In the second section of his exposition on Kukai’s “Thought” entitled, “ Essentials of Kukai’s Esoteric Buddhist Thought and Practice”, Professor Hakeda defines two aspects of Kukai’s esoteric Buddhism. The first is "kyoso", the theoretical aspect and secondly is "jiso", the practical aspect (Hakeda, p. 76).
Further, Professor Hakeda elaborates that the practical dimension of Kukai’s Buddhism is also broken down into two aspects. First is "kai" or observance of the precepts and secondly was "jo" or sitting in meditation (Hakeda, p. 93).
From the earliest days of his teaching in the West, Ajari Tanaka has emphasized practice of what Professor Hakeda has defined as “jo”. Since those early days, Ajari Tanaka has worked uninterruptedly to transmit to a small group of his students a collection of meditations and recitation practices that he has established as the core of our training.
Again and again in his discussions and talks with these students, Ajari Tanaka has established practice as the first and single most important commitment his students need to make. Ajari Tanaka encourages his students to develop a daily practice of meditation and to keep to it, allowing practice to become part of the fabric of our everyday lives.
Ajari repeatedly reminds his students that through this consistent daily practice we can come to not only grow in our self knowledge, but also find genuine happiness while uncovering our true enlightenment.
(Kukai: Major Works, translated with an account of his life and a study of his thought by Yoshito S. Hakeda, published by University Press New York, published in 1972)
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