Kotodama

[kokumo]

Originally posted by L-Fitzgerald
Just thought I'd share some notes about its origins.

"At the age of 8, Uyeshiba Morihei began studying Shingon Buddhism under the direction of a local priest. Shingon Buddhism, or "True Word" was first introduced into Japan by Kukai [A.D. 774﷓835], and Shingon Buddhism implies: “the idea of knowledge within knowledge.” This religion is an offshoot of Mahayana Buddhism and part of its practise incorporate Tibetan or Tantric intonations in the belief that the use of magical spells permit mystic union with the deities.

These Tibetan practices are believed to have originated in prehistoric times, and as a result Shingon Buddhism contains a meditative exercise called kuji goshin ho. L Fitzgerald

L.--

Both Shingon and Tendai Esoteric Japanese Buddhism predate the establishment of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet. There are deep common roots, primarily Indic and to a lesser extent Sinitic, shared by the Tibetan and Japanese Esoteric Traditions. However, with the exception of modern research into Tibetan Tantrism, an area in which Japanese researchers have taken a leading role, no influence of the Tibetan tradition on the Japanese tradition has ever been shown; any claims to the contrary immediately mark a source as suspect.

To the best of my knowledge, Shingon Goshin no Ho is a distinct practice from kuji kiri; the latter is known primarily with reference to contemporary ninja practice, some forms of Ryobu Shinto, and Shugendo; it is my understanding that instruction in the Goshin no Ho is generally comparatively restricted within Shingon-shu. All of the above can be found in a fairly cursory examination of the relatively short shelf of publicly available material in English on Shingon. Goshin no Ho is certainly not widely available as a lay practice. As with the kuji kiri practices -- or for that matter, virtually any esoteric practice -- published accounts are almost always incomplete.

However useful from a scholarly point of view, such accounts are, if not incomplete then generally consciously promulgated with errors inserted in order to insure that missing key points or informations regarding extraneous elements are only given to prospective practitioners in the context of an appropriate teacher-student relationship.

Persons interested in an authoritative treatment of these questions might find SHINGON, by Taiko Yamasaki of use; those willing to sit down for a serious read will find that Professor Ryuichi Abe's recent book on Kukai, THE WEAVING OF MANTRA, is a rewarding and substantive treatment of the transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan which moves beyond the narrow sectarian narratives that have characterized most work in this area.

Best,

Fred Little

[L-Fitzgerald]

Mr Little:

I don't profess to have as much information at my fingertips as yourself, and my comments came from a variety of Journals and publications. However, your input regarding the following would be appreciated:

"Before Buddhism was introduced into Tibet the main religion was Bon, with the word "Bon" being derived from the Han language that refers to the region in China where the founders of the Bon religion came from. The founders of Bonism were some of the members of the clan of Li Shi, ancestors of Lao Tze (author of Tao Te Ching). The ancestors of Lao Tze were knighted in the region of Bon. It’s also known that Buddhism was introduced into China in the Han region approximately around third century B.C. with Tantric Buddhism being introduced during the early fourth century together with other exoteric scriptures

Later In the eighth century, three Indian monks, Subhakarasimba (637-735), Vajrabodhi (670-741) and Amoghavajra (705-740)imported into China, Tantric systems of the non-Shaktic type and won great influence of the court of Tang emperors. This influenced the acceptance of Tantric Buddhism by the King of Tibet through the marriage of the daughter of the Tang emperor, Princess Wen Chen to the King of Tibet."

These events took place around the time Shingon Buddhism was introduced into Japan. Further, it's common knowledge that Japan was actively engaged in commercial and cultural exchanges with the Han Dynasty during this same time period so the coincidences are hard to ignore.

Perhaps this data should have also been included in my original comments.

L Fitzgerald

[Ellis Amdur]

Just noticed this thread, and have some incomplete recollections to add to the mix.

1) In 1975, I went through Sante Fe (hitchhiking on my way to Japan) and stayed a week, training at Nakazono-Sensei's dojo. Most of that week, he lectured on kotodama, a sect(?) of which he was a profound devotee. The dojo had a book, in English, on kotodama, written by someone whom Nakazono said, if I recall correctly, Ueshiba Morihei's teacher in kotodama. Among the endearing things I recall from this text (which Nakazono himself endorsed in his lectures were:

The Japanese language is composed of the primordial pure sounds which make up the universe - other languages are degenerations and corrupted.

The Jews created our current age, the Iron Age, and in the year 2014 (or 2015, I forget), the Japanese, thru kotodama, will usher in the next age, the Golden Age. This will be done by an inner circle of 144,000 people (of all races) simultaneously chanting pure kotodama.

On kuji - no scholar I, but I was taught that the cross-hatch cutting, done with left hand fore-and middle fingers clasped in right hand little-and-ring finger, right index and middle extended, was a short-hand form of kuji, the Rin/pyo/to, etc. with finger twining, being the "long" version. Explicitly linked with Mikkyo Goshin no Ho. There is also juji, in which the tenth character is that which you wished to be protected from: for example "Ka," as an incantation against fire. Finally, in Tendai, I believe, there is a short-hand form of kuji, for emergencies, essentially snapping your fingers once at the enemy or threat (like a "macro" in a computer program - a one-key stroke to pull up the program).

Best

Ellis Amdur

[kokumo]

Originally posted by L-Fitzgerald


"Before Buddhism was introduced into Tibet the main religion was Bon, with the word "Bon" being derived from the Han language that refers to the region in China where the founders of the Bon religion came from.

I don't know about the linguistic derivation. What we now identify as "Bon" definitely contains pre-Buddhist elements, but historically speaking, like Shinto, it defined itself in relation to Buddhism, which provided both countries with a system of writing and a cultural framework that came with the system of writing. So there's a fundamental technical problem with trying to figure out what pre-Buddhist "pure Bon" or "pure Shinto" would have looked like.

The founders of Bonism were some of the members of the clan of Li Shi, ancestors of Lao Tze (author of Tao Te Ching). The ancestors of Lao Tze were knighted in the region of Bon. It’s also known that Buddhism was introduced into China in the Han region approximately around third century B.C. with Tantric Buddhism being introduced during the early fourth century together with other exoteric scriptures

I'm would be very surprised if, somewhere, there wasn't a group of ritual Taoists who claim this connection between Lao Tze and Bon on the basis of a homonym. Historically accurate? I am not convinced. Homonym identifications (or puns) play a strong role in Buddhist mantra practice (in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Japanese) as well as in kototama practice and theory.

The timeline on the introduction of the first texts which are identified as "esoteric" is about right, though there is an active difference of opinion (both in-tradition and in scholarly circles) on the alleged distinction between "exoteric" and "esoteric" texts and practices.

Later In the eighth century, three Indian monks, Subhakarasimba (637-735), Vajrabodhi (670-741) and Amoghavajra (705-740)imported into China, Tantric systems of the non-Shaktic type and won great influence of the court of Tang emperors. This influenced the acceptance of Tantric Buddhism by the King of Tibet through the marriage of the daughter of the Tang emperor, Princess Wen Chen to the King of Tibet."

Again, the timeline is ok. For a sidelight on the question of whether the "non-Shaktic" label is accurate, you might want to do a web-search on the phrase "Tachikawa Heresy" and draw your own conclusions.

At roughly the same time as the marriage you cite, the same King of Tibet also married a Nepali princess, who brought numerous sutras, translators, and ritual furnishings as part of her dowry. Along with that pair of stories, there is a subsequnet tale of a debate between an Indian monk and a Chinese monk before the King of Tibet, held to determine which form Tibetan Buddhism would take. According to the official account, the Indian won.

Comparisons between Mikkyo and Tibetan Buddhism are tricky because Tibet "gelled" about three or four centuries later, though it may have received very similar early transmissions.

While Chinese cultural influence is undeniable, the successive Southeast Asian kingdoms of Chenla and Funan during this general period were middling the trade between China and India and may have been richer than either trading partner while also exerting a strong influence on what goods and ideas got traded.

Hope you find the above of use.

Fred Little

[kokumo]

Originally posted by Ellis Amdur
Just noticed this thread, and have some incomplete recollections to add to the mix.

1) In 1975, I went through Sante Fe (hitchhiking on my way to Japan) and stayed a week, training at Nakazono-Sensei's dojo. Most of that week, he lectured on kotodama, a sect(?) of which he was a profound devotee. The dojo had a book, in English, on kotodama, written by someone whom Nakazono said, if I recall correctly, Ueshiba Morihei's teacher in kotodama. Among the endearing things I recall from this text (which Nakazono himself endorsed in his lectures were:

The Japanese language is composed of the primordial pure sounds which make up the universe - other languages are degenerations and corrupted.

Thanks for the additional data points, Ellis!

The fact that kana is a syllabary rather than an alphabet (and breaks out on the 50/75 count referenced earlier in this thread) are both correspondences with Sanskrit and I have argued elsewhere that Nakazono's own presentation of kototama theory owes a great deal to Buddhist mantra theory. The innovation here seems to be identifying the pure sounds with a "native Japanese" sound system. Buddhist mantra theory tends to focus on Sanskrit as a shared universal set of seed syllables without reference to geography or nationalism. Of course, Buddhism and Shinto were fairly tightly intertwined up until th e Meiji Restoration, and a lot of the one country/one people/one language stuff dates from that period when major efforts were made to shift the population from regional to national identification and Buddhism was subjected to a variety of governmental controls as a "foreign" religion, which provided a strong motivation for reframing the same teachings with a more "nativist" framework.

The Jews created our current age, the Iron Age, and in the year 2014 (or 2015, I forget), the Japanese, thru kotodama, will usher in the next age, the Golden Age. This will be done by an inner circle of 144,000 people (of all races) simultaneously chanting pure kotodama.

And yes, it gets ugly in places. Why do I worry that the same Christian fundamentalists who are funding attempts to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem so the Lord can usher in the End Days would also fund kototama chanting groups if they thought that might hurry things along on this schedule?

[BOn kuji - no scholar I, but I was taught that the cross-hatch cutting, done with left hand fore-and middle fingers clasped in right hand little-and-ring finger, right index and middle extended, was a short-hand form of kuji, the Rin/pyo/to, etc. with finger twining, being the "long" version. Explicitly linked with Mikkyo Goshin no Ho. There is also juji, in which the tenth character is that which you wished to be protected from: for example "Ka," as an incantation against fire. Finally, in Tendai, I believe, there is a short-hand form of kuji, for emergencies, essentially snapping your fingers once at the enemy or threat (like a "macro" in a computer program - a one-key stroke to pull up the program).[/B]

One publically available set of texts that gives a hint of this "collapsible/expandable macro" characteristic of esoteric practices is the group of Six Session Yoga Sadhana available at www.alexanderberzin.com

There really is something quite funny about an eminent scholar/practitioner of the martial arts disclaiming at least half the label in a related area. On the other hand, maybe I just need to study and practice a little bit more. OK, a lot more....

But I'm still curious about your experience with Goshin no Ho/Kuji Kiri/Mikkyo, since all three can be fairly generic terms:

1. Which Mikkyo? (Some Tendai is Mikkyo, some Tendai is not Mikkyo, some Mikkyo is not Tendai, and etcetera....)

2. Goshin no Ho as a category of techniques or as a specific rite?

3. Was the line of transmission ordinant to ordinant, ordinant to layperson, or layperson to layperson?

We may have different understandings or we may be talking about very different things and I can't help but wonder which it is.

Best,

Fred Little

[L-Fitzgerald]

My notes include the same information regarding the 3-year debate that took place between a monk from the Tantric and Cha’an schools of Buddhism, and while their ethic identities are not given they also identify the Tantric sect as winning.

With regard to Bonism [the term is being used to maintain continuity with my previous post, and not meant to challenge], still its interesting to note that this sect also believed in 3 different worlds and its followers would often paint their faces red to ward off evil spirits. And who has not seen Japanese paintings with faces painted red, not unlike the color of the armor worn by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the battle of Sekigahara [or possibly Osaka Castle – not sure of which with out further digging into notes] on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.

I don't presume to answer for Mr Amdur, but offer the following regarding Tantric training methods in that they too are always kept secret is a given. However teaching is accomplished orally by word of mouth, nothing is to be written down. However, written documents can only be understood through a teacher, and the during the learning process strongly emphasisis is placed on the master - disciple (teacher-student) relationships, and one's teacher is considered more important than the deities, and respected first by the student before they pay homage to the deities. As for its writings they are never to be revealed to non-believers.

Thanks for sharing

L Fitzgerald

[Ellis Amdur]

whoops - mistakes come from writing when tired. That is right fingers in left hand (sword in saya).

Fred - My education in this area was really patchy. As part of the documents I received in Araki-ryu, were a number of pieces (some notes in from a notebook, others "end-pieces" on a makimono, and some are labeled Goshin-ho, etc. My instructor labeled them mikkyo. I sent one piece to a Tendai priest and he said that a large part of it was the same thing he had his sons recite before going to sleep.

My intention is to take all the material I have received, almost none of which I can understand, and have someone who does (bits of sanskrit, included) work it out with me. (perhaps next time I'm in NY, we can have a sit-down). My own instructor, when I asked him to teach me the ins-and-outs of the ryu's esoteric training (mikkyo) responded, "It's a waste of your time. You would have to learn Buddhism, embrace the world view of this particular area, and essentially, it is all a form of psychology - the ability to organize yourself to be powerful, to influence other people, suss out their vulnerabilities, protect your own, etc. You should learn all of that in a manner congruent with your own culture. Study European psychology." His point, as always, was utilitarian. How does this living man best exert power on the world he lives in - and if antiquarian knowledge is pruned away, he was unconcerned. As for me, I'd like to know what I wasn't taught, just in case there are a few items not covered in what I have learned.

Best

Ellis Amdur

[kokumo]

Ellis, I can think of a couple of people off-hand who have sufficient familiarity with the three languages involved as well as underlying tradition.

My own teacher's view seems to be that this particular tradition has always been highly adaptive to new cultures and situations and we are just beginning to see the way in which it adapts to the West.

For my money, the aspects that are generally considered particularly "difficult" or "inaccessible" tend to be cosmological and philosophical, but if you've managed to make it through basic Hegelian Dialectics, Existentialism, Structuralism and Post-Modernism 101, that part is not such a big deal.

Which brings us back to practice: the underlying premise of mikkyo is "Sokushin Jobutsu" or "Attaining Buddhahood (in) This Very Body;" which is pretty similar to "Masakatsu Agatsu Katsu Hayabi," particularly as far as either way, the option of putting off the hard work until the next lifetime is taken off the table and the teacher is drilling this point home through a variety of means. Even practice techniques which initially seem to be fairly roundabout tend to be very practical and immediate in the way they make this point compellingly, and show tangible results which (often) are quite necessary for the next layer of practice. All of which fits very clearly in the the Japanese national tendency toward "this-worldism."

That the techniques of mikkyo are reasonably quick and powerful is included in historical and contemporary warnings about the risks of this method of practice, warnings which seem to have a curious echo in the origin story of the Araki-Ryu as told in your most recent book.

Both Shingon and Tendai sects have had sizeable numbers of affiliates under arms at various periods, under a variety of degrees of ordination ranging from none to full. The relationship you discuss between the early history of Araki-Ryu and Ikko-Ikki suggests a Tendai connection.

Historically, the Tendai lines have been much more open doctrinally (requiring only simple bodhisattva vows rather than full monastic ordination) and socially (having been established as an independent sect at one remove from the royal family rather than in fairly close association with it, as with Shingon). But these two broad streams share a common source and have criss-crossed in many times and places since their introduction to Japan.

And in many times and places, the monasteries of Japan have served as an unusual combination of witness protection program, battered women's shelter, and orphanage. So it wouldn't surprise me at all to find some of the more immediately useful aspects of their curricula preserved and transmitted within lay martial traditions that include keppan.

Perhaps we can talk briefly in Harrisburg in January.

Best,

Fred Little

[LGatling]

In scanning some materials, I found this old post.

Professor Goldsbury may know, but I wonder if Professor Kakei Katsuhiko's 筧克彦Kannagara no Michi 神ながらの道　(1941) somehow contains the ultimate words on kotodama.

Kakei was an interesting character, to the point of supposedly being an embarrassment to his university colleagues, as he put more and more effort into constructing links between physical education, 'ancient' Shinto rites, and a lot of focus on verbalizations that would purify the spirit - of course, in the interest of better serving the Emperor, blahblahblah.....

Lance Gatling

[StephenBaker]

Thanks to everybody who is posting here. As an aspiring academic without the time to do so, I loved the exchange. I am trying to find time to source the materials mentioned and compare to my own sources. The Shingon-Tibetan (lack of) connection is on my list of things to learn in the time I do not have.

[P Goldsbury]

In scanning some materials, I found this old post.

Professor Goldsbury may know, but I wonder if Professor Kakei Katsuhiko's 筧克彦Kannagara no Michi 神ながらの道　(1941) somehow contains the ultimate words on kotodama.

Kakei was an interesting character, to the point of supposedly being an embarrassment to his university colleagues, as he put more and more effort into constructing links between physical education, 'ancient' Shinto rites, and a lot of focus on verbalizations that would purify the spirit - of course, in the interest of better serving the Emperor, blahblahblah.....

Lance Gatling

Hello Lance,

I have not forgotten this thread, dug from the deeper recesses of the E-Budo archives. I have been busy and many of the Internet leads mentioned in the earlier posts are no longer accessible. As I am sure you are aware, much of the discussion on kotodama, including the books of Mr Nakazono, relies on kotodama-gaku, which enjoyed some currency in the latter half of the Tokugawa period, when the nativists were studying Japan's ancient myths. I have not studied Kakei in any great depth, but I am curious about what he himself read on kotodama.

Best wishes,

PAG

[Chris Hellman]

I just remembered that, for anyone interested in seeing someone using kuji, Otake Risuke (head of the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu) demonstrates it's use in the old BBC series, Way of the Warrior - readily viewable on YouTube.

Chris Hellman
http://www.ichijoji.blogspot.com