Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism

By Taiko Yamasaki

Book Overview

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877734437
• ISBN13: 9780877734437
• Release Date: June 1988
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 7.0" x 0.9"

Customer Reviews

Well Done

This was a collaborative work of dedicated folk and they have produced a wonderful and practical translation of key Japanese writings on Mikkyo - Japanese esoteric Buddhism. There is a comprehensive tracing of the roots of practice that answers many questions, however, the true value of the book is the presentation of specific technique and the means for implementation of the practice. All that is missing is an actual Shingon monk to bestow the various initiation reiju but you would swear as you are reading that they are right beside you lighting the way. I wish there were a similar text for exploring the Tendai branch of Mikkyo.

Sound and Profound

This book is about Shingon which (in her Introduction) p. ix: Carmen Blacker calls a late school of Buddhism, which originated in India sometime during the 7th century & was carried eastward to China & Japan in the course of the next 200 years. Another branch of the doctrine went north to Tibet during the 8th century...The spiritual practices...known as mikkyo in Japanese...were brought to Japan by Kukai at the beginning of the 9th century." The author, a priest/abbot, provides a wonderful history of the development of esoteric Buddhism in Japan shedding light on many points relevant to Tibetan Vajrayana as well as Shingon. He succeeds in his stated attempt to balance objective rationality (an etic approach) with esoteric intuitive feeling (an emic approach) as well as balancing simplicity and complexity. Yamasaki courageously reveals the debts owed to Brahmanism, Early Buddhism, theurgy, Pure Land, etc. & the developmental sequence of Buddhist texts and doctrines. He elucidates Shingon doctrine, such as p. 55: "Dainichi Nyorai's [~Samantabhadra] universal enlightened mind, which enfolds all" & the relationships among practitioners, Shakyamuni (Nirmanakaya), Dainichi Nyorai (Dharmakaya/Dharma Body). IMHO Shingon, in many respects including historical, resembles Tibetan Nyingma (Dzogchen) rather than the newer Sarma (gradualist) schools. Yamasaki explicates Mikkyo using mantras & mandalas with a spiral cycle of balanced inward-outward flows--eliminating duality naturally. He also explains Absolute Bodhichitta as: p. 60: "The quality of the Dharma Body that enfolds all things is also called compassion." At another level, he describes the 5 Dyani Buddhas & Wisdoms etc. (with some differences from the Tibetan view). He also delineates the nature and function of desire, ego, no-self, & enlightenment--paralleling Western psychology-- p. 158: "The egocentric self. The Mikkyo meditation, however, is meant to pass through the state of no-self in order to reach the great self" ~Change Management's unfreezing-change-refreezing. Most profound is his explanation of 10 consciousnesses (vs. the 8 or 6 of other Buddhist sects) & their relation to the Dharmakaya including--p. 194: "Mutual empowerment with the void." Succinctly, p. 215: from Kakuban's A-Syllable Visualization--"One's mind is the Dharma Realm, apart from existence & nonexistence." This is a terrific book, very well-written, simple yet profound. It includes personal revelations, practices, history, & much more--I borrowed it but plan to obtain one to retain--it's on my Wish List!

A Scholarly Introduction to Shingon Esoteric Buddhism

Shingon Esoteric Buddhism is considered by many to be the perfection of Buddhadharma. It is a school of tantra with as much depth and authority as the well-known Tibetan schools. In this book, Yamasaki presents a scholarly representation of the history, lineage, beliefs and practices of the Shingon school. It is not for the casual reader. It will serve as a useful reference book for Shingon practitioners and religious enthusiasts alike. Particularly useful is the glossary containing the Japanese Buddhist terms, and their Sanskrit equivalents. It is a book you will read over and over again.