. godai’in annen 775
a crucial set of mantras called the “eightfold mantra of the sudden
enlightenment and the great compassion of the Womb Realm” (Daihi
taizō tonshō hachiji shingon ), also known as
the “mudrās and mantras of the Yuqi jing ācārya” (
) when taken together with the corresponding mudrās. Of the
eight syllables of this mantra, a vi ra hūṃ khaṃ hūṃ hrīḥ aḥ, the
first five are the seed-syllables of the five elements, the visualization
of which is a fundamental practice advocated in the Dari jing. The
remaining three syllables embody three of the five buddhas of the Dia-
mond Mandala. By uttering the mantra, making the corresponding
mudrās, and visualizing the eight syllables on his body, the practitio-
ner thus physically realizes the unification of the two mandalic realities
(cf. T. 2228.61:494c–495a).
This mantra came to assume great importance in later Taimitsu his-
tory, but with a twist. It is interesting to note that in the Kongōkai taihō
taijuki Annen claimed to have been the only disciple to whom Henjō
transmitted the eightfold mantra (T. 2391.75:188c–189a). However, in
another writing Annen refers to a similar eightfold mantra presented
in a no-longer extant work by Engyō of Reigenji (799–
852), one of the Tōmitsu monks who had studied in China.^6 This latter
mantra was to become representative of the Yuqi jing, though it differs
slightly from that of the sūtra in the following ways: the seventh syl-
lable is replaced by trāḥ, and in some cases a ninth final syllable, aḥ,
is added. For instance, Jien, perhaps the most eminent Taimitsu figure
of the medieval period, based his innovative interpretations of esoteric
practice on this mantra (in its ninefold version).
Annen certainly was the first scholar-monk to give ritual importance
to the Yuqi jing, and this had a remarkable impact on the later use of
this scripture, both in Taimitsu and Tōmitsu. Not only did the Yuqi
jing become the source of a major besson ritual developed in Taimitsu,
that of Butsugenbutsubo , it also informed the embryologi-
cal conception of the enlightened body that characterized medieval
esoteric practice (Dolce 2009a).
(^6) This writing is cited in the Taizōkai taihō taijuki as Taizō konpon gokumikkei
(Extreme and Fundamental Secret Vow of the Womb [Class]) (Mizu-
kami 2008c, 453–54).