • Prthivi (Jiten ) - Lord of the Earth ; Guardian of the Earth (downward direction)

Other Important Deities (Deva)

Branches of Shingon


  • The Ancient (Kogi) Shingon School
    • Kōyasan
    • Tōji
    • Zentsūji-ha
    • Daigo-ha
    • Omuro-ha
    • Daikakuji-ha
    • Sennyūji-ha
    • Yamashina-ha
    • Shigisan
    • Nakayamadera-ha
    • Sanbōshū
    • Sumadera-ha
    • Tōji-ha
  • The Reformed (Shingi) Shingon School
    • Chizan-ha
    • Buzan-ha
    • Kokubunji-ha
    • Inunaki-ha
    • hingon is the form of esoteric Buddhism brought from China to Japan by the priest Kukai (posthumously given the title Kobo Daishi) near the beginning the ninth century. This form of Buddhism in general is known Japanese as mikkyo (hereafter Mikkyo), meaning "secret teaching" or "secret Buddhism." This term properly refers as well to the esoteric teachings included as part of Tendai Buddhism, founded in Japan by Saicho (also known by the title Dengyo Daishi), a contemporary of Kukai. The history and doctrine of Tendai, however, are beyond the scope of this website or the book Shingon - Japanese Esoteric Buddhism by Taiko Yamasaki.

      One of several currents within the broad Mahayana tradition, Mikkyo developed gradually in India as a synthesis of doctrines, philosophies, deities, religious rituals, and meditation techniques from a wide variety of sources. Assimilation of Hindu deities and rituals, for example, was especially marked in the Buddhism that became Mikkyo. Such diverse elements came together over time and, combining with Mahayana philosophical teachings, formed a coherent Buddhist system of thought and practice.

      Shingon traditionally classifies esoteric Buddhist teachings as being of either die "pure" (shojun) or "miscellaneous" (zobu) category Mikkyo. The pure teachings are those based on the Dainichi-kyd and the Kongocho-gyo, the funda-iiii ni.il sutras of Shingon. Probably written during the last half of the seventh century in India, these sutras contain the first systematic presentation of Mikkyo doctrine and practice as incorporated by Shingon. The miscellaneous teachings comprise the esoteric Buddhist texts and practices predating these two sutras. The miscellaneous category includes many elements also found in the pure category, but the latter teachings represent a comprehensive synthesis of ritual and philosophy that were not yet systematized in the former.

      The name Shingon is a transliteration into Japanese of the Chinese Chen-yen, which means "true word", referring to the incantations of central importance in Mikkyo. The teachings brought together in Japan under the name of Shingon are said to represent the middle period of esoteric Buddhist development in India. This, extending from the seventh into the eighth century, was the time when the Dainichi-kyo and Kongocho-gyo were compiled. Further doctrines and practices were produced during the latter period of Indian Mikkyu, which Listed until the early thirteenth century. Although these were important in the develelopment of Tibetan Buddhism, they had little influence on Shingon in Japan.

      The full range of esoteric Buddhist history is vast in time and geography, reaching from India to Central Asia, Ceylon, China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia. Nepal, Southeast Asia, and Tibet. The Mikkyo tradition survives in Japan today, but in other lands where the Indian source-tradition developed in varying ways, the esoteric Buddhist teachings have mostly declined, some to the point of extinction.

      This chapter will trace the outline of Mikkyo history from India to China. It will touch only very briefly on developments in the latter period in India, which had little influence on Shingon. Chapter Two will describe the historical background of Shingon in Japan. The meditative techniques, religious doctrines, and important terms brought up in these two chapters in connection with Mikkyo history will be described more fully in later sections.

      Indian Origins

      Esoteric Buddhism places strong emphasis on ritual, especially that involving incantations. Much of this ritual was assimilated from other religious systems. Some of the origins of esoteric Buddhism can be traced as far back as the culture of pre-Aryan India, thought to have flourished sometime from the mid-third to mid-second millennium b.c.e. in such centers as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. These pre-Aryan peoples worshiped numerous gods and seem to have practiced a kind of religious yoga as well as magical incantation.

      The Aryans who invaded India around 1500-1200 b.c.e. also included magical incantation as an important part of their religious ritual. The religion of these Aryans is known as Brahmanism (baramon-kyo), whose priests, the Brahmin caste, performed rituals of praise, offering, and entreaty to the gods. Among their scriptures is the Rg Veda, the first literary product of Indo-Aryan culture. Probably written not long after the Aryans' arrival, this text was followed over some five centuries by three further Vedas.
      The texts of Brahmanism record many ritual practices that are now regarded as seeds of later esoteric Buddhist ritual. The Brahmanistic fire ritual, for example, was taken directly into esoteric Buddhism, which adapted the ritual to its own aims and thought. Various deities describes in the Rg Veda, such as Indra (Jap., Taishaku-ten), Varuna (Jap., Sui-ten), and Agni (Jap , Ka-i.m were absorbed into the esoteric Buddhist pantheon Shingon, Dainichi Nyorai (literally "Great Sun", Skt , Mahavairocana), may

      have originated in the lesser deity known in the Vedas Ahura began to lead a more settled life based on agriculture, mixing more closely with the pre-Aryan peoples. Atharva Veda written during this time, shows an increasing importance being placed on incantantations, used for such purposes as healing, prolonging life, increasing benefits, subduing enemies, and so on.

      In general, magical incantation of this kind is known in Sanskrit as mantra, the term whose Chinese translation was the origin of the name Shingon. In the Vedas these magical practices are classified in various types according to their purpose, and the same classifications appear later in esoteric Buddhist sutras. All hough it is difficult to trace direct historical connections between Brahmanism and esoteric Buddhism, many such parallels exist. Texts recording ritual procedures offer another example. Brahmanism gave rise to a body of such literature associated with the Vedas, of styles called vidhi and kalpa. As esoteric Buddhism developed its own ritual texts, these were also called vidhi or kalpa
      (and later tantra), all of which Shingon refers to as giki.

      The sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. were a time of transition in India. The appearance of new religious and philosophical teachings, among them Buddhism, reflected a general tendency away from Brahmanism and its rigid social Dfder, In the cities, wealth and power were being accumulated by a new merchant class, which presumably felt less need for the magic and ritual associated with the old nomadic and agricultural cultures. Sakyamuni Buddha (hereafter Shakyamuni), addressing his teachings primarily to this social class, forbade Brahmanistic ritual practices and mantric magic as being oriented toward secular benefit rather than the proper goal of Buddhism, which was spiritual liberation through self-awareness.

      Nevertheless, some incantations were implicitly allowed to Buddhists from Shakyamuni's tune. The type of incantation recorded in early Buddhist texts in the Pali language is known as paritta. One such incantation was the Khanda Paritta, used for protection from poisonous snakes. By the use of this spell, the reciter manifested compassion toward snakes, thus averting their danger. Other magically oriented paritas also came into use by Buddhists, and the mantric literature continued to grow. A spell said to have protected a peacock from a hunter was recited to avert disaster, while another conquered fear. A paritta to arouse faith was said to have been used by the Brahmanical deity Indra to convert a warlike evil spirit to Buddhism. Other mantric practices adopted by Buddhism and found in its early scriptures include incantations used to worship the seven Buddhas of the past (Shakyamuni and the six Buddhas considered to have preceded him). preceded him).

      As the Buddhist order grew, it reached from the cities into outlying farming villages, where it was influenced by older religious and magical traditions surviving from pre-Aryan times. The Buddhist Religion spread conspicuously under King Asoka, who unified India under the Maurya dynasty in the third century b.c.e. After the fall of the Mauryas around 180 b.c.e, several Greek kingdoms were established in North and Northwest India, where nomadic tribes from the north also established communities. Indian Society and beliefs were influenced by exposure to these foreign cultures. Shamanistic beliefs brought by the nomads proabbly strenghtened tendencies to incorporate ritual magic into Buddhism. Under such influences, Buddhism tended to take on an increasinly magical colouring, especially at its geographical fringes.

      This tendency continued under the Kusana (hereafter Kushana) dynasty, founded by a group of Aryans who entered North India around the end of the first century b.c.e. and beginning of the first century c.e. From the second to third century, the third Kushana ruler, King Kaniska, expanded his kingdom to extend from Central Asia as far as Persia. Indian culture was stimulated by resulting contact with Central Asian and Mediterranean civilizations. It was during these times of transition and ferment that the form of Buddhism called Mahayana came into being, building on teachings developed in earlier Buddhism Under the Kushana dynasty. Buddhism spread in Central Asia, and, communicated along the silk road, reached China in the later Han dynasty (25—220 c.e.).

      The Shingon (Tantric) tradition of Mahayana Buddhism arose in India in approximately the 6th century AD, although its roots go back many hundreds of years before that. It, too, adopted the position that none of the Hinayana (and now none of the Mahayana) was to be rejected. If the world was indeed the body and the mind of Mahavairocana (Dainichi Nyorai),
      then all religious teachings possessed in some measurethe Truth, and especially all Buddhist groups must possess this Truth in greater or lesser degree. Tantrism began as a movement more concerned with the Practice of Buddhismthan with any theoretical reformulation of doctrine. The practice of Tantrism was primarily concerned with the means by, which once could attain Buddhahood, to supreme awakening in this very life. Since Tantrism was concerned with both the ritual and meditation practices leading to enlightenment, the Shingon tradition has developed highly complex and long rituals that monks and qualified laymen undergo to approach enlightenment. In general, Tantrism has been more concerned with practice than with doctrinal speculation.newsym.gif (15357 bytes)

      In the Shingon school of Buddhism, (formally introduced into Japan by the Master Kukai, Kobo-Daishi, 774-835 AD) it is taught that all things of this world -all creatures,as well as all inanimate things - are in essence the body of the chief deity, the Buddha Mahavairocana(Dainichi Nyorai). All of the various other schools of Mahayana Buddhism posit in their world view the situation wherein man finds himself separate from the ideal state, from Buddhahood, and so must work himself up to that state. All schools of Buddhism view Enlightenment (Buddhahood, satori, or Nirvana) as a mental state, a state of mind wherein the mind is totally awakened to its real nature (totally and truly self-aware). Thus, other schools would view the religious life as a life devoted to eliminating the evil in one's mind, to purifying the mind, and to concentrating the mind in and through meditation. The Shingon school, however views the world as coming into existence through the permutations or changes in the mind of the Buddha Mahavairocana. Thus Enlightenment for the Shingon Buddhist consists in the realization that he is, here and now, truly one with Mahavairocana. As long as he does not fully realize this, he is enmeshed in the realm of birth-and-death (samsara). When once he does realize this true state of things, then he attains full Buddhahood in this very life (sokushinjobutsu). A state of awakening in this life is thus the goal of Shingon Buddhism.

      Kukai taught that all things in this world are to be regarded as Buddha's and as deities, deserving of our love and respect. Various groups of these deities Buddha's, and Buddha's to be (Bodhisattvas) are especially venerated in Shingon Buddhism, and their pictorial and often highly symbolic representations are call Mandalas/Mandaras. (Since one of the distinctive features of Shingon Buddhism was its presentation of the major and minor deities in the form of Mandalas, this school of Buddhism was initially called the Mandara-Shu, the school of Mandalas.)

      The Buddha's and Bodhisattvas are conceived of as the major deities from out of both the Hinayana and the Mahayana traditions that one should have great reverence for and meditate on, for one's eventual attainment of Buddhahood. They are not, however, conceived of as gods to be worshipped in order that they may give us what we want rather they are taught to be manifestations of that one underlying Ultimate Reality that we term Dainichi-Nyorai, the Buddha Mahavairocana. All of them represent certain aspects of the Ultimate Truth, manifested through human form and color, and through their seed syllables.

      Certain monks of the Kamakura period found their unique and very personal religious inspiration in only one Buddha, or in one specific text or in one unique practice and so, in their blind devotion to their personal way of salvation, denigrated Buddha's, scriptures, and practices not to their personal liking. To do so denies the reality underlying all these Buddha's and Bodhisattvas, denies the truths manifested in all Buddhist scriptures, and denies the fact that men have differing temperaments and capacities for religious practice and understanding, and so would effectively bar men of different makeup from ever making any real progress in the religious life. Further such attitudes introduce into Buddhism a spirit of intolerance, a spirit which gives rise to misunderstanding and ill-will. Shingon Buddhists deny any such attitude, and so look to all the Buddha's and all the all the Bobhisattvas for their compassionate guidance and understanding.

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