In spring of 2023 I was able to visit Japan after not travelling there since 2008. Most of the Covid related restrictions had eased, allowing me to again visit Ajari Tanaka. I hadn't seen him since his last Vermont visit (2019), an interruption of nearly four years. True to form, he met me at the airport and we rode the Keisei Skyliner to the station in Ueno near my hotel.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Japan Trip, Spring 2024: Intro...
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Mountain Training
Ajari Tanaka has shared many forms of spiritual training with his students over the years. Meditation, recitation, sadhana, shodo, shomyo, mudra and pilgrimage to name most. Some have been enthusiastically taken up, while others are less commonly practiced among the small group of active students here in the states and Canada.
One of my favorites of these lesser methods is what Ajari sometimes called "mountain practice." On other occasions he called it "yamabushi training", elaborating that his maternal grandparents were part of a long line of yamabushi. This type of practice for us takes two forms, one is a very simple waterfall practice and the other is just hiking in the Vermont hills and mountains.
Less than five miles from my house is the trail head for Buck Mountain. It's not a big mountain, to be fair when compared to the bigger mountain in Vermont like Came's Hump or Mount Abe, it's just a good sized hill. Be that as it may, it has a wonderful trail that passes though some beautiful forest and at the rocky summit one finds a gorgeous view of the Central Champlain Valley, Otter Creek, Lake Champlain and the High Peaks of New York's Adirondacks. So well worth the forty-five or so minutes to the summit.
This summer we have had a ton of rain and so hiking took a back burner. Muddy trails and mosquitoes make the adventure much less alluring. But we are in a nice spell of dry weather and the trails are firmed up and the cooler temperatures have sent the bugs to their hiding places. So at quarter to seven this morning I was walking from my car to the trail head.
The walk was as lovely as I remembered it, not too steep but with enough rise to get the heart going. The leaves, viewed from the forest floor, showed their yellowing as autumn asserts itself. But mostly it was quiet. My car was the first in the parking lot and there was not a soul in sight. Cool fresh air, chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and me. It was fantastic.
At the summit I lingered longer than I usually do. There was some cloud cover that got thicker to the south, that put some surreal distance between me and the High Peaks, turning their silhouettes to dark blue shadows. The sky was slowly brightening, back lighting the mountains while the valley is still showing its late summer lush green. I sat for a long time, enjoying the quiet and remembering some hikes we took with Ajari Tanaka, back in the day. But mostly the tangible, quiet, the real relaxation from the effort, the spectacular view and all that space, that wide open space were the morning's reward.
My walk out was slow but very enjoyable. I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I pick my way down hiking trails these days. And truth be told, I was happy to drag out the walk. The peaceful quiet was palpable and most enjoyable. I was in no hurry for it to end.
Friday, June 23, 2023
Seishi Bosatsu
In Shingon the 23rd of the month is recognized as a day to honor Amida Buddha. But it is also a day to celebrate Seishi Bosatsu, a much less known bodhisattva.
In his small book, "Junishi and Guardian Dieties", Rev. and Mrs. Taisen Miyata say the following about Seishi:
"The bodhisattva Mahastanaprapta (Seishi-bosatsu), together with Kanzeon is one of the two bodhisattvas that accompany the Buddha Amitabha. Seishi stands to the left of Amida and Kanzeon to the right. Seishi represents the active, outward manifestation of the working of the wisdom of Buddhahood, and Kanzeon represents the love and compassion inherent in that same Buddhahood. Seishi is usually portrayed with his hands held together, in gassho, and this represents the lotus-like heart of man which has yet to fully open up to the truth of enlightenment. It is Seishi's resolution to aid all men to speedily attain the state of supreme wisdom. His mantra is made up of symbolic syllables only; it is "On san zan saku sowaka!" (Sanskrit: Om sam jam jam sah svaha). The two words jam represent the arising (jati) of the two types of mental hindrances, the obvious hindrance of the defilements of the passions - hatred, ignorance, greed and the very subtle hindrance of the more sophisticated philosophical mistakes. It is Seishi's purpose in the world to remove all men's hindrances, and so make it easier for him to attain the wisdom of Nirvana."
You can find the above quote on page 12 of Rev. & Mrs. Miyata's book, "Junishi and Guardian Dieties", published in affiliation with the Koyasan Buddhist Temple, Los Angeles in 1976.
Regarding the above quote, please consider two points. First the Japanized form of the mantra does not correspond to the Sanskrit version and therefore may be missing a second "zan" (Sanskrit: jam). Secondly, please consider the exclusive use of the masculine terms as an artifact of the time of publication. We are pretty sure Seishi is a symbol meant to inspire everyone.
So please don't forget Seishi on the 23rd of the month and if you are inspired, practice his mantra. Perhaps you will be inspired, like Seishi, to help others in their path.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Kobo Daishi's Birthday
For Shingon, June 15th is considered Kobo Daishi Kukai's birthday. In his wonderful book "Sacred Koyasan", Professor Philip Nicoloff describes the date as follows:
"Kobo Daishi was born to Lady Tamayori and Saeki Tagimi on the island of Shikoku in 774. The precise day of birth is unknown, but later tradition selects June 15 as probable, for on that day in 774 the sixth of the eight Shingon patriarchs, Amoghavajra, died in China. The matching of dates lends credence to the notion that Kobo Daishi was Amoghavajra's reincarnation." (SK, p. 33).
In Chapter Eleven (p. 241 - 247) of that same book, Professor Nicoloff describes the Daishi-tanjo-e, Koyasan's Daishi Nativity Ceremony in depth. It's well worth a read.
So please mark Kukai's birthday today and if you are inspired, chant his mantra as all students of Shingon owe a debt of gratitude to the founder for his contribution to our practice and path.
"Namu daishi henjo kongo"
Enjoy the day and please reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help you in your study of Shingon, mandalavermont@gmail.com).
jim
("Sacred Koyasan: A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kobo Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha", 2008, by Philip L. Nicoloff, published by State University Press of New York, Albany)
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Lucky 13
In Shingon the thirteenth of the month is considered a "Kokuzo Day", honoring Akasagarbha Bodhisattva. Kokuzo is figured prominently in the Taizo-kai Mandala, his assembly is located below the hall of the mantra holders. Kokuzo is associated with space which is unhindered and holds all things. For a really thorough explanation of the rich symbolism and meaning of Kokuzo and his assembly, please refer to Adrian Snodgrass's "The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism'.
Kokuzo is also the honzon or main object of meditation in the sadhana called the Gumonji-ho. Kukai, Shingon's founder is said to have done three complete cycles of the Gumonji-ho, which entails chanting Kokuzo's mantra one million times per cycle. On completing his third cycle, Shingon lore holds he had a profound enlightenment experience. Kakuban, one of Shingon's great reformers is said to have completed eight cycles of the Gumonji-ho. Ajari Tanaka has shared this practice with us and though demanding it is very powerful even if one is not able to practice it at the level of ancient masters.
So mark your calendar and if you are inspired, chant the Kokuzo mantra today and on the thirteenth of any month. Ajari Tanaka has said on many occasions that if you chant the Kokuzo mantra regularly you will become very clever and your power to share the Dharma will be increased.
Here are a couple of little web resource that give a bit about Kokuzo and his mantra:
http://www.shingon.org/deities/jusanbutsu/kokuzo.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80k%C4%81%C5%9Bagarbha
And as always, if you'd like to know more about our practice and study of Shingon, please drop us a note at mandalavermont@gmail.com.
Take care,
jim
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Another practice...
A couple of long time students made the trip to my dojo and another five sangha members (both local and as far away as downstate New York and Quebec) joined via zoom.
It's great to again gather our old friends who have studied with Ajari Tanaka for so many years.
Today we practiced our dharani interspersed with silent meditation and walking. It is a little bit of a challenging practice but many of our students are well versed in these practices so all went well.
We will take a little break from sangha practice as I am taking a vacation in Maine in late June, but we'll be back at it by mid-July.
If your are interested in trying Shingon practice please contact us at mandalavermont@gmail.com. We would be happy to help...
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Renewing Yamabushi Training, Vermont Style
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Saturday Sangha Practice
Group practice is one of the real gifts Ajari Tanaka has shared with us. A group of practitioners who have trained together for a while can really create an environment where meditation comes easily and naturally. It's pretty great.
If you would like to learn more and try our practice please email us at mandalavermont@gmail.com.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Reconnecting After the Pandemic...
So sorry it has been such a long time since we have made an update to the Mandala Vermont blog, but like many things, our practices, activities and programs really got scrambled by the pandemic. But now it looks like we are safely past the biggest challenges and are beginning the first efforts to start fresh.
In the spirit of starting again, a longtime student of Ajari Tanaka and I recently visited Japan and were able to spend quite a bit of time with him. I'm happy to report Ajari is happy and healthy and very active in Japan. He gives tons of lectures through the courses he teaches at Waseda University and other places as well as leading pilgrimages throughout Japan. Check out this picture of him enjoying an orange creemee in a shop near Imabari City on Shikoku Island.
While we were in Tokyo he visited Sensoji with us and then Takahata Fudo where we were able to attend a fire ceremony. Next we traveled with Ajari and a group of about twenty of his Japanese students to experience a taste of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. On this bus tour pilgrimage we visited the temples in the third section of the pilgrimage, located in Ehime Prefecture. We visited over twenty temples, learned the practice done by pilgrims at each temple, got to know many wonderful Japanese students of Ajari Tanaka, ate amazing local food and of course, spent lots of time with him.
Before our trip ended, back in Tokyo he accompanied us to Narita-san, a large Shingon temple a couple of train stops from the airport, to walk the grounds and attend another goma fire ceremony.
It was great to visit with Ajari Tanaka again but most importantly he hinted he may be coming to Vermont for another visit in 2024. I will certainly keep you posted as we work to make that happen.
Closer to home, we are beginning to have regular monthly sangha practices, both in person at my home dojo in New Haven, VT and also via zoom. During the pandemic a hardy group of our sangha members pioneered zoom practice and thanks to them it's now a regular part of our practice. It's really great as students from as far away as Maine, California, New Orleans and New York can all take part. That's pretty awesome.
And as always if you are interested in exploring Shingon with us, please feel free to email us at mandalavermont@gmail.com.
Take care,
jim
P.S. Our old website has lost its hosting service, so for now this blog will be where we share what's going on with Mandala Vermont.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo
Since the start of my training with Ajari Tanaka in the late 1980's we practiced the recitation of a very short sutra called the "Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo" every time Ajari conducted group practice at the original Mandala Center in Lincoln Vermont. And as the time went by the duration and intensity of these recitations increased as Ajari lead this practice in a similar way he conducted mantra practice.
In 1999 when Ajari Tanaka informed his small group of students that our Mandala Center would close and he would need to move back to Japan, an even smaller group helped him prepare for the move. We gathered up everything Ajari needed to take or be shipped back to Japan. We arranged for a storage unit for things to stay behind. But most importantly he gifted us the treasure of Shingon. Shrine furniture, shrine objects, beautiful mandala, vajra and bell, meditation cushions, books and untold other treasures. Ajari's generosity and trust was overwhelming. He acted as if the few of us who'd trained with him could transplant Shingon first in Vermont and then entire U.S.
In all the many things Ajari left with us we found other treasures we were unaware of. During his time in Vermont Ajari had a shodo studio in his home. When we cleaned it out we found stacks of copies of the Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo. Like, mountains of them. It was then obvious that Ajari had been using this sutra as an Oshakyo practice for a long time. Some were just the sutra. Others were signed. Others were signed and sealed with his personal seal. And a spare few were signed and sealed with both his personal seal and the seal of the Mandala Center. And if that wasn't enough, we found a sizable collection of the same sutra brushed by Yukiko-san, Mrs. Tanaka. And they were all beautiful.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Thoughts and reflections shared with our sangha amid the pandemic...
Recently a student asked...
Sunday, March 1, 2020
A brief look at the Diamond Sutra...
Subhuti, someone might fill innumerable worlds with the seven treasures and give all away in gifts of alms, but if any good man or any good woman awakens the thought of Enlightenment and takes even four lines from this Discourse, reciting, using, receiving, retaining and spreading them abroad and explaining them for the benefit of others, it will be far more meritorious.
The Diamond Sutra is not strictly a Shingon Sutra. It is more associated with the Zen tradition. It does not come close in significance to the Mahavairocana Sutra or the Vajrasekara Sutra, as they are the foundation of Shingon and the basis of it's mandalas. It is not central like the Rishu-kyo's formative perspective on non-duality. The Diamond Sutra is not even as essential as the Heart Sutra, which Kobo Daishi Kukai asserted to contain all of the Buddhist teaching, both exoteric and esoteric.
That being said, the Prajna Paramita tradition and literature had an influential effect on both the Madhyamika and Yogachara schools of thought and practice. Kukai notes these as the sixth and seventh stages of spiritual development (KMW, p. 71-73) and as such, the foundation of the Mahayana. Additionally, Kukai makes an interesting, albeit passing reference to the Diamond Sutra in his, "The Meaning of Sound, Word and Reality":
These connections to Shingon and the Prajna Paramita's place in the history of the development of Buddhist thought and practice make it worthy of exploration.
A review of the basics and background of the Diamond Sutra is beyond the scope of this particular discussion. But that is not to suggest that it is not relevant or worthy of pursuit. For a workable starting point please review:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Sutra
Also if one is unfamiliar with the chief disciples of the Buddha, basic information about Subhuti, a major figure in the sutra, can be found at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subh%C5%ABti
This discussion is specifically focused on select, and hopefully essential content within the sutra.
As is typical of sutras, the opening begins by setting the scene and detailing those in attendance. In this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha has just returned to his place of rest after his morning alms gathering and has taken his meal. Then he is approached by a senior disciple:
Subhuti's question sets the context for the entire sutra and it is none other than the pursuit of complete awakening. This questions is what all that follows means to answer. And in classic style, the Buddha responds:
In the following section the Buddha begins to build his response to Subhuti's essential question:
Here the Buddha teaches that the core mental discipline of the Bodhisattva path is not succumbing to the fallacy of self nature but instead embracing the reality of emptiness, or shunyata. Here is the sutra's advice on how aspiring bodhisattvas should control their thoughts. Bodhisattvas are advised not to indulge in the error of the assumed reality of individual self-nature.
Later in the sutra, the Buddha elaborates on this, adding the quality of meditative discipline:
This is how aspiring bodhisattva's should abide. Aspiring Bodhisattvas should strive to perceive without attachment, and if attachment arises, to recognize that they are necessarily cherishing "the idea of an ego-entity, a personality, a being, or a separated individuality".
This pure lucid mind that alights on no thing whatsoever, can only be developed though meditation. And that is the core teaching of Ajari Tanaka - to develop a daily discipline of meditation.
The sutra ends with the penultimate statement, it's unambiguous core message. In this final section, the Buddha explains to Subhuti how the message of this sutra might be shared with others purposefully and with the intended effect - their fully awakening.
In closing, the Buddha says the following:
Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
(DS, p. 74)
It is difficult to comment further... These words feels neither deceitful nor inconsistent. It rings true and real. It mirrors things as they are.
In the hope that this is helpful and please enjoy the prajna paramita because if you dig in, there's a lot more.
jim
Bibliography
The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng, Translated by A.F. Prince and Wong Mou-Lam, Shambhala Publications, 1969. Abbreviated as "DS".
Kukai: Major Works, Yoshito S. Hakeda, Columbia University Press, 1972. Abbreviated as "KMW".
Saturday, January 25, 2020
An exploration of Kukai's View of Samaya
Yamasaki Sensei outlines Master Kukai's esoteric, or samaya vows as follows:
Yamasaki Sensei characterizes this vision of samaya as follows:
Adding more specificity and context, Yamasaki Sensei continues stating:
In conclusion, Yamasaki Sensei states:
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Ajari Tanaka's 2018 Visit Retrospective...
On what seems like yesterday, a small group of Mandala Vermont students gathered to welcome Ajari Tanaka at the Burlington Airport. |
And right on schedule, he arrived and his annual visit started. |
And very soon thereafter, he was safe and comfortable in his host's home. |
On the mornings of Monday and Tuesday Ajari Tanaka oversaw the review of our Gumonji-ho text that we had been working on translating into English for the past three years. |
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings he turned his attention to the Dhama Name Ceremony scheduled for Friday evening. |
And in the evenings of Monday through Thursday, Ajari Tanaka led meditations at our Burlington Dojo for small but very grateful group of local students and one intrepid visitor. |
And on Friday night five students who have made a strong connection to Ajari Tanaka and the Mandala Vermont sangha received their dharma names. |
And now the fruition of this year's visit began... |
The only thing left was some celebration. |
And then a day of relaxation, souvenir shopping and fun in Burlington. |
But then the time abruptly came. |
And we had to say good-bye for another year... |
Monday, September 17, 2018
The last dinner together...Tonight is
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Friday, September 14, 2018
Dharma Names, 2018...
These dharma name recipients received a gift from our sangha of a Shingon rosary that Ajari brought with him from Japan. |
It was a pretty happy night. |