Sanskrit Beyond Text: The Use of Bonji (Siddham) in Mandala
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| Conclusion
In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the emperor was restored to power after centuries of rule by military elites. With the Meiji Restoration came the persecution of Buddhism as a religion of foreign origin (despite all previous efforts illustrating Japan’s inherent ties to this origin). In the face of such disestablishment, Buddhists de-emphasized as much as possible those foreign aspects of their religion. Van Gulik posits that it is partially for this reason that shittangaku (the study—originally sectarian—of the history of Sanskrit) was not more prominent in the modern period and remains understudied (though since Van Gulik’s 1956 study, that situation is changing, most notably with the work of Rambelli). Using the hō mandara and the miya mandara as case studies, this thesis began to address the trajectory of Sanskrit use within Japanese visual culture; however, there are many more objects depicting Sanskrit that need to be examined in light of new research within the disciplines of visual studies, religious studies, and shittangaku. 272 I have demonstrated that the visual study of these works is lacking, and those that are studied are often chosen for other reasons, such that the Sanskrit aspect is given short shrift, along with wider possible implications of the use of Sanskrit. The miya mandara is but one such case in point. As I have illustrated, Sanskrit underwent a transformation as it travelled through China to Japan, changing from an ordinary system of language with normal grammatical structures to a visual and ritual system of symbols. Just as it transformed while moving eastward, it likewise transformed in the centuries following its introduction to Japan. The quantity of Heian works with Sanskrit still extant today is much smaller than those left from Kamakura period and later. While this is understandably a natural consequence of the more rapid deterioration or loss of 272 In the scholarship on Sanskrit, these disciplines often disregard one another. To fully comprehend the significance of Sanskrit in Japanese visual culture, it is necessary to study works using approaches from all three disciplines. www.manaraa.com 90 older works, there is another much less anticipated reason for the much larger amount of medieval work incorporating Sanskrit. There is enough evidence to conclude that Sanskrit use within visual culture did, indeed, increase in the medieval period. Starting with the end of the Heian period and moving into the Kamakura period, there are a greater variety of objects on which Sanskrit can be found (not only physically extant objects, but also textual references to such objects). It logically follows that a new practice will grow to be utilized more often. Furthermore, a study of specific examples and the significance of Sanskrit in such localized works uncovers yet another transformation of Sanskrit within Japan. While still a visual and ritual “language” that continued to partake in ideas of polysemy, Sanskrit characters took on other connotations than those originally assigned by Mikkyō teachings. As noted in Chapter One, before Kūkai’s importation of new objects and ideas in 806, Sanskrit was used textually in sutras and recorded mantras, albeit very infrequently. The power of words is well noted in Japanese culture, as seen throughout time in concepts such as kotodama. Even though the term kotodama was not used in relation to Buddhism, specifically Shingon, until the Edo period (as mentioned in the introduction), the presence of the kotodama concept among secular literature does indicate a cultural belief in words as repositories of supernatural power— at the very least, it illustrates an acknowledgment of the power of words (text, language). Aside from all of the examples of shūji forms of deities, there are other examples showcasing the belief in the power of words. For example, in a twelfth-century scroll of the Lotus Sutra, each character of the text is enthroned on a lotus pedestal within a moon disk as if a deity (figure 25). In the medieval period, important phrases could likewise be enthroned and presented as an icon (honzon; figure 26). 273 Although I did not discuss them in this thesis, like the kotodama concept, 273 This work shows the nenbutsu phrase on a lotus pedestal; works such as these can be tied with written texts (for example, those by Ippen) to explore a semiotic nature akin to shūji honzon. www.manaraa.com 91 they are representative of a cultural outlook that existed at least from the eighth century toward words, which surely contributed to the visual dissemination of Sanskrit. Perhaps it was due in part to this outlook and the already prevailing belief in mantra’s talismanic power that Kūkai’s importation of works where Sanskrit was featured as a nontextual, visual element was quickly accepted and adopted. The pre-existing belief in the power of the spoken word (mantra) was transferred to the written forms that Kūkai emphasized. Early instances of this fledgling practice can be seen in the Tōji Sanskrit slips. With such works, the growing popularization of Sanskrit as icon (evident in records of the eleventh century as noted in Chapter Two) seemed to establish a need for Sanskrit masters within the Buddhist hierarchy. The rite that conferred such a title utilized the ryōbu hō mandara, re-appropriating it from the realm of aristocratic worship. 274 Although at this point we do not know for sure when this rite (the shittan kanjō) was established due to the lack (or ambiguity) of extant records, it seems likely that it was during the twelfth century or later when kanjō ceremonies were more widespread in various areas of culture. 275 The original imagery of Sanskrit characters on objects from Shingon Buddhism such as the hō mandara were mainly a didactic tool for monks and elite to aid in discovering truth and banishing ignorance (in a way, a form of hōben, or skillful means, until a higher understanding was reached). Over the centuries, these characters were adopted and adapted for uses that still resonate with hōben—not for overall enlightenment, but rather for understanding various other concepts such as the relationship between indigenous deities and the pantheon of Buddhist deities. Such is the case in the Nezu miya mandara, where the characters portray the nonduality of Buddhist deities and native kami as well as visually illustrate a link between the localized 274 Despite this, we can conclude from the continued variations of such mandalas that the ryōbu hō mandara remained in use among aristocrats. 275 Perhaps further studies into the hō mandara may shed light on this. www.manaraa.com 92 deities (and regions) of Japan and the original Buddhist deities (and regions) of India. The adaptability of Sanskrit as a form of hōben and a symbol of power endowed with soteriological efficacy likely spurred the dissemination of Sanskrit to the many other medieval objects still extant. A brief look in the Kamakura Bukkyō volume of Zusetsu Nihon no Bukkyō is enough to provide examples of the many and varied objects on/in which Sanskrit was incorporated. 276 In short, over a period of 400-500 years, Sanskrit on non-textual objects of visual focus had filtered from strictly Shingon (Mikkyō) Buddhist practice into other traditions such as Amida Buddha worship and even into combinatory worship by the Kamakura period. A semiotic shift occurred concurrently with such physical disseminations of Sanskrit in visual culture. As I have illustrated, the function of Sanskrit on non-textual objects, while always emphasizing the polysemy of the sign, spread from representing specific deities and doctrine in Esoteric Buddhism (seen in specialized mandala forms used in Esoteric Buddhist worship, ritual and education) to additionally representing concepts like the honji-suijaku concept that supported a cohesive integration of Shinto and Buddhism. In all cases, the Sanskrit character was a sign that signified power. In iconic presentation—as seen throughout this thesis—Sanskrit is “read” as a sign of the signified deity and all that the deity represents. 277 Or rather, depending on the level of the monk’s study in Sanskrit, in such instances the character can cease to be a sign and is the deity; at a higher level of understanding, the sign and signified are merged in a representation of nonduality. In Sanskrit’s dissemination to other forms within Japanese visual culture, characters came to also have the potential to act as the sign for a Shinto kami ( 神 , Shinto deity) and, additionally, new world-concepts of a so-called “amalgamation” of Shinto and Buddhism. At the ritual level in Esoteric Buddhism, mandala and other works were 276 In the introduction, I provided a brief list of some such types. Miyama Susumu. Zusetsu Nihon no Bukkyō: tải về 3.51 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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