868 mark unno
widespread. In both formal and informal contexts, the mantra of light
continues to be one of the most widespread practices of the Shingon
and beyond.
While key elements of the mantra practice remained faithful to the
scriptural sources imported from China, the actual protocols, accom-
panying mantras and rituals, correlation with mandalas, and other
features evolved organically over time. Unlike many other Shingon
practices whose interpretation down through the centuries carried the
unmistakable stamp of Kūkai’s major influence, the practice of the
mantra of light was shaped by many hands over time. As Myōe pur-
portedly said, according to the Kyakuhai mōki (Record of
Things Not To Be Forgotten),
[As for] the doctrines of the Shingon,... just as an artisan collects odd
pieces from here and there and creates something, so too do [these
sundry practices] become the functioning parts of the esoteric school
(Kamata and Tanaka 1971, 109).This process of combining “odd pieces from here and there” reflects a
dialectic between text and praxis where each produces changes in the
other, a process that Bell (1998) has aptly called the ritualization of
text and the textualization of ritual.
Material and Spiritual Benefits
Karma, Faith, This-Worldly and Other-Worldly Benefits
Historically, Mahāyāna Buddhists in East Asia have generally not
drawn hard distinctions between the material and spiritual benefits
of religious practice. Likewise, they have not made corresponding dis-
tinctions between mind and body. Describing the work of Myōe, one
of the primary advocates of the mantra of light, George Tanabe (1994)
writes:
Destroying bad karma, metsuzai , lies at the heart of Myōe’s reli-
gion.... Healing and all of the other practical benefits are not functional
concessions to folk superstitions but normative expressions of one of the
mainstreams of Mahāyāna Buddhism.Even Shinran, Myōe’s contemporary in the Shin school, who is gener-
ally known for emphasizing religious realization over material bene-
fits, extolled the this-worldly effects of the nenbutsu path. In the Genze
riyaku wasan (Hymns on This-Worldly Benefits) he
writes: