Sacred Koyasan

Philip L. Nicoloff

Description

For more than one thousand years, the vast Buddhist monastery and temple complex on remote Mount Kōya has been one of Japan's most important religious centers. Saint Kōbō Daishi (also known as Kūkai), founder of the esoteric Shingon school and one of the great figures of world Buddhism, consecrated the mountain for holy purposes in the early 800s. Buried on Kōyasan, Kōbō Daishi is said to be still alive, selflessly advocating for the salvation of all sentient beings.

Located south of Osaka, Kōyasan has attracted visitors from every station of Japanese life, and in recent years, more than a million tourists and pilgrims visit annually. In Sacred Kōyasan, the first book-length study in English of this holy Buddhist mountain, Philip L. Nicoloff invites readers to accompany him on a pilgrimage. Together with the author, the pilgrim-reader ascends the mountain, stays at a temple monastery, and explores Kōyasan's main buildings, sacred statues, and famous forest cemetery. Author and reader participate in the full annual cycle of rituals and ceremonies, and explore the life and legend of Kōbō Daishi and the history of the mountain.

Written for both the scholarly and general reader, Sacred Kōyasan will appeal to potential travelers, dedicated armchair travelers, and all readers interested in Buddhism and Japanese culture.
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Going to the Mountain

The Celestial Railroad
Outside the Fudō Entrance: The Women’s Hall

2. Staying at a Shukubo Temple

Our Midday Arrival
Evening
“A Mind of Rapture”: The Morning Sūtra Service

3. The Life and Legend of Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai)

The Early Years
To China’s Ch’ang-an and Hui-kuo
Conquest of the Japanese Capital
The Founding of Kōyasan
Servant to Emperor and Nation
Kūkai’s Theory of the Ten Stages
The “Death” of Kūkai

4. Twelve Centuries on the Mountain

Abbot Kangen Visits the Tomb—(835–921)
Jōyo, Fujiwara Michinaga, and Ex-Emperor Shirakawa—(921–1129)
Kōya-hijiri, the Rise of Pure Land Buddhism, and Kakuban—(1073–1143)
Kiyomori—(1150–1186)
The Kamakura Era—(1185–1333)
Under the Ashikaga Shōgunate—(1336–1573)
Oda Nobunaga: Kōyasan Under Siege—(1571–1582)
Hideyoshi and Kōyasan’s Wood-Eating Saint—(1582–1603)
Under the Tokugawa—(1603–1867)
Meiji Persecution and the Buddhist Revival—(1867 to the present)

5. Court of the Central Halls

The Great Stūpa: Daitō
The Golden Hall: Kondō
Hall of the Portrait: Miedō
Shrine of the Mountain Gods: Myōjin-sha
Some Other Sights of the Garan

6. Three Mountain Institutions

Kongōbu-ji: Headquarters Temple of Kōyasan Shingon-shū
Daishi Kyōkai Honbu: Headquarters of the Daishi Mission
Reihōkan: Museum of Sacred Treasures

7. The Temple Town

8. Educating a Shingon Priest

The Student Years
Advancing in Rank

9. A Pilgrimage through the Forest Cemetery

First Bridge to the Middle Bridge
The Middle Bridge
On to the Third Bridge

10. The Inner Temple and Kōbō Daishi’s Mausoleum

The Halls Before the Tamagawa
The Jewel River and the Miroku Stone
The Tōrōdō: Lantern Hall
The Gobyō: Kōbō Daishi’s Mausoleum
Record of a Night’s Vigil at the Gobyō
The Morning Fire Offering

11. Kōbō Daishi’s Birthday Celebration

12. Celebrating Kōbō Daishi’s Nyujo and the “Changing of the Robe”

Preparing the New Robe at Hōki-in
The Solar Shō-mieku
The Lunar Shō-mieku

13. Annual Rituals for the Dead

Bon: Midsummer Visitation of the Dead
Higan-e: Ceremony of the Other Shore

14. Leaving the Holy Mountain

Notes
Glossary
Sources Cited
Index

Sujets

• Japan
• Buddhism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 08 novembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9780791479292
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

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SacredKo¯yasan

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Philip L. Nicoloff

S a c r e d Ko¯yasan

A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kōbō Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha

S t at e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Y o r k P r e s s

COVER : A class of seminary students chant in veneration of the Five Buddhas enshrined in Kōyasan’s Western Stūpa.Photo by author.

Published by STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, ALBANY

© 2008 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, record- ing, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact S TATE U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK P RESS , A LBANY , NY www.sunypress.edu

Production and book design, Laurie Searl Marketing, Susan M. Petrie

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Nicoloff, Philip, 1926- Sacred Kōyasan : a pilgrimage to the mountain temple of Saint Kōbō Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha / Philip L. Nicoloff. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7914-7259-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7914-7260-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Koyasan Monasteries (Japan) 2. Kukai, 774–835. I. Title.

BQ6353.K7N53 2008 294.3'435095219--dc22

2007002070

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my wife, Maggie,

who shared the whole Kōyasan experience

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Acknowledgments Introduction

C o n t e n t s

C HAPTER O NE : G OING TO THE M OUNTAIN The Celestial Railroad Outside the Fudō Entrance: The Women’s Hall

C HAPTER T WO : S TAYING AT A S HUKUBŌ T EMPLE Our Midday Arrival Evening “A Mind of Rapture”: The Morning Sūtra Service

C HAPTER T HREE : T HE L IFE AND L EGEND OF K ŌBŌ D AISHI (K ŪKAI ) The Early Years To China’s Ch’ang-an and Hui-kuo Conquest of the Japanese Capital The Founding of Kōyasan Servant to Emperor and Nation Kūkai’s Theory of the Ten Stages The “Death” of Kūkai

C HAPTER F OUR : T WELVE C ENTURIES ON THE M OUNTAIN Abbot Kangen Visits the Tomb (835–921) Jōyo, Fujiwara Michinaga, and Ex-Emperor Shirakawa (921–1129) Kōya-hijiri, the Rise of Pure Land Buddhism, and Kakuban (1073–1143)

vii

xi xv

1 1 5

15 15 20 24

31 33 41 45 58 61 67 70

75 75

80

82

viii

sacredko¯yasan

Kiyomori (1150–1186) The Kamakura Era (1185–1333) Under the Ashikaga Shōgunate (1336–1573) Oda Nobunaga: Kōyasan under Siege (1571–1582) Hideyoshi and Kōyasan’s Wood-Eating Saint (1582–1603) Under the Tokugawa (1603–1867) Meiji Persecution and the Buddhist Revival (1867 to the Present)

C HAPTER F IVE : C OURT OF THE C ENTRAL H ALLS The Great Stūpa: Daitō The Golden Hall: Kondō Hall of the Portrait: Miedō Shrine of the Mountain Gods: Myōjin-sha Some Other Sights of the Garan

C HAPTER S IX : T HREE M OUNTAIN I NSTITUTIONS Kongōbu-ji: Headquarters Temple of Kōyasan Shingon-shū Daishi Kyōkai Honbu: Headquarters of the Daishi Mission Reihōkan: Museum of Sacred Treasures

C HAPTER S EVEN : T HE T EMPLE T OWN

C HAPTER E IGHT : E DUCATING A S HINGON P RIEST The Student Years Advancing in Rank

C HAPTER N INE : A P ILGRIMAGE THROUGH THE F OREST C EMETERY First Bridge to the Middle Bridge The Middle Bridge On to the Third Bridge

C HAPTER T EN : T HE I NNER T EMPLE AND K ŌBŌ D AISHI ’ S M AUSOLEUM The Halls before the Tamagawa The Jewel River and the Miroku Stone The Tōrōdō: Lantern Hall

86 88 92 95 102 110

113

123 124 131 148 150 153

161 161 167 177

183

191 191 196

201 202 209 214

217 217 221 224

contents

The Gobyō: Kōbō Daishi’s Mausoleum Record of a Night’s Vigil at the Gobyō The Morning Fire Offering

C HAPTER E LEVEN : K ŌBŌ D AISHI ’ S B IRTHDAY C ELEBRATION

C HAPTER T WELVE : C ELEBRATING K ŌBŌ D AISHI ’ S N YŪJŌAND THE “C HANGING OF THE R OBE ” Preparing the New Robe at Hōki-in The SolarShō-mieku The LunarShō-mieku Addendum: Rituals of Shākyamuni’s Birth and Death

C HAPTER T HIRTEEN : A NNUAL R ITUALS FOR THE D EAD Bon: Mid-summer Visitation of the Dead Higan-e: Ceremony of the Other Shore

C HAPTER F OURTEEN : L EAVING THE H OLY M OUNTAIN

Notes

Glossary

Sources Cited

Index

Gallery of photographs follows page 154

ix

229 231 238

241

249 249 250 252 257

259 259 264

267

271

339

355

369