This is evident in the extensive vinaya discussion of the
somewhat ambiguous figure of the pandaka.While this
term has often been translated as “eunuch,” there is
good reason to understand it to mean a man who is
sexually inclined toward other men.
In Japan there is substantial evidence that some Bud-
dhists understood homosexuality, or more specifically
relationships between adult male monks and their boy
pages, to be a natural part of the monastic life. There
are numerous popular tales from the medieval period
describing these affairs. Usually the stories end in
tragedy and the monk regrets his excessive attachment
to the boy, but nowhere is the propriety of the homo-
sexual relationship per se called into question.
See also:Family, Buddhism and the; Gender; Women
Bibliography
Bloss, Lowell W. “The Buddha and the Naga: A Study in Bud-
dhist Folk Religiosity.” History of Religions13, no. 1 (1973):
36–53.
Cabezón, José Ignacio, ed. Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender.Al-
bany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
Faure, Bernard. The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexu-
ality.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Jaffe, Richard. Neither Monk nor Layman: Clerical Marriage in
Modern Japanese Buddhism.Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 2002.
Perera, L. P. N. Sexuality in Ancient India: A Study Based on the
Pali Vinayapitaka.Kelaniya, Sri Lanka: Postgraduate Insti-
tute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, 1993.
Shaw, Miranda. Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric
Buddhism.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Wilson, Liz. Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Fem-
inine in Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature.Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1996.
HANKGLASSMAN
SHINGON BUDDHISM, JAPAN
Shingon refers to a major Japanese Buddhist school
devoted to esoteric Buddhism. Shingon’s doctrine is
built around two essential theories developed by
KUKAI(774–835), based on his interpretation of the
Mahavairocana-sutra(Japanese, Dainichikyo) and the
Tattvasamgraha or Vajras ́ekhara-sutra (or Tantra;
Japanese, Kongochokyo): the dharmakaya’s preaching
of the dharma (hosshin seppo), and the practice of the
three mysteries (sanmitsu gyo). According to Kukai, the
cosmic Buddha Mahavairocana, whose body consists
of the six great elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space,
and consciousness), is none other than the dharma-
kaya (law body). The constant, harmonious interac-
tion between the six elements creates all things in the
universe; everything in the world, made up of the six
elements uniquely combined, is the manifestation of
the dharmakaya. Thus, the dharmakaya permeates the
universe, and all sorts of movements in the world
are understood as the dharmakaya’s manifestation of
the dharma.
This secret revelation of the dharma can be captured
by the study of the ritual system of the three mysteries:
the mysteries of the body (MUDRA), speech (MANTRA),
and mind (MANDALA). The study of mudras teaches
practitioners to recapture in their bodies the cosmic
movement of the six great elements by forming sa-
cred gestures with their hands, arms, and legs.
Mantras enable practitioners to manipulate the sylla-
bles that symbolically represent the six elements and
their combinations, and to create the intertwining of
the elements in the phonic actions of the mantras
chanted. Meditation on the mandala creates in the
minds of practitioners sacred images whose colors and
shapes illustrate the six elements in their constant, con-
certed, engendering acts. The mastery of the discipline
of the three mysteries therefore teaches Shingon prac-
titioners not only to decipher dharmakaya Mahavairo-
cana’s secret language, but also to engage in the
dhamakaya’s eternal creation of the universe.
This mode of understanding the relationship be-
tween the universe and individuals, the macrocosm
and microcosm, led to the development of Shingon as
a spiritual and religious “technology.” When applied
to the area of physiology, the practice of the three mys-
teries enables practitioners to ritually simulate the
body, speech, and mind of the cosmic Buddha, which,
because of the intrinsic identity between the creating
force and created objects, effaces the distinction be-
tween the practitioner and the dharmakaya (sokushin
jobutsu; literally, “to achieve buddhahood in this very
body”). The same technology can be employed as med-
icine in that it can serve as a method to restore the op-
timal balance between the six elements in the body of
a patient. When applied outwardly to the environment,
the practice of the three mysteries provides the means
to change the course of natural events. Or, in the field
of human affairs, it serves as a political technology to
be used in diplomacy and warfare. All these elements
have influenced the course of the development of the
Shingon school in Japanese history.SHINGONBUDDHISM, JAPAN