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Paper short abstract:

This paper offers a new perspective on the royal consecration rituals of Daigoji. Uncovering hitherto unknown facts about the temple’s Esoteric Buddhist tradition, the paper highlights the importance of the perfection of wisdom as both “mother” and “consort” of enlightened kings in these rituals.

Paper long abstract:

This paper reinvestigates the nature of royal consecration rituals (sokui kanjō) that were transmitted within the Shingon Esoteric Buddhist tradition of the Daigoji temple in medieval Japan. It is known that two different types of sokui kanjō were developed at Daigoji. One type was a Dakiniten ritual transmitted at the Hōoin-ryū lineage (and at Ise) and the other was a ritual seemingly centered on Kangiten (Skt. Vināyaka) which was passed on at the Jizōin lineage. Both types of rituals were built on intricate mantras and mudras, as well as on symbolic notions of non-duality, which were ought to be performed and known by the new emperor when ascending the throne during the enthronement ceremony. While little is known about the early history of this esoteric practice, the rite is cursorily mentioned by the Tendai prelate Jien in his famous Dream Record (1203), which proves its previous existence. In the same Record, Jien further underscores the role of various deities, such as Ichiji Kinrin (Ekākṣara-usnīṣacakra) and the Buddha-Mother Butsugen (Buddhalocanā), in connection to the sacred nature of the emperor.

In this paper, I will provide a new hermeneutical perspective on the sokui kanjō by highlighting a few significant facts. First, the paper will explicate Daigoji’s complex Buddhist-Shinto hybrid dragon cult and point out the connection of one of the cult’s primary deities, the Buddha-Mother Aizen’ō (Rāgarāja), to kingship. Then, the paper will demonstrate through textual analysis that the central deity in the sokui kanjō of the Jizōin lineage was the same Aizen’ō and not Kangiten. After illustrating the canonical interconnection between the concepts of Buddha-Mother (butsumo), perfection of wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā), dragon, and kingship, the paper will uncover the hitherto unknown fact that Shingon prelates regarded Aizen’ō not simply as a Buddha-Mother but also as the consort of bodhisattvas and kings. Thus, since the close affinity between Aizen’ō and Dakiniten is well established in Buddhist scholarship, this paper proposes that what laid at the basis of the royal consecration rituals of Daigoji tradition was the concept of prajñā-pāramitā as both “mother” and “consort” of enlightened monarchs.