A Short History of Esoteric Buddhism

Introduction

Shingon Buddhism ( Shingon shū?) 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 would later flourish 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, literally meaning "True Words", which in turn is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word Mantra.

History

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 Emperor 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 an esoteric mantra of Akasagarbha known as the Kokuzō-gumonjiho (lit. Akasagarbha Memory Sadhana) that was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Buddhist patriarch Subhakarasimha (Zenmui-Sanzo ). 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 superhuman memory retention and learning ability. 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. 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'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 on Mount Hiei (Hiei-zan ). 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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingon_Buddhism, WikipediA, Shingon Buddhism,

1. Caiger, Mason. A History of Japan, Revised Ed.

2. "Jusan Butsu - The Thirteen Buddhas of the Shingon School ". Retrieved 5 July 2007.

History of Vajrayana

There are differing views as to where in the Indian sub-continent Vajrayana began. Some believe it originated in Bengal,[50] now divided between the Republic of India and Bangladesh, with others claiming it began in Uddiyana, located by some scholars in the modern day Swat Valley in Pakistan, or in South India. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is claimed that the historical Shakyamuni Buddha taught tantra, but that since these are 'secret' teachings, confined to the guru/disciple relationship, they were generally written down long after the Buddha's other teachings, the Pali Canon and the Mahayana sutras.

The earliest texts appeared around the early 4th century. Nalanda University in eastern India became a center for the development of Vajrayana theory, although it is likely that the university followed, rather than led, the early Tantric movement. India would continue as the source of leading-edge Vajrayana practices up until the 11th century producing many renowned Mahasiddha.

(Vajrayana) Buddhism had mostly died out in India by the 13th century, and tantric religions of Buddhism and Hinduism were also experiencing pressure from invading Islamic armies. By that time, the vast majority of the practices were also available in Tibet, where they were preserved until recently. In the second half of the 20th century a sizable number of Tibetan exiles fled the oppressive, anti-religious rule of the Communist Chinese to establish Tibetan Buddhist communities in northern India, particularly around Dharamsala.

Newar Buddhism

Newar Buddhism is practiced by Newars in Nepal. This is the only form of Vajrayana Buddhism in which the scriptures are written in Sanskrit. Its priests do not follow celibacy and are called Vajracharyas.

Vajracharya

A Bajracharya or Vajracharya is a Vajrayana Buddhist priest among the Newar communities of Nepal. Vajracharya means 'vajra holding priest'. They are also commonly called Guru-ju or Gu-bhaju (a short form for Guru Bhaju) which are Nepali terms related to the Sanskrit term guru, and translate as 'teacher' or 'priest'. The Bajracharya is the highest ranking of the Newar castes that are born Buddhist.[1] To become a professional Guruju, a person of the bajracharya caste must go through a number of rituals. The bajracharya boy goes through a ritualistic process of initiation known as Bajravishekha[2], including shaving off the head as the buddha and asking for alms, at a minimum of seven houses a day in different places, in the tradition of monks since the time of Gautama Buddha. Sometimes tantric Newar Buddhism is referred to as 'Vajracharya Buddhism'. The writers of Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-century Nepal explore the unusual relationship of the Vajracharyas and their assistant Shakyas with Buddhist monasticism:

Unlike Vajracharyas, Shakya men may not be priests for others, but together with Vajracharya men they are the members of the traditional Newar Buddhist monasteries, known honorifically as vihara and colloquially as baha or bahi. In so far as Shakya and Vajracharya men filled their roles in the monastery, they were monks. In effect, they were married, part-time monks. [3]

Conclution

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. A Bajracharya or Vajracharya is a Vajrayana Buddhist priest among the Newar communities of Nepal. Vajracharya means 'vajra holding priest'.

References

1. ^ Hattaway, Paul (2004). Peoples of the Buddhist World: A Christian Prayer Diary. William Carey Library. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OzEOKNPsv2EC&dq=Bajracharya+Buddhist&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0.

2. ^ "A Brief Introduction of Distinctive Features of Nepalese Buddhism". 2002. http://www.bajracharya.org/nepalibuddhism.htm.

3. ^ Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-century Nepal. Harvard University Press. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=e9C1iF3MAYgC&.