www.manaraa.com
42
so much” from these.
130
The
ryōbu mandara, often called the mandala of the Two Worlds (Jp.:
ryōkai mandara, 両界曼荼羅), are a pair of mandalas consisting of the Diamond World mandala
(Jp.:
kongōkai mandara, 金剛界曼荼羅) and the Great Compassion mandala (Jp.:
taizō mandara,
胎蔵曼荼羅).
131
These two forms of mandala were imported from China by Kūkai, but there are
no extant records of their pairing in China. Despite this,
as previously mentioned, there is a lack
of documentation regarding aspects of Esoteric Buddhism as it was a tradition that focused on
the oral transmission of knowledge from mentor to apprentice.
132
From Kūkai’s texts relating
both Huiguo’s experience and his own, it is clear that each mandala was an important aspect and
mandala rite of Mikkyō teachings, even if they were not discussed as a paired concept; however,
in the
Catalogue, Kūkai used
the term ryōbu mandara four times in reference to the two
mandalas together, possibly indicating that the term was part of the ritual and conceptual
transmission Kūkai received from Huiguo.
133
Dai mandara
are used ritually in the
kanjō (潅頂, initiation, consecration, or sometimes
ordination; Skt.:
abhiseka), where a master “sanctions the transmission
of the essence of esoteric
Buddhism to a disciple.”
134
This practice that uses mandalas, known more specifically as
kechien kanjō (結縁潅頂, a
kanjō that establishes a karmic bond with an aspect or deity of
130
Ibid, 2009, p. 233.
131
The Great Compassion mandala is sometimes (and more consistently later) called the Womb World mandala (Jp.:
taizōkai mandara, 胎蔵界曼荼羅).
132
Bogel discusses recent scholarship that presents doubts on Kūkai’s transmission of the dual mandala system (in
terms of veracity or his misunderstanding of Huiguo’s instruction). This scholarship is based in part on the lack of
evidence of a dual mandala system in China. Bogel presents her opinion that it is not a question of Kūkai’s veracity
or his understanding of the instruction he received, but rather that he “added his own elements” to what he
transmitted. She cites his alterations of the patriarch portraits (discussed further in Chapter Five of her book) as an
example of him providing “new meaning for the images.” Bogel,
With a Single Glance, p. 23.
133
This is mentioned in Bogel,
With a Single Glance, pp. 233-234. These four occurrences are found in the original
text: Kūkai.
Shōraimokuroku, KZ 1: 69, line 10; 1:70, line 5; 1:100, lines 7 and 9.
134
Rambelli, “Secrecy in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism,” p. 117. Rambelli also discusses on this same page the first
use of
kanjō by Saichō in 805 and Kūkai’s first use of it in Japan in 812 (both monks did so at Takaosan-ji,
高雄山
寺; also known as Jingo-ji,
神護寺
).
www.manaraa.com
43
esoteric Buddhism) involves recitation by master and student, followed by the blindfolding of the
ordinand.
135
The blindfolded ordinand tosses a flower onto the mandala,
with the deity on whom
the flower lands becoming the ordinand’s focus (a sort of tutelary deity) on the Mikkyō path.
136
As mentioned in Chapter One,
Kūkai himself was initiated in China first in the Womb mandala
and then the Diamond mandala, his thrown flower landing both times on Dainichi Buddha.
It is not known when and how the mandalas imported by Kūkai were used in the years
following his return, but the fact that the two large
dai or anthropomorphic mandalas (the
Diamond World and Womb mandalas that had special size notation in the
Catalogue) were
repaired in 821 suggests that they were used extensively in rituals. Additionally,
mandala copies
were created at this time.
137
These copies from 821 were themselves copied sometime between
829 and 833. These still extant copies
from 829, made for the
Kanjō-in (Abhiseka Hall) of
Jingo-ji, are commonly known as the
Takao mandara.
138
The original large mandalas that
needed repair in 821 and the subsequent copies were all
dai mandara. Although not the form of
the Four Mandala types that uses Sanskrit, these
dai mandara and the records related to their use
are pertinent in a discussion of the much less documented
hō mandara. Or perhaps more to the
point is the fact that these records exist in more detail for the
dai mandara as early as the ninth
century while the documentation of the
hō mandara’s use seems to have lacked such
exactitude.
139
Clearly,
the role of the dai mandara was established in Japan upon Kūkai’s return.
135
Ibid.
136
This is a simplified description of the process. More detailed descriptions can be found in texts by scholars such
as Ryūichi Abe, Cynthea Bogel, or Fabio Rambelli.
137
Bogel,
With a Single Glance, p. 121 cites a votive document (
ganmon no. 54, “Request to create Two
Daimandara for providing the Four Merits” in Kūkai. Seireishū, fasc. 7, KZ 3: 476-77) from 821 that notes the
repairs and copies.
138
Bogel,
With a Single Glance, p. 234
who
cites Sawa Ryūken, “Kōbō Daishi shōrai no mikkyō bijutsu,” pp. 364-
84.
139
These mandalas are listed in: Mikkyō Jiten Hensankai (Japan), Mikkyō Daijiten Saikan Iinkai, and Mikkyō
Gakkai.
Mikkyō daijiten. Kyōto-shi: Hōzōkan, 1931. Reprint 1969, vol. 1. This entry directs the reader to an entry on
shittan mandara, which directs the reader to entries related to the
shittan kanjō (to be discussed shortly); however,
www.manaraa.com
44
In contrast, the
ryōbu hō mandara’s use seems more ambiguous, possibly even acquiring a
specific role in Mikkyō praxis only in a later century.
Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn: