Mikkyō

Mikkyō
File:Sanskrit-Seed-Syllable-A-14th-century-Hair-and-silk-thread-embroidery-on-plain-weave.png The Siddham syllable "A" as used in the iconography of Ajikan (阿字觀, "meditating on the letter A")
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	密教
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin mì jiào
Japanese name
Kanji	密教
Kana	みっきょう
Transcriptions Romanization mikkyō

Mikkyō (密教) literally "esoteric teachings", often translated as "esoteric Buddhism".

The term mikkyō is used collectively today to refer to a large body of texts, liturgies, implements, and rituals that were imported from China to Japan during the Heian period (794–1185) by influential Japanese monk-pilgrims in the Japanese Tendaishū and Shingonshū traditions. These new teachings and objects in turn were largely, but not exclusively, based on the teachings of late medieval Indian Buddhism (see Tantra and Vajrayana) that had reached Central Asia and China.

Saichō and Kūkai played notable roles in introducing these teachings to Japan. Kūkai received extensive training from the Chinese tantric master Huiguo, which he transmitted to Japan along with "a large collection of esoteric texts and mandalas."

Kūkai founded the Shingonshū tradition based on these teachings, and the Tendai school developed it's own set of tantric practices under Saicho's successors such as Ennin, Enchin and Annen.

These practices also heavily influenced the development the Shugendo tradition, which integrates mikkyō with Shintō and Daoist practices.

The main deity for the Mikkyō practices is Vairocana.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

Further reading

• Abe, Ryūichi (2000). The Weaving of Mantra. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11287-4. 
• Hakeda, Yoshito (1972). Kūkai: Major Works. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231059336. 
• Knutsen, Roald (2011-08-15). Tengu. Folkestone: Global Oriental. ISBN 978-90-04-21802-4. 
• Orzech, Charles D. (2006). "The "Great Teaching of Yoga," the Chinese Appropriation of the Tantras, and the Question of Esoteric Buddhism". Journal of Chinese Religions. Informa UK Limited. 34 (1): 29–78. doi:10.1179/073776906803525165. ISSN 0737-769X. 
• Payne, Richard K. (1998-05-01). Re-Visioning 'Kamakura' Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2078-7. 
• Payne, Richard K. (1999). "The Shingon Ajikan : Diagrammatic Analysis of Ritual Syntax". Religion. 29 (3): 215–229. doi:10.1006/reli.1998.0179. ISSN 0048-721X. 
• Rambelli, Fabio (1994). "True Words, Silence, and the Adamantine Dance: On Japanese Mikkyō and the Formation of the Shingon Discourse". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. Nanzan University. 21 (4): 373–405. ISSN 0304-1042. JSTOR 30234141. Retrieved 2023-11-28. 
• Proffitt, Aaron P. (2023-04-30). Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-9380-4. 
• Orzech, Charles; Sørensen, Henrik; Payne, Richard (2011). Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-18491-6. 
• Mikkyō, Wikipedia