Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism

Volume II:
Lives

Editor-in-chief
Jonathan A. Silk

Editors
Richard Bowring
Vincent Eltschinger
Michael Radich

Editorial Advisory Board

Lucia Dolce
Berthe Jansen
John Jorgensen
Christian Lammerts
Francesco Sferra

LEIDEN | BOSTON

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 Contents

Prelims
Contributors ............................................................................................................................................................. xi
Editors and Editorial Board .................................................................................................................................. xxxiii
Primary Sources Abbreviations........................................................................................................................... xxxv
Books Series and Journals Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... xxxvii
General Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... xlii
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. xliv

Section One:
Śākyamuni: South Asia .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Barlaam and Josaphat ............................................................................................................................................ 39

Section Two:

South & Southeast Asia:

Ajātaśatru .................................................................................................................................................................. 51
Āryadeva.................................................................................................................................................................... 60
Āryaśūra..................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Asaṅga/Maitreya(nātha)....................................................................................................................................... 73
Bhāviveka .................................................................................................................................................................. 81
Brahmā, Śakra, and Māra ...................................................................................................................................... 85
Buddhaghoṣa............................................................................................................................................................ 92
Buddhas of the Past: South Asia ......................................................................................................................... 95
Buddhas of the Past and of the Future: Southeast Asia ............................................................................... 109
Candragomin ........................................................................................................................................................... 121
Candrakīrti................................................................................................................................................................ 125
Ḍākinī ......................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Devadatta .................................................................................................................................................................. 141
Dharmakīrti .............................................................................................................................................................. 156
Dharmapāla .............................................................................................................................................................. 168
Dharmottara............................................................................................................................................................. 173
Dignāga ...................................................................................................................................................................... 179
Early Sarvāstivāda Masters ................................................................................................................................... 186
Gavampati in Southeast Asia ............................................................................................................................... 191
Gopadatta ................................................................................................................................................................. 196
Guṇaprabha.............................................................................................................................................................. 198
Haribhadra................................................................................................................................................................ 204
Haribhaṭṭa ................................................................................................................................................................. 209
Harivarman............................................................................................................................................................... 211
Harṣa .......................................................................................................................................................................... 214
Hayagrīva................................................................................................................................................................... 218
Indian Tantric Authors: Overview ...................................................................................................................... 228
Jñānagarbha ............................................................................................................................................................. 261
Jñānapāda ................................................................................................................................................................. 264

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vi Contents

Jñānaśrīmitra ........................................................................................................................................................... 269

Kamalaśīla ................................................................................................................................................................ 272
Karuṇāmaya ............................................................................................................................................................. 279
Kṣemendra ................................................................................................................................................................ 286
Kumāralāta ............................................................................................................................................................... 293
Mahādeva.................................................................................................................................................................. 298
Maitreya..................................................................................................................................................................... 302
Mārīcī ......................................................................................................................................................................... 325
Mātṛceṭa .................................................................................................................................................................... 332
Nāgārjuna .................................................................................................................................................................. 335
Paccekabuddhas/Pratyekabuddhas in Indic Sources ................................................................................... 348
Phra Malai in Thailand and Southeast Asia..................................................................................................... 357
Prajñākaragupta ...................................................................................................................................................... 363
Ratnākaraśānti......................................................................................................................................................... 366
Ratnakīrti .................................................................................................................................................................. 371
Saṅghabhadra .......................................................................................................................................................... 374
Śaṅkaranandana ..................................................................................................................................................... 378
Śaṅkarasvāmin ........................................................................................................................................................ 382
Śāntarakṣita .............................................................................................................................................................. 383
Śāntideva ................................................................................................................................................................... 391
Sarasvatī/Benzaiten................................................................................................................................................ 398
Śāriputra .................................................................................................................................................................... 409
Scholars of Premodern Pali Buddhism ............................................................................................................. 420
Seers (ṛṣi/isi) and Brāhmaṇas in Southeast Asia ............................................................................................ 437
Siddhas....................................................................................................................................................................... 443
Śrīlāta ......................................................................................................................................................................... 452
Sthiramati ................................................................................................................................................................. 456
Śubhagupta............................................................................................................................................................... 458
Tantric Buddhist Deities in Southeast Asia ..................................................................................................... 463
Thera/Therī in Pali and Southeast Asian Buddhism ..................................................................................... 474
Udbhaṭasiddhasvāmin .......................................................................................................................................... 479
Upagupta ................................................................................................................................................................... 481
Vāgīśvarakīrti ........................................................................................................................................................... 490
Vasubandhu .............................................................................................................................................................. 492
Vināyaka .................................................................................................................................................................... 507
Yama and Hell Beings in Indian Buddhism ..................................................................................................... 513

East Asia:
Ākāśagarbha in East Asia ...................................................................................................................................... 521
Arhats in East Asian Buddhism .......................................................................................................................... 529
Aśvaghoṣa (East Asian Aspects) ......................................................................................................................... 540
Avalokiteśvara in East Asia................................................................................................................................... 546
Dizang/Jizō ............................................................................................................................................................... 562
Jianzhen (Ganjin) ................................................................................................................................................... 571
Mahākāla in East Asia............................................................................................................................................ 576
Mahākāśyapa in Chan-inspired Traditions...................................................................................................... 586
Mañjuśrī in East Asia ............................................................................................................................................. 591
Maudgalyāyana (Mulian)...................................................................................................................................... 600
Musang (Wuxiang) ................................................................................................................................................. 608
Tejaprabhā ................................................................................................................................................................ 612
Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen) ........................................................................................................................................ 616

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 Contents vii

China:
Amoghavajra ............................................................................................................................................................ 623
An Shigao .................................................................................................................................................................. 630
Chengguan ................................................................................................................................................................ 642
Daoxuan .................................................................................................................................................................... 648
Falin ............................................................................................................................................................................ 653
Faxian ......................................................................................................................................................................... 657
Fazun .......................................................................................................................................................................... 662
Hanshan Deqing ..................................................................................................................................................... 668
Hongzhi Zhengjue .................................................................................................................................................. 673
Huihong (see Juefan Huihong)
Huineng (see Shenxiu)
Huiyuan (see Lushan Huiyuan)
Jigong.......................................................................................................................................................................... 679
Juefan Huihong ....................................................................................................................................................... 684
Liang Wudi................................................................................................................................................................ 689
Lokakṣema ................................................................................................................................................................ 700
Luo Qing .................................................................................................................................................................... 707
Lushan Huiyuan ...................................................................................................................................................... 711
Mazu Daoyi............................................................................................................................................................... 722
Mingben (see Zhongfeng Mingben)
Nāgārjuna in China ................................................................................................................................................ 727
Nenghai...................................................................................................................................................................... 735
Ouyang Jingwu ........................................................................................................................................................ 741
Ouyi Zhixu ................................................................................................................................................................ 748
Paramārtha ............................................................................................................................................................... 752
Qian Qianyi............................................................................................................................................................... 759
Qisong ........................................................................................................................................................................ 764
Shenhui (see Shenxiu)
Shenxiu, Huineng, and Shenhui ......................................................................................................................... 768
Śubhākarasiṃha...................................................................................................................................................... 777
Wumen ...................................................................................................................................................................... 782
Wuxiang (see East Asia: Musang)
Wuzhu ........................................................................................................................................................................ 787
Xiao Ziliang............................................................................................................................................................... 791
Yinshun...................................................................................................................................................................... 795
Yixing ......................................................................................................................................................................... 800
Yuan Hongdao ......................................................................................................................................................... 806
Yuanwu Keqin .......................................................................................................................................................... 810
Zhanran ..................................................................................................................................................................... 814
Zhi Qian ..................................................................................................................................................................... 818
Zhili............................................................................................................................................................................. 826
Zhixu (see Ouyang Zhixu)
Zhiyi............................................................................................................................................................................ 833
Zhongfeng Mingben............................................................................................................................................... 839
Zhuhong .................................................................................................................................................................... 844

Korea:
Chinul......................................................................................................................................................................... 853
Hyujŏng ..................................................................................................................................................................... 860
Ich’adon ..................................................................................................................................................................... 864

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viii Contents

Kihwa ......................................................................................................................................................................... 869

Kim Sisŭp .................................................................................................................................................................. 873
Kyŏnghŏ..................................................................................................................................................................... 877
Kyunyŏ ....................................................................................................................................................................... 882
Muhak Chach’o ........................................................................................................................................................ 887
Musang (see East Asia)
Pou .............................................................................................................................................................................. 891
Tosŏn .......................................................................................................................................................................... 895
Ŭich’ŏn ....................................................................................................................................................................... 900
Ŭisang ........................................................................................................................................................................ 903
Wŏnch’ŭk .................................................................................................................................................................. 908
Wŏnhyo...................................................................................................................................................................... 913
Yi Nŭnghwa .............................................................................................................................................................. 918

Japan:
Amaterasu Ōmikami .............................................................................................................................................. 923
Annen......................................................................................................................................................................... 930
Benzaiten (see South and Southeast Asia: Sarasvatī)
Dōgen ......................................................................................................................................................................... 933
Dōhan......................................................................................................................................................................... 941
Eisai (see Yōsai)
Eison ........................................................................................................................................................................... 944
En no Gyōja .............................................................................................................................................................. 951
Enchin ........................................................................................................................................................................ 956
Ennin .......................................................................................................................................................................... 961
Ganjin (see East Asia: Jianzhen)
Genshin ..................................................................................................................................................................... 967
Hachiman ................................................................................................................................................................. 971
Hakuin ....................................................................................................................................................................... 976
Hōnen ........................................................................................................................................................................ 980
Ikkyū Sōjun ............................................................................................................................................................... 987
Ingen (see East Asia: Yinyuan Longqi)
Ippen Chishin .......................................................................................................................................................... 991
Jakushō ...................................................................................................................................................................... 995
Jiun Sonja .................................................................................................................................................................. 998
Jizō (see East Asia: Dizang)
Jōjin............................................................................................................................................................................. 1002
Jōkei ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1006
Kakuban .................................................................................................................................................................... 1011
Keizan Jōkin ............................................................................................................................................................. 1016
Kōmyō ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1020
Kūkai .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1026
Kūya ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1036
Menzan Zuihō ......................................................................................................................................................... 1041
Monkan ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1047
Mugai Nyodai ........................................................................................................................................................... 1057
Mujaku Dōchū ......................................................................................................................................................... 1062
Musō Soseki .............................................................................................................................................................. 1066
Myōe ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1071
Nichiren ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1076
Nōnin.......................................................................................................................................................................... 1088

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 Contents ix
Raiyu........................................................................................................................................................................... 1094
Ryōgen........................................................................................................................................................................ 1097
Saichō ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1102
Saigyō ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1107
Shinran....................................................................................................................................................................... 1111
Shōtoku Taishi ......................................................................................................................................................... 1117
Tenjin ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1122
Tenkai ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1128
Yōsai/Eisai ................................................................................................................................................................. 1134
Zaō .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1139

Tibetan Cultural Sphere

Atiśa and the Bka’ gdams pa Masters ................................................................................................................ 1145
Ge sar of Gling ......................................................................................................................................................... 1159
Gter ston: Tibetan Buddhist Treasure Revealers ............................................................................................. 1165
Gtsang smyon Heruka ........................................................................................................................................... 1171
Lcang skya Rol pa’i Rdo rje ................................................................................................................................... 1175
Mi la ras pa................................................................................................................................................................ 1181
The Mongolian Jebdzundamba Khutugtu Lineage ....................................................................................... 1191
Padmasambhava in Tibetan Buddhism ............................................................................................................ 1197
The Sa skya School’s Five Forefathers................................................................................................................ 1213
Spirits of the Soil, Land, and Locality in Tibet ................................................................................................ 1226
Ston pa Gshen rab: The Bön Buddha ................................................................................................................. 1233
Tibet's Crazy Yogins ................................................................................................................................................ 1239
Tsong kha pa and his Immediate Successors .................................................................................................. 1246
Worldly Protector Deities in Tibet ..................................................................................................................... 1254

Appendix To Volume I:
Buddhist Narrative Literature in Japan ............................................................................................................. 1269
Poetry: Japan ............................................................................................................................................................ 1286
Korean Sŏn Literature............................................................................................................................................ 1294

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 Kūkai
Not much is known of the early life of Kūkai (空海,
posthumously Kōbō Daishi [弘法大師]; 774–835),
apart from the fact that he was born in the province
of Sanuki (讃岐) in northern Shikoku (四國), but in
time his fame became such that to lay claim to be
his birthplace became a passport to prosperity. The
traditional place of birth was always the Kaiganji
(海岸寺) at Tadotsu (多度津), but as the result of a
legal challenge in the mid-17th century, Kaiganji lost
this right to the more powerful Zentsūji (善通寺),
which even today draws much benefit from the
proceeds that flow from pilgrimage (Kamigaito,
2004, 73–74). Kūkai entered the imperial college
(Daigakuryō [大學寮]) as a scholar in 791. This was
an institution dedicated to training scholars along
Confucian lines, with the aim of providing for the
growing bureaucracy; it was here, for example, that
the rites in honor of Confucius (sekiten [釋奠]) were
held (McMullen, 1996). Kūkai took the classical
Chinese literature course (meikeidō [明經道]), but
soon found his interest waning, and in 797 he left to
become a self-ordained mendicant (shidosō [私度
僧]), which was, strictly speaking, illegal according
to the codes that governed the behavior of monks
(Sōniryō [僧尼令]). The justification for such a move
can be found in his first work, Rōko shiiki (聾瞽指
歸, Demonstrating the Goal for Those Who are Deaf
and Blind, of 797; KDZ, vol. III, 287–323; revised in
804 as Sangō shiiki [三教指歸], Demonstrating the
Goals of the Three Teachings; KDZ, vol. III, 324–358;
NKBT, vol. LXXI), a lightly fictionalized defense of
the merits of Buddhism versus Daoism and Con-
fucianism, cast in the florid style of Six-Dynasties
prose (Abé, 1999, 84–105). In the introduction, he
wrote that his eyes had been opened by an encoun-
ter with a Buddhist esoteric ritual, the “Kokūzō
gumonji hō” (虛空藏求聞持法, Ākāśagarbha’s Tech-
nique for Seeking, Hearing and Retaining, T. 1145),
which promised a perfect memory:
There was a monk [at the college]. He showed me
Ākāśagarbha’s Monjihō. It says in the text that a
person who recites these True Words one million
times according to the specific rite will be able to
memorize the meaning of all the sūtras. I put my
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faith in this testimony of the Buddha, watching
for flames to fly from the sparks of struck flint.
I scaled the peak of Mount Tairyō in Awa, I per-
severed in meditation as far as Muroto Cape in
Tosa. The valleys did not fail to resound, the bril-
liant star [of Ākāśagarbha, i.e. Venus] shone down
in grace. In the end, I came to shun all thought
of worldly glory, day and night I thirsted for the
smoke and mist of mountain crags and mired wil-
derness. To see fine raiment, plump steeds, and a
stream of fleet conveyances instantly awakened
in me grief at the phantom lightning flash [which
is this life]; to see deformity and pauper’s rags
gave me no rest from the sad awareness of cause
and consequence. Through my eyes I was com-
pelled [to become a monk], for who can snare the
wind? (NKBT, vol. LXXI, 84–85; trans. Hare, 1990,
254).
We know very little about his activity during this
period, except that he must have spent consider-
able time studying in one of the temples at Nara if
the erudition apparent in Rōko shiiki is anything to
go by. The next we hear of him is in 804.
Kūkai to China
Preparations for an embassy to Tang China began in
801, but the four ships involved were not ready until
803 and they ran into bad weather even before they
had left the Inland Sea: three were heavily damaged
and the fourth one (carrying the monk →Saichō
[最澄]) limped on to Kyushu to await instructions.
Eventually the embassy left Tanoura (田浦) in the
seventh month of 804. The decision to add Kūkai to
the party, which was probably taken because of his
facility with Chinese, was very much a last-minute
affair, and he had to be hurriedly ordained so that
he might have the necessary credentials. Later,
in 821 after his return, Kūkai claimed that one the
main reasons he wished to go to China and spend
20  years studying there was to experience at first
hand the esoteric rituals that were described in
texts such as the Mahāvairocana-sūtra (Jpn.
BEB, vol. II
 Kūkai
Dainichikyō [大日經], T. 848), which had been trans-
lated into Chinese by →Śubhakarasiṃha (Shanwuwei
[善無畏]; 637–735) in the 720s and brought to
Japan by Genbō (玄昉; d. 746) in 735. Without the
guidance of a master, Kūkai said that he found the
text impenetrable: “As soon as I opened its scroll
to read its lines,” he wrote, “my mind grew dark. It
was then that I vowed to travel to China to study it”
(NKBT, vol. LXXI, 310; Abé, 1999, 109). One cannot,
however, assume from this statement that before
he left for China he had a clear concept of the exis-
tence of “Esoteric Buddhism” per se; it was some-
thing that he would only discover after his arrival
(Abé, 1999, 111).
As it happened, Kūkai traveled on a different
ship from Saichō and was blown far south, arriv-
ing on the coast near Fuzhou (福州) after a full 34
days at sea. It took some time before permission to
land was granted, since the authorities in Fuzhou
were not used to receiving such missions. Permis-
sion to travel to the capital at Chang’an (長安)
took even longer, and in the end only 23 members
were allowed to proceed, the rest being ordered to
travel north to Mingzhou (明州) to prepare for their
return journey. Kūkai was extremely fortunate to be
allowed to go with the main mission, and even more
fortunate to be allowed to stay and study. They left
Fuzhou in the 11th month of 804 and took 40 days
to reach the capital, where they met up with some
members from the second ship, which had man-
aged a much faster crossing. The requisite imperial
audience was obtained, but Emperor Dezong (德
宗; r. 779–805) was already ill, and died in the first
month of 805. The main mission left Chang’an soon
afterward without Kūkai, reaching the coast in the
fifth month and arriving in Japan a month later.
In the second month of 805, Kūkai was given
permission to stay in Chang’an and reside at the
Ximingsi (西明寺), a major center for scholarship
and translation in the capital. It was here that he
came into contact with monks capable of reading
Buddhist Sanskrit, and he lost no time in learning
as much as he could. Although Kūkai was prob-
ably not, as legend has it, the inventor of the Japa-
nese kana syllabary, there can be no doubt that the
knowledge of the Sanskrit syllabary that he and
others gained in China played a major part in the
development of a Japanese script during the course
of the 9th century (Seeley, 1991; Abé, 1999, 391–398).
Some four months later, Kūkai came under the tute-
lage of the monk Huiguo (惠果; 746–805). Huiguo
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1027
had studied under →Amoghavajra (Bukong [不
空]; 705–774), who had been a central figure in the
spread of esoteric Buddhist ritual at the Tang court.
Within the space of three months, Kūkai claimed,
he had learned enough to be counted a master in
his own right. Huiguo died in the middle of the 12th
month of 805. It was at this point that, contrary to
his initial wish to stay much longer, Kūkai decided
to return to Japan. As luck would have it, another
Japanese ship carrying envoys who had failed to
make the first crossing had just arrived at Ming-
zhou. They had been hoping to obtain audience
with the new emperor Shunzong (順宗; r. 805), but
Shunzong had already died and they had to return
empty-handed. Kūkai went back with them, arriv-
ing in Kyushu by the end of the year. Twenty years
had been squeezed into just 30 months. He was 33.
The only information we have about Kūkai’s time
spent in China comes either from his own account
or from later hagiographies such as the Kūkai sōzu
den (空海僧都傳, KDZ shukan, 1–4) attributed to
his disciple Shinzei (眞濟; 800–860), and little is
open to independent verification. He was certainly
lucky to have reached the capital; not only was it
to give him the kind of “imperial” cachet denied
Saichō, but he happened to be there at a time when
esoteric practice was in vogue and under imperial
patronage. Kūkai’s own account of his meeting with
Huiguo at the Qinglongsi (青龍寺) and his subse-
quent induction into esoteric ritual secrets leaves
us in no doubt that he was claiming a special form
of transmission for himself:
I called on the abbot in the company of five or
six monks from the Ximing Temple. As soon as
he saw me, he smiled with pleasure and joyfully
said, ‘I knew that you would come! I have waited
for such a long time. What pleasure it gives me
to look upon you today at last! My life is draw-
ing to an end, and until you came there was no
one to whom I could transmit the teachings.
Go without delay to the altar of abhiṣeka with
incense and a flower.’ I returned to the temple
where I had been staying and got the things that
were necessary for the ceremony. It was early
in the sixth month when I entered the altar of
abhiṣeka for primary initiation. I stood before
the Womb World maṇḍala and cast my flower in
the prescribed manner. By chance it fell on the
Body of Mahāvairocana Tathāgata in the centre.
The master exclaimed in delight, ‘How amazing!
How perfectly amazing!’ He repeated this three
1028
or four times in joy and wonder. I was then given
the fivefold abhiṣeka and received instruction in
the grace (kaji [加持]) of the Three Mysteries.
Next I was taught the Sanskrit formulas and ritual
manuals for the Womb World and learned the
yogic practices which use various sacred objects
of concentration to gain transcendental insight
(Go-shōrai mokuroku [御請來目錄], T. 2161
[LV] 1065a21–b3; KDZ, vol. I, 99; trans., Hakeda,
2001, 163).
The term abhiṣeka here refers to a consecration
that involves sprinkling sacred water over the head
(Jpn. kanjō [灌頂]). There were usually three levels:
an initiation ceremony called “binding the rela-
tionship” (Jpn. kechien kanjō [結緣灌頂]), which
involved the casting of a flower or sprig on to the
maṇḍala to identify one’s deity; “studying the
Dharma” (Jpn. gakuhō kanjō [學法灌頂]), which
involved much learning of mantra and mudrā, and
practicing visualization techniques; and “transmis-
sion of the teachings” (Jpn. dengyō kanjō [傳教灌
頂]), when one became qualified as a master. At this
advanced stage the maṇḍala might simply be imag-
ined by both master and student (Abé, 1999, 124).
We are then told that Huiguo urged Kūkai to carry
his knowledge back to Japan (T. 2161 [LV] 1065c1;
KDZ, vol. I, 100), and that Kūkai himself was chosen
above all the other students to write his master’s
epitaph. It was on this basis that in Japan Kūkai’s
followers were to construct a lineage, and eventu-
ally claim him, via Amoghavajra and Huiguo, as the
Eighth Patriarch of the Shingon School (眞言宗).
The implication here is that there was a “school”
of esoteric practice which then slowly died out in
China, but which was transmitted to Japan as “Shin-
gon” in the body of Kūkai.
There are, of course, a number of problems with
so sectarian a view. We know, for example, that eso-
teric practice did not simply die out in China. We
also know that although Huiguo was certainly listed
as one of six prominent students in Amoghavajra’s
will, when the master died in 774, Huiguo was only
29, and it was in fact Huilang (惠朗) who was offi-
cially recognized as his successor (T. 2061 [L] 714a13;
Chou, 1945, 306; Matsunaga, 1973, 227–242; Orzech,
1989, 91). Huilang died four years later in 778, and
what then transpired is unclear. Although by the
time Kūkai arrived Huiguo was certainly treated
as a leading master, he left no writings, and would
have probably remained an obscure figure had it
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Kūkai
not been for Kūkai’s subsequent activities (Abé,
1999, 121–122). Transmission of esoteric teachings
did, of necessity, involve a student learning tech-
niques directly from a master instead of simply via
texts, but at this stage there is no sign that tantric
adepts at the Tang court ever thought of themselves
in terms of a “school,” or creating a patriarchal tradi-
tion. They were individual masters, who had to win
the direct patronage of the emperor by proving they
had control over secret arts and techniques. Matters
were to change in the Song Dynasty, but at this stage
there is no justification for the Japanese sectarian
view that Kūkai was anointed as the formal succes-
sor to Huiguo.
The beginning of tantrism proper is usually
linked to the arrival in Chang’an of the scholar
Śubhakarasiṃha in 716. It was he who, with the
help of →Yixing (一行; 687–727), translated the
Mahāvairocana-sūtra, the text that was later to
puzzle the young Kūkai. He was closely followed
by Vajrabodhi (Jingangzhi [金剛智]; 671–741) and
his student Amoghavajra. From the start, these
men were treated as state employees, accommo-
dated in monasteries, put to work translating the
new texts they had brought with them, and, once
they had proved themselves, performing ritu-
als for the court and the emperor. Vajrabodhi, in
particular, was known for his unusual powers as
a thaumaturge and was constantly on call to per-
form rites for clement weather or to cure an illness.
He was also responsible for the first translation
of the other major text of Chinese tantrism, the
Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (The Assembled
Reality of All the Tathāgatas, also known as the
Vajraśekhara, Jingangding [金剛頂], Jpn. Kongōchō,
The Diamond Tip, T. 865).
Soon after Vajrabodhi’s death in 741, Amoghavajra
was allowed to travel to India, returning in 746 with
yet more Sanskrit texts. It was at this point that he
was allowed to create an altar in the palace so that
Emperor Xuanzong (玄宗; r. 712–756) could receive
an abhiṣeka initiation. This introduction of Bud-
dhism into the inner sanctum was an unprecedented
development of tremendous symbolic significance;
it is hardly surprising that Kūkai was to work so
hard to achieve a similar feat on his return to Japan.
Amoghavajra himself survived the An Lushan (安錄
山) rebellion of 755 and achieved even greater pres-
tige and authority under Emperor Daizong (代宗;
r. 762–779), promoting the idea of emperor as uni-
versal monarch, and developing the theoretical and
 Kūkai
ritual underpinnings for a highly politicized form
of tantrism with the twin goals of sudden enlight-
enment for the individual and protection of the
state. The small temple within the palace became
a fixture, and Amoghavajra became renowned as a
miracle worker, with power to control the elements
and call up divinities to defeat the emperor’s ene-
mies. It was above all Amoghavajra’s relationship
with his emperor that Kūkai wished to emulate. It is
striking that one of the texts he brought back with
him to Japan was an important collection of letters
that had been exchanged between Amoghavajra
and the emperor (Daizong zhaozeng sikong dabian
zhengguangzhi sanzang heshang biaozhiji [代宗朝
贈司空大辯正廣智三藏和上表制集], T. 2120). Com-
piled by Yuanzhao (圓照; d. 800), probably in the
780s, this collection was designed to persuade the
new emperor Dezong, who had reduced patronage
and stopped rites being held in the palace, of the
importance of tantric masters; it represented bio-
graphical documentation of an ideal relationship
between master and ruler. The message was not lost
on Kūkai.
Kūkai Returns to Japan
Unlike Saichō, who was feted on his return and
immediately encouraged to perform new rituals for
the benefit of ruler and court, Kūkai came back as an
unknown monk with few connections. He brought
with him 142 sūtras, 42 Sanskrit texts, 32 commen-
taries, 5 maṇḍala, and a large number of paintings
and ritual implements, all of which he gave to the
head of the mission to take to the capital. He also
added an “Inventory of Imported Items” (Go-shōrai
mokuroku [御請來目録], T. 2161; KDZ, vol. I, 69–102;
trans., Hakeda, 1972, 140–150), in which he explained
that he was returning with an entirely new form of
Buddhism, which he called kongōjō (金剛乗, Skt.
vajrayāna) or mitsuzō (密藏, the secret treasury),
more efficacious and more powerful than any of the
forms of Buddhism introduced heretofore.
For reasons that are unclear, on his return Kūkai
decided to remain in Kyushu, and only moved to
the capital Heiankyō (平安京) in 809 on the occa-
sion of the accession of Emperor Saga (嵯峨; r. 809–
842). Saga was particularly fascinated by Chinese
culture; it was during his reign, for instance, that
the first imperial anthologies of poetry in Chinese
were produced, and he proved to be an enthusiastic
For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV
1029
patron of this latest form of Buddhism that prom-
ised so much. Saichō was already well established
by this time, but he recognized both the impor-
tance of what Kūkai had achieved and the potential
threat that he represented. Saichō’s experience had
been limited in comparison, so he was understand-
ably anxious to borrow and copy everything Kūkai
had brought. Both men worked closely together
for a few years, before a split occurred in 815 (Gar-
diner, 1994, 194–224). It was thanks to Saichō,
for example, that Kūkai found himself settled at
Takaosanji (高尾山寺) to the northwest of the capi-
tal, a mountain retreat that became his home for
the next nine years. The usual account has it that
while he was there he composed four works in
which he set out the principles of Vajrayāna: Ben
kenmitsu nikyō  ron (辨顯密二教論, On Discrimi-
nating  between Revealed and Secret Teachings;
T. 2427, KDZ, vol. I, 474–505), Sokushin jōbutsugi (即
身成佛義, On Becoming a Buddha in this Very Body;
T. 2428, KDZ, vol. I, 506–520), Shōji jissō gi (聲字實
相義, On the Meaning of Sound, Word, and Reality;
T. 2429, KDZ, vol. I, 521–534), and Unji gi (吽字義, On
the Meanings of the Word Hūṁ; T. 2430, KDZ, vol. I,
535–553). It was there too that in 812 he conducted
a kechien kanjō for Saichō, his students Kōjō (光定;
779–858), Enchō (圓澄; 771–837), and Taihan (泰範;
778–?), and more than 200 others. Nevertheless, the
tone of a public “round robin” that Kūkai sent to a
large number of temples in 815 entitled Kan’enshō
(勸緣疏, Encouraging Participation; KDZ, vol. III,
526–529; trans. Gardiner, 1994, 244–248) suggests
that he had considerable difficulty in establishing
himself (for an extended discussion see Gardiner,
1994, 26–42), and by 815 relations between Kūkai
and Saichō had soured. This is sometimes put down
to the fact that Taihan, sent by Saichō to study with
Kūkai, eventually refused to return to the fold, and
on another occasion Kūkai refused to lend Saichō
a particular text on the grounds that it could not
be understood without the guidance of a tantric
master; but at heart they were rivals in the battle
for patronage. Saichō was committed to creating
an equivalent of Tiantai Buddhism in Japan with
the Lotus Sūtra at its center, but needed knowledge
of these new tantric rituals to secure his position.
Kūkai had an even grander vision: he saw himself as
possessing something on an entirely different scale,
knowledge and experience of a more “advanced”
form of practice, Vajrayāna, which he wished to lock
into the rituals of state.
1030
In 816 Emperor Saga granted Kūkai title to build
a major religious center at Kōyasan (高野山) in the
mountains southwest of Nara. The first buildings of
what was to be the complex known as Kongōbuji
(金剛峰寺), or the Temple of the Vajra Peak, were
consecrated in 819. Kūkai’s intention was to design
the whole complex in the form of two maṇḍala with
a stūpa at the center of each sacred area, although
today only one large stūpa remains (Gardiner, 1994,
256–258). The rest of his life was spent trying to raise
funds for more building on the mountain, although
he was always under considerable pressure to spend
more time at court, and could not afford to be absent
for long. He could hardly complain, of course, given
that the role he wished to play was of tantric mas-
ter to a Buddhist ruler. In founding Kōyasan, Kūkai
was trying to emulate Amoghavajra, who had cre-
ated a large complex at Wutaishan (五臺山), but he
lacked the necessary resources, and raising funds
for this enterprise remained a constant headache
for the rest of his life. He also took great care to keep
in close contact with the temples at Nara, and the
creation of a separate initiation hall for Vajrayāna
(shingon) at Tōdaiji in 822, at which it is thought
he performed a kanjō initiation for deposed sov-
ereign Heizei (平城; r. 774–824), can be seen as a
major development, bringing tantric practice into
the very heart of the Buddhist establishment. This
was followed a year later by an agreement whereby
Saga allowed him exclusive use of Tōji (東寺), one of
only two temples that had been created within the
bounds of the new capital.
During this period Kūkai also found time to pro-
duce a chrestomathy of Chinese poetry, the Bunkyō
hifuron (文鏡秘府論, KDZ, vol. III, 1–106; Bodman,
1978) of 819, and the beginnings of a Chinese char-
acter dictionary, the Tenrei banshō meigi (篆隷萬
象名義, KDZ, vol. III, 365–378) in 828. In 824 he
became an official in the Saṅgha Office (Sōgō [僧
綱]). In 827 he advanced further in the Buddhist
hierarchy and was made Daisōzu (大僧都). Soon
after he completed his major work Himitsu man-
dara jūjūshinron (秘密曼陀羅十住心論, The Ten
Stages of Mind According to the Secret Maṇḍalas;
T. 2425, KDZ, vol. I, 125–415) and its shorter version
Hizō hōyaku (秘藏寶鑰, The Precious Key to the
Secret Treasury; T. 2426, KDZ, vol. I, 417–473). In 832
he fell ill and retired to Kōyasan, where he died two
years later. Three months before his death, however,
he was still requesting permission to construct a
Shingon hall in the grounds of the palace itself:
For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV
Kūkai
I have heard that there are two kinds of preach-
ing of the Buddha. One is shallow and incomplete
while the other is tantric. The shallow teaching
comprises the scriptures with long passages and
verses, whereas the tantric teaching is the dhāraṇī
found in the scriptures. The shallow teaching is,
as one text says, like the diagnosis of an illness
and the prescription of a medicine. The tantric
method of dhāraṇī is like prescribing appropriate
medicine, ingesting it and curing the ailment. If
a person is ill, opening a medical text and recit-
ing its content will be of no avail in treating the
illness. It is necessary to ingest it in accordance
with proper methods. Only then will the illness
be eliminated and life preserved.
However, the present custom of chanting the
Konkōmyō saishōō kyō (金光明妙最勝王經, Skt.
Suvarṇabhāsottama-sūtra) at the palace is simply
the reading of sentences and the empty recital
of doctrine. There is no drawing of Buddha im-
ages in accordance with proper technique nor the
practice of setting up an altar for offerings and for
the ceremonies of empowerment. Although the
reading of the sūtra may appear to be an oppor-
tunity to listen to the preaching of the nectar-like
teachings of the Buddha, in actuality it lacks the
precious taste of the finest essence [ghee] of Bud-
dhist truth.
I humbly request that from this year on, four-
teen monks skilled in tantric ritual and fourteen
novices be selected, who, while properly reading
the sūtra will for seven days arrange the sacred
images, perform the requisite offerings and re-
cite mantra in a specially adorned room. If this
is done, both the revealed and tantric teachings,
which express the Buddha’s true intent, will cause
great happiness in the world and thereby fulfill
the compassionate vows of the holy ones (KDZ,
vol. III, 518–519; Gardiner, 1994, 235, adapted).
The reference here is to the Misai’e (御齋會), which
involved recitation and lectures on the Konkōmyō
saishōō kyō held over a period of seven days
between the 8th and the 14th of the first month.
Given that a new tantric version of this sūtra was
now in use, Kūkai was concerned to incorporate the
proper rituals. This was eventually done (but only
a year after his death) and the ritual, the Go shichi-
nichi mishuhō (後七日御修法), became one of the
most important in the court calendar from this time
on, dedicated both to requesting blessings for the
coming year and to anointing the ruler (Abé, 1999,
347–355).
 Kūkai
Vajrayāna
At the core of tantric (esoteric) Buddhism lies the
conviction that, firstly, awakening, liberation, and
indeed full buddhahood can be reached in the here
and now; and secondly, that the ultimate mystery
is in some form or other communicable. This flies
in the face of so much that was said about the
long, heroic path to be trodden, and even the most
optimistic doctrines of Mahāyāna universalism
had always argued that the experience of awaken-
ing itself was beyond the capability of language to
express, hence beyond normal cognition. Tantrism
is an attempt to provide an answer to the problem
of language and the limitations it places on the
human mind.
It was universally accepted that the Buddha
had taught various doctrines at different times to
different audiences and had cut his cloth accord-
ingly. Just as Mahāyāna saw the path of the auditor
(śrāvaka) as being an inferior vehicle (Hīnayāna)
compared with that of the bodhisattva, so tantrism
claimed that there was a different way, via the prac-
tice of ritual. This new tantric path was recognized
to be an extremely risky one, but the rewards were
correspondingly greater. It employed special meth-
ods which only those of very strong faculties should
dare use, but the prize held out was buddhahood in
this very life. By using incantation, ritual gestures,
visualization, and other techniques, one could link
oneself to beings and deities in other spheres of
existence, either dominate or identify with them,
and thus rise into higher spheres of being, eventu-
ally coming face to face with and identifying oneself
with the cosmic Buddha, Mahāvairocana.
The rituals involved speech, body, and mind,
the so-called practice of the “three mysteries” (Jpn.
sanmitsu [三密]): speech, in the form of mantra
or invocations; the body, in the form of mudrā or
signs made by the hands; and sight, through con-
templation and imagination. Language is, of course,
the way human beings make sense of the universe,
the tool we use to differentiate and hence generate
meaning; but this process gives rise to the illusion
that everything differentiated has self-presence,
precisely the illusion that Buddhism is dedicated to
destroying. Language must therefore be used against
itself; it cannot be disposed of entirely, but it can-
not be allowed to fulfill its normal function, namely
to carry everyday meaning, for this would distract.
The only way this can be done without succumbing
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1031
to pure nonsense is if language is treated as pure
sound, but sound that is known to hold within itself
profound significance, a significance, however, that
can only be grasped by the owner of a secret key.
So it was that Chinese tantrism chose to retain the
“original” Sanskrit sounds (or what passed for those
sounds). Mantra or dhāraṇī (the two were often not
clearly distinguished) were seen to contain the con-
centrated essence of the teachings; far from being
nonsense syllables, they were the sound of the uni-
verse. As Kūkai himself put it in “An interpretation
of the Lotus Sūtra” (Hokekyō shaku [法華經釋]):
The ‘revealed’ consumes many words to carry
one meaning. The ‘tantric’ unleashes countless
meanings from within each letter of a word. This
is the secret function of dhāraṇī. Because of this,
dhāraṇī is translated as sōji (總持 “the container
of all”). However, this meaning of dhāraṇī has
been kept secret by the Dharma transmitters
of the past. This is what I have now introduced
as the mantra scriptures (shingonzō [眞言藏])
(KDZ, vol. I, 781; Abé, 1999, 264, adapted).
In Japan the situation was to go one step further,
from sound to shape. The written forms of the
Sanskrit syllables known as siddham (Jpn. shittan
[悉曇]) became a sacred script, and the written
sign took on the same power as the sound it rep-
resented; it became the object of visualization.
Mudrā likewise were symbolic of states of mind, the
body being used to perform various gestures preg-
nant with signification. Visualization was helped
by the use of maṇḍala, symbolic representations of
the universe. Acts of imagination were especially
important since they showed that the dichotomy
between form and emptiness was false. We have
here an attempt to deal with the problem of lan-
guage by cutting it away and replacing it with the
whole human body in its every aspect, with pure
form. Awakening is then no longer beyond language
but speaks through the world in all its materiality.
It had long been recognized that Buddha existed
in a number of forms. Śākyamuni, as the historical
Buddha, was of this earth, a manifestation of lim-
ited duration whose teachings must to some extent
have been conditioned. This form was called the
Response Body (Skt. nirmāṇakāya; Jpn. ōjin [應身]),
because it appears as an object to our senses and
responds to our needs. The body of a buddha such
as →Amitābha, who was present but not histori-
cal in the same sense, was called the Reward Body
1032 Kūkai
(Skt. saṃbhogakāya; Jpn. hōshin [報身]), which he
had received as a reward for his constant practice
and perfect merit. But there was a third, even higher
form: tantric teachings dealt with the Dharma
Body (Skt. dharmakāya; Jpn. hosshin [法身]), the
absolute, eternal, cosmic Buddha. Dharmakāya
originally meant something like “the body of the
teachings [of the Buddha],” but this became subject
to a process of semi-reification as “Dharma-body.”
The representation of the Dharmakāya in the fig-
ure of Mahāvairocana risked losing its metaphori-
cal status. There was an ever-present danger of
personification, of course, but philosophically the
term was understood to mean absolute unity, an
all-embracing “body” that enfolded all types and
forms of consciousness and was above any duality.
Differences and distinctions were collapsed and
both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra were subsumed within it.
In the ultimate analysis, then, nirvāṇa and saṃsāra
were one and the same thing, indivisible to the
awakened mind. All things partook of awakened
mind and awakened mind expressed itself in all
forms.
The consequences of such teaching were far-
reaching. The material world, be it body or object,
was reinstated as an integral part of truth and real-
ity. The reification in a word like hosshin was not
therefore accidental. The absolute speaks through
the material world and we respond to it through our
bodies. The impasse of language was thus avoided
and we could then reach directly into the heart of
the absolute. But perhaps the most striking result
of this emphasis on the material, and the affirma-
tion of all things, is that human desires are seen in
a different light. They become not the root cause of
illusion and suffering but rather something innately
pure, the outward expression of our buddha-nature.
The objective then becomes not to negate them
but harness their energy and direct them into the
quest for awakening. Desire is a sign of activity
and without such activity awakening will never be
attained; it is this kind of thinking that lies behind
such phrases as “passions and awakening are iden-
tical” (Jpn. bonnō soku bodai [煩惱即菩提]), and
behind the tendency to treat basic human instincts
as a manifestation of pure energy. Sexual desire
becomes a subject of serious interest, particularly
since it results in physical union and a paradoxical
momentary dissolution of self. Such a doctrine is
open to abuse, of course, and this is why the word
“risky” always comes to mind.
For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV
The Creation of Shingon
Tantric Buddhist texts were not themselves a new
phenomenon in Japan. About a quarter of what
are now recognized as tantric texts was already
available in Japan during the course of the Nara
period. The monk Dōji (道慈; d. 744) had studied
with Śubhākarasiṃha (Bingenheimer, 2001, 90)
and brought back both the Chinese translation
of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha and Yijing’s
new version of the Suvarṇabhāsottama-sūtra in
718; and Genbō had returned in 734 with the Mahā-
vairocana-sūtra that had so puzzled Kūkai. Abé’s
central argument (Abé, 1999, 188–235) is that Kūkai
saw that he had to avoid alienating the existing Bud-
dhist establishment, and that he did so by showing
that Vajrayāna was not really at odds with present
practice but rather the newly revealed key to what
had been there all along. He could argue that much
had happened between 702, when Dōji had gone to
Chang’an and worked with Sanskrit masters, and
805. Amoghavajra had developed his links to impe-
rial power and Kūkai himself had had the good
fortune to experience the realities of mature tant-
ric Buddhism in action. He was therefore in a posi-
tion to reveal the underlying nature of what had
remained latent. This argument was constructed
in his Kan’ensho and the treatise Ben kenmitsu
nikyō ron, both produced about 815. It is here that
he clarifies the differences between the Mahāyāna
approach and his own: the source of the teachings
was, in truth, not Śākyamuni but the Dharmakāya
itself in the form of Mahāvairocana, who “preaches”
(hosshin seppō [法身説法]); the practice involves
not the six perfections but the three mysteries;
the vector is not that of conventional language but
something far more direct in the form of dhāraṇī
and mantra; and the aim was the achievement of
buddhahood not kalpas in the future, but in the
here and now, sokushin jōbutsu (即身成佛) (Gar-
diner, 1994, 17).
It is important to note that this interpretation has
recently been questioned, and indeed the whole
narrative of Kūkai’s influence between the years 815
and 835 has now been placed in doubt (McMullen,
2016). McMullen points out that there is no sign
of any contemporary reaction to Kūkai’s Ben ken-
mitsu nikyō ron, which first appears in a catalog of
Kūkai’s works produced by the monk Saisen (濟暹;
1025–1115). After Kūkai’s death, his students, under
the guidance of Shinnen (眞然; 804–891), devoted
 Kūkai
themselves to building temples on Kōyasan. Mean-
while, the center at Tōji gained prestige and even-
tually the two institutions clashed. In 876 Shinnen
“borrowed” certain important documents in Kūkai’s
hand from Tōji, took them to Kōyasan, and then
refused to return them. This was to lead to a bitter
conflict between the two, which continued until 919,
when the court decided to combine the abbotships
of both institutions and Kōyasan was allowed to fall
into disrepair to wait until the 12th-century revival
under Kakuban. The early history of the institutions
that Kūkai left behind was therefore not a happy
one, and there is little suggestion here of Shingon as
a school. And what of Kūkai’s own status at the time,
beyond the hagiography? Contemporary sources
are largely silent. It is true that tantrism did become
embedded in court ritual, but this was partly due to
the fact that successive sovereigns made sure that
they had their own temples, which became centers
of tantric practice in their own right: temples such
as Ninnaji (仁和寺), founded by the emperor Uda
(宇多; r. 887–897, d. 931) in 888; and Daigoji (醍醐
寺), re-founded by the emperor Daigo (醍醐; r. 897–
930) in Yamashina to the east of the capital in 907.
Perhaps more importantly, after the death of Saichō,
the Tendai establishment on Hieizan was quick to
adopt, and then appropriate, tantric practice, so
that throughout most of the Heian period tantrism
was in fact a Tendai phenomenon. Both →Ennin
(圓仁; 794–864) and →Enchin (圓珍; 814–891) went
to China with the specific intent of obtaining tan-
tric texts and experiencing tantric ritual, and with
the work of →Annen (安然; 841–889?) the transfor-
mation was complete. McMullen goes so far as to
suggest that Ben kenmitsu nikyō ron may not have
been written by Kūkai at all, but produced later by
scholar-monks who were responding to the work
of Annen, part and parcel of an attempt to rewrite
the pre-history of what would eventually become a
recognizable Shingon school (McMullen, 2016, 15).
Such scepticism, of course, clashes with the sectar-
ian vision of Kūkai as the inheritor of “Shingon” via
direct transmission from Huiguo.
Kūkai’s Afterlives
Perhaps no other figure in Japan has spawned so
many legends as Kūkai, or O-Daishi-sama (お大師
樣), as he affectionately known. The year of his birth,
774, happened to coincide perfectly with the death
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1033
of Amoghavajra, so it was only natural that he was
recognized as a reincarnation of the tantric master;
and although the precise day of his birth was not
known, it became fixed as the 15th day of the sixth
month, the day that Amoghavajra passed away. As
befits a thaumaturge and a master of secrets, Kūkai
was not cremated but instead entered a state of
suspended animation in his mausoleum (Oku no
in [奥之院]) in the depths of Mount Kōya, where
he remains sitting to this day, sustained with daily
offerings by the monks of Kongōbuji, and await-
ing the coming of Maitreya. In 921 he was honored
with the title Kōbō Daishi, so although the monks
on Mount Kōya may not have prospered, he himself
remained a formidable figure. Hagiographies then
began to emerge, the earliest being the “Goyuigō”
(御遺告, KDZ, vol. II, 781–813), which took the form
of a final testament, and from the 11th century they
proliferated (all available in the ten-volume collec-
tion KDDZ).
One of the most important of these hagiogra-
phies is the Kongō buji konryū shugyō engi (金剛
峰寺建立修行緣起, KDDZ, 1–2) of 986 from which
many legendary details were subsequently drawn;
also influential are the Kūkai entry in the Honchō
shinsenden (本朝神仙傳, NST, vol. VII, 261–264)
compiled by Ōe no Masafusa (大江匡房; 1041–1111)
and Fujiwara no Atsumitsu’s (藤原敦光; 1063–1144)
Kōbō Daishi gyōkeki (弘法大師行化記; KDDZ, vol. II;
KDZ, shukan, 180–232), which were used as source
material by the compilers of medieval tale collec-
tions such as the Konjaku monogatarishū (今昔物語
集, NKBT, 24–25). This in turn led to a whole series
of illustrated biographies with the generic title Kōbō
Daishi eden (弘法大師繪傳): the Kōya Daishi gyōjō
zuga (高野大師行状圖畫) of 1264–1288, Tōji’s Kōbō
Daishi gyōjō ki (弘法大師行状記) dated 1374, Daigo-
ji’s Daishi ekotoba (大師繪詞) of 1378, and the Kōso
Daishi himitsu engi (高祖大師秘密緣起) of 1468 (all
these and more are published in Umezu, 1983 and
ZNET, 5–7). The legends then spread into other
literary forms such as the sekkyōbushi (説經節,
sermon-ballad) Karikaya (刈萱), which describes
how Kūkai has to inform his mother that, since she is
a woman, even she is banned from climbing Mount
Kōya (Matisoff, 2002, 465; Kimborough, 2008, 202).
A resume of the legendary life would include
some or all the following: miracle stories of his
birth, his brilliant youth, and the fact that he once
swallowed Venus while in the midst of deep medi-
tation. On another occasion he wrote the whole
1034 Kūkai
of the “Maji” (魔事) chapter of the Daihannyakyō
(Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra) in the sky. Once, in
the palace at Chang’an, he wrote a Chinese poem on
the wall using five brushes at the same time, one in
each hand, one on each foot, and one in his mouth,
astounded the court with his genius, and received
the title Gohitsu Wajō (五筆和尚) (NST, vol. VII,
262). On another occasion, when he drew the char-
acter for “dragon” on water it turned into a real
dragon. Just before returning to China, he threw a
vajra into the sky and it flew to Japan and landed on
Mount Kōya, where he found it some years later and
saw it as a sign that he should build his temple there
(Konjaku monogatarishū, NKBT, vol. XXIV, 105–107;
Tyler, 1987, 35–37). Once back in Japan he is credited
with having single-handedly invented the Japanese
syllabary (kana [假名]). He was also said to have
been the author of the iroha poem, which provided
the order in which the syllabary was, and still is,
remembered (Okada, 1984). He was a calligrapher
of such renown as to give rise to the proverb “even
Kūkai made mistakes with his brush” (Kōbō mo fude
no ayamari [弘法も筆の誤り]). When opening up
Mount Kōya, he was given explicit permission by the
local goddess Niu (丹生), and it was Kūkai who bur-
ied a “wish-fulfilling” jewel (cintāmaṇi, Jpn. nyoi hōju
[如意寶珠]) at Mount Ben’ichi (宀一山, otherwise
known as Murōji [室生寺]; Andreeva, 2017, 92). He
also carried out many benevolent acts for the people,
such as bridging rivers and creating ponds (NKBT,
vol. XXV, 165; Tyler, 1987, 20–21). The medieval tract
Reikiki (麗氣記, ST, Shingon shintō, 1) treats him as
the founder of Ryōbu Shintō (两部神道), which
equates the Inner and Outer Shrines at Ise to the two
Shingon maṇḍala. The island of his birth, Shikoku
(四國), became a place of pilgrimage and in the Edo
period a pilgrimage route of 88 temples was devised
known as the Shikoku henro (四國遍路), a route
still followed by many searching for meaning in their
lives; the tradition is for pilgrims to wear a smock
with the words “dōgyō ni’nin” (同行二人), signify-
ing that one is carrying out this arduous trek in the
company of the master himself (Reader, 2005, 12).
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