Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

(Ben Green) #1

926 william m. bodiford


liturgical manuals of daily rituals for laypeople (shinto nikka
) published by Japanese Zen temples typically include dhāran ̣ī
for averting calamities (shōsai shinju ; T. 963), invoking
great compassion (daihi shinju ; T. 1060–1061), and invok-
ing the power of the Victorious Usṇ̣īsa (̣ Butchō Sonshō darani
; T. 873), as well as the dhāraṇī of tutelary deities such as
the bodhisattvas Cundī ( Juntei darani ; T. 1078) or the
eleven-faced Avalokiteśvara ( jūichi men Kanzeon shinju
).^5 Laypeople are instructed to chant each of these dhāraṇī at
least once a day. Temple priests chant them at almost every ceremony,
including the morning, midday, and evening services (chikujitsu sanji
).
Temple services include many other dhāraṇī for specialized pur-
poses. The Sho ekō shingi shiki (Dedicatory Scripts for
Zen Procedures; T. 2578), a guide to Zen rituals compiled around 1566
by a Japanese Zen cleric, Tenrin Fūin (n.d.), mentions all
of the above plus dhāraṇī for radiant light (kōmyō shingon ;
T. 1002), summoning rain (shō’u darani ; T. 864A), avert-
ing storms (jo raisai shu ; T. 1027), averting theft (zokunan
shōjo shu ; T. 1405), deliverance to the Pure Land (ōjō jōdo
shu ; T. 930). It also contains dhāraṇī for invoking the
aid of the deities such as the Ox-Headed King (Gozu Tennō shingon
), Mahākāla (Daikoku Tenjin shingon ),
Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamon shingon ), King Yama (Enma ō shu


thirty-two) consist of dhāraṇī. Buswell translates their names as mantra of shattering
hell (230); sublime mantra of the original mind of Amitābha Buddha, shattering hell
mantra, mantra of incense offering (231); mantra that purifies speech, mantra that
consoles all Buddhist and non-Buddhist spirits of the five directions, mantra for open-
ing the treasure-store of the Dharma (236); the vast, consummate, unimpeded, great
compassion, great dhāraṇī of the thousand-handed, thousand-eyed Avalokiteśvara
Bodhisattva invocation (237–38), the great dhāraṇī of spiritually sublime phrases
(238–39); repentance mantra (240); mantra for purifying the Dharma realm, mantra
for protecting the body, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva’s King of Great Knowledge man-
tra consisting of six syllables that reveal the original mind, and Cundī Bodhisattva’s
mantra (241).


(^5) The Showa teiho Sōtōshū nikka kyō daizen published
by Eiheiji Temple (Fukui prefecture) in the 1930s contains all of these. The dhāraṇī
of the eleven-faced Avalokiteśvara (under the name Zuigan sokutoku darani
) appears because that bodhisattva is a protector of the temple. The source
for this dhāraṇī is not contained in any of the standard Buddhist canons, but a longer
version of it is found in the Tuoluoni ji jing , fascicle 4 (T. 901.18:813c).
Also see the Rinzai zenshū shokyō yōshū , 1935.

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