. dharma prince shukaku 799
the inheritor (though he was clearly the most influential and innova-
tive figure in its history). In particular, consideration of these works
clarifies the extent to which Shukaku’s initiation by the Daigoji monk
Shōken (1138–1196) enabled him to incorporate Ono branch
teachings and practices (especially of the Sanbō’in lineage
) into his understanding, performance, and transmission of eso-
teric Buddhist practices, supplementing the Hirosawa branch
framework centered at Ninnaji—and arguably transforming the early
medieval history of Shingon belief and practice.
At the same time, Shukaku also gained access to the corpus of the
Kōya monk Shingaku’s (1117–ca. 1180) extensive iconographic
commentaries and collections that also incorporated Tendai ritual
teachings, which availed Shukaku and the O’muro cloister of the broad-
est set of ritual works in early medieval Shingon Buddhism. Shukaku’s
own handwritten Catalogue of the Three Notes (Sanshō mokuroku
; Mi-kyōzō 44.7) represents not only his encapsulation
of the contents of iconographic works received from Shingaku and
Shōken but also his own elaboration on his ritual reception (denjū
) from Shōken of the relevant Ono catalogues ( Mi-kyōzō 44.6).
Shukaku thus was initiated into the catalogues—a kind of foreshorten-
ing of separate esoteric ritual transmission—in 1195, and went on to
incorporate them into a larger corpus into which he likewise granted
transmission to disciples.
Clearly the most influential of Shukaku’s works within his core
compendium were his Secret Notes (Hishō ); one manuscript in
Daikakuji was largely written in his hand and includes both a
colophon recording its transmission from Dōhō to the next O’muro
dharma Prince, Dōjo (1196–1249), as well as one signed by
the cloistered sovereign Go-Uda (r. 1274–1287) (Abe Yasurō 1998,
131–33).
Significantly, Shukaku’s corpus of writings and collections, known
more generally as the Sacred Writings of the Go-ryū (Go-ryū shōgyō
), was transmitted rapidly to the Kantō region, home of the
shogunate, as well as to temples affiliated with the Hirosawa branch
in Kyōto and environs. The Kantō dissemination was accomplished
through the influence of the first non-royal O’muro abbot, Hōjo
(1227–1284), a son of the leading noble Kujō Michi’ie, and in
particular his disciple Raijo (1246–1297), son of the shogu-
nate regent Hōjō Tsunetoki (1224–1246). Having received
initiation from Hōjo into Shukaku’s Secret Notes (1271) and other