. looking back and leaping forward 823
in the west (Amida’s Pure Land) or in any other buddha realm of the
ten directions. Thus, enlightenment was to be found in this existence,
in this realm, and in this present form. However, as in the case of the
nine grades of rebirth in the Amidist Pure Land, Kakuban acknowl-
edged the varying capacities of practitioners. Some could fulfill the
esoteric practices of the “three actions” through the kaji/empower-
ment of Dainichi’s three mysteries. Other practitioners of limited
capacities followed the practices of other buddhas and bodhisattvas
who were themselves emanations of Dainichi. In the final analysis,
these “lesser” methods were simply alternate practices, based on one’s
capacity, which nonetheless led to sokushin jōbutsu.^12
Forced to leave Mt. Kōya for Mt. Negoro, Kakuban continued his
teaching and Dharma Transmission Assemblies for the remaining
three years of his life. However, in 1147, through the intercession of
Monastic Imperial Prince Kakuhō of Ninnaji, Kakuban’s
heirs were able to return to Mt. Kōya, under an uneasy truce, for the
next one hundred and forty years. During this time the “sub-temple”
Daidenbōin-Mitsugon’in continued on Mt. Kōya as well as maintain-
ing its presence on Mt. Negoro.
The historic acrimony between “head temple” and “sub-temple”
flared off and on until the late 1280s, when the monastics of the
Daidenbōin-Mitsugon’in retreated to Mt. Negoro for good. The scholar-
monk Raiyu (1226–1304), who had trained at Mt. Negoro, Mt.
Daigo, Mt. Kōya, and at Ninnaji, as well as received foundational
studies at key temples in Nara, was appointed “head of curriculum”
(gakutō ) for the Daidenbōin-Mitsugon’in sub-temple complex
in 1286. This position gave him primary leadership in the sub-temple.
By the next year he was leading the Dharma Transmission Assemblies
(^12) In his latter years on Mt. Kōya after 1134 and in his last years on Mt. Negoro sub-
sequent to his departure from Kōya (1141–1143), Kakuban composed two important
works aimed at a more general audience: the Ichigo taiyō himitsushū
(Esoteric Collection Concerning the Most Important Matters of [a Practitioner’s] Life)
and the Gorinkujimyō himitsushaku (Esoteric Commentary on
the Mantras of the Five Elements [Mandalas of Dainichi Nyorai] and the Nine Seed-
Syllables [of Amida Buddha]. These works give insight into Kakuban’s understanding
of esoteric doctrine and its interaction with various religious issues of his day, such
as the desire for rebirth in Amida’s Pure Land and developments in Japanese forms
of Daoist thought and practice. A third very short text, the Amida hishaku
(Esoteric Commentary on Amida), discussed the relationship of Dainichi Nyorai
and Amida as between substance and appearance (van der Veere 2000, 45–56, 111–14,
132–218).