The Sacred Koyasan: A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kobo Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha
For more than one thousand years, the vast Buddhist monastery and temple complex on remote Mount Koya has been one of Japan's most important religious centers. Saint Kobo Daishi (also known as Kukai), 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 Koyasan, Kobo Daishi is said to be still alive, selflessly advocating for the salvation of all sentient beings.\ Located south of Osaka,...
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For more than one thousand years, the vast Buddhist monastery and temple complex on remote Mount Koya has been one of Japan's most important religious centers. Saint Kobo Daishi (also known as Kukai), 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 Koyasan, Kobo Daishi is said to be still alive, selflessly advocating for the salvation of all sentient beings.Located south of Osaka, Koyasan has attracted visitors from every station of Japanese life, and in recent years, more than a million tourists and pilgrims visit annually. In Sacred Koyasan, 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 Koyasan's main buildings, sacred statues, mandalas, and famous forest cemetery. Author and reader participate in the full annual cycle of rituals and ceremonies, and explore the life and legend of Kobo Daishi and the history of the mountain.Written for both the scholarly and general reader, Sacred Koyasan will appeal to potential travelers, dedicated armchair travelers, and all readers interested in Buddhism and Japanese culture.About the Author:Philip L. Nicoloff is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Hampshire
Acknowledgments xiIntroduction xvGoing to the Mountain 1The Celestial Railroad 1Outside the Fudo Entrance: The Women's Hall 5Staying at a Shukubo Temple 15Our Midday Arrival 15Evening 20"A Mind of Rapture": The Morning Sutra Service 24The Life and Legend of Kobo Daishi (Kukai) 31The Early Years 33To China's Ch'ang-an and Hui-kuo 41Conquest of the Japanese Capital 45The Founding of Koyasan 58Servant to Emperor and Nation 61Kukai's Theory of the Ten Stages 67The "Death" of Kukai 70Twelve Centuries on the Mountain 75Abbot Kangen Visits the Tomb (835-921) 75Joyo, Fujiwara Michinaga, and Ex-Emperor Shirakawa (921-1129) 80Koya-hijiri, the Rise of Pure Land Buddhism, and Kakuban (1073-1143) 82Kiyomori (1150-1186) 86The Kamakura Era (1185-1333) 88Under the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573) 92Oda Nobunaga: Koyasan under Siege (1571-1582) 95Hideyoshi and Koyasan's Wood-Eating Saint(1582-1603) 102Under the Tokugawa (1603-1867) 110Meiji Persecution and the Buddhist Revival (1867 to the Present) 113Court of the Central Halls 123The Great Stupa: Daito 124The Golden Hall: Kondo 131Hall of the Portrait: Miedo 148Shrine of the Mountain Gods: Myojin-sha 150Some Other Sights of the Garan 153Three Mountain Institutions 161Kongobu-ji: Headquarters Temple of Koyasan Shingon-shu 161Daishi Kyokai Honbu: Headquarters of the Daishi Mission 167Reihokan: Museum of Sacred Treasures 177The Temple Town 183Educating a Shingon Priest 191The Student Years 191Advancing in Rank 196A Pilgrimage Through the Forest Cemetery 201First Bridge to the Middle Bridge 202The Middle Bridge 209On to the Third Bridge 214The Inner Temple and Kobo Daishi's Mausoleum 217The Halls before the Tamagawa 217The Jewel River and the Miroku Stone 221The Torodo: Lantern Hall 224The Gobyo: Kobo Daishi's Mausoleum 229Record of a Night's Vigil at the Gobyo 231The Morning Fire Offering 238Kobo Daishi's Birthday Celebration 241Celebrating Kobo Daishi's Nyujo and the "Changing of the Robe" 249Preparing the New Robe at Hoki-in 249The Solar Sho-mieku 250The Lunar Sho-mieku 252Addendum: Rituals of Shakyamuni's Birth and Death 257Annual Rituals for the Dead 259Bon: Mid-summer Visitation of the Dead 259Higan-e: Ceremony of the Other Shore 264Leaving the Holy Mountain 267Notes 271Glossary 339Sources Cited 355Index 369
