. zen and esoteric buddhism 935
fluids) informed Zen rituals (Bodiford 2000). Certain explicitly Shin-
gon practices, such as notions of “fetal buddhahood” (Sanford 1997),
also appear in old Zen initiation documents. Their existence reminds
us that Buddhist teachers in premodern times accessed a shared body
of esoteric lore, which transcended modern doctrinal and sectarian
distinctions.
The reason why these older documents have become accessible is
because contemporary Zen teachers no longer value the secret lore
they convey. Menzan Zuihō denounced the initiation documents of
his day for conveying unorthodox and false teachings,^21 and the docu-
ments he denounced gradually fell into disuse. It has been suggested
(Faure 1991, 204–205) that Menzan’s rejection of initiation documents
arose out of his desire to demythologize Zen. However, just as with
the ambrosia gate ritual mentioned above, he composed new initiation
documents to convey his own approach to Zen. Menzan’s new initia-
tion documents remain mostly secret (but see Sugimoto 1982a; 1982b).
The available evidence suggests that rather than rejecting mythology,
Menzan promoted a more rigorous Zen mythos, one that he could
defend as internally self-consistent and as being in agreement with
Buddhist scriptures. Although unknown to the public, this mythos and
the initiation documents that convey its secrets continue to be the eso-
teric core of Japanese Zen.
(^21) See the Denbō shitsunai mitsuji monki (Transcripts of Pri-
vate Instructions on Dharma Transmission Ceremonies) and Tōjō shitsunai danshi
kenpi shiki (Private Record of Rejected Sōtō Initiation Docu-
ments); reprinted in the Sōtōshū zensho (Sōtōshū Zensho Kankōkai, ed. 1970–1973,
15: 171–92, 15: 197–218, “Shitsuchū” ).