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referred to as a possessor of such power, and who on visiting Mun-
etada provided him with valuable insight into the significance of the
esoteric “mantra of light” (kōmyō shingon ).^8
Due to his reputation, Kakuban acquired sufficient resources to ful-
fill the vision of reestablishing Mt. Kōya as a center for monastic train-
ing in esoteric doctrinal studies as well as ritual practice. By 1129 he
had gained the backing of Retired Emperor Toba, which helped cata-
lyze the support of a number of local elite families who commended
estates to him. He was now financially independent of the Kongōbuji
temple-shrine complex and independent of Tōji, which had oversight
of Mt. Kōya and its resources.
Kakuban proceeded rapidly with construction plans, building the
Denbōin , where he began to hold the twice-annual Dharma
Transmission Assemblies, and the Mitsugon’in , which became
his residence. The assemblies were the primary forums for his teach-
ing. An accomplished esoteric practitioner and gifted scholar, Kakuban
taught his disciples and students through lecture, discussion, and
debate. Much of his written work developed from these settings. They
covered ritual, yogic practice, and doctrinal matters of and for the eso-
teric tradition.
Kakuban’s success as the builder of an expanding sub-temple-shrine
complex, the teacher and guide to a growing number of disciples, and
the recipient of continuing support from the imperial family became a
source of tension with Mt. Kōya’s main temple, Kongōbuji. Relations
between the sub-temple, now known as the “Great Temple for the
Transmission of the Dharma” (Daidenbōin ), and the head
temple Kongōbuji took a dramatic turn for the worse when Retired
Emperor Toba issued an edict on the eighth day of the fifth month in
1134, designating the Daidenbōin-Mitsugon’in sub-complex as an offi-
cially recognized center for the offering of rituals for the protection and
benefit of the imperial family (chokugansho goganji ).
Opposition from the local Mt. Kōya hierarchy and from the leadership
at Tōji led to a firestorm that did not abate until Kakuban and most of
his followers were forced from Mt. Kōya in late 1140 or early 1141.^9
(^8) For example, the fifth day of the sixth month of Daiji 1 (1126), the seventh day of
the twelfth month of Chōshō 9 1 (January 1133) (quoted in Shirai 2002, 154–55).
van der Veere 2000, 40–42; see also van der Veere 1998, 137–43, which conve-
niently lists the exchange of petitions opposing Kakuban made by Kongōbuji and Tōji
and the edicts of retired Emperor Toba.