AN OVERVIEW OF “THE PRECIOUS KEY TO THE SECRET TREASURY”
Kobo Daishi Kukai’s Ten Level’s of Mind and Path of Spiritual Development
(A collection of relevant materials and recommended readings)
The Mind of the One Way of Non-Action (ichido-mui-shin). This stage is also called the “Mind of the One Way of the Truth of Suchness” (nyojitsu-ichido-shin), and is the stage that corresponds to the teachings of the Tendai sect. The “One Way of Non-Action” (ichido-mui), or the “One Way of the Truth of Suchness” (nyojitsu-ichido), refers to ultimate Reality, and in this stage the purified mind is seen to be like a lotus, as in the description given in the Saddharma-pundarika-suta. In the seventh stage the non-duality of the mind and the dharmas was established, and the mind itself was seen to be void and only capable of being described by way of the eight negations. Now the concept of the voidness of mind is itself seen to be void. But if all is void, even Voidness itself, how is it possible to explain that the phenomenal world seems to exist? To answer this question the Tendai doctrine classifies the dharmas into three categories (santai): “Voidness” (kutai), “Provisional Existence” (ketai) and “Middle Existence” (chutai). “Middle Existence” refers to the Middle Way (chudo) between Voidness and Provisional Existence. All dharmas arise by dependent co-origination and are nothing but the momentary combination of causal relationships. Therefore they are Void. In spite of their Voidness, however, their voidness cannot be denied because they are experienced. For this reason the Tendai attributes to them a provisional existence. The ultimate Reality of the dharmas is not Voidness: it is not that the dharmas do not exist, but that existence is the reverse side of Voidness and Voidness is the revers side of existence. Reality is the Middle Way of the non-duality (funi) of Existence-Voidness. Forms are the Middle Way of Existence-Voidness and are nothing but manifestations of Suchness (tathata, shinnyo). (Snodgrass, p. 9 - 10)
The Mind of the Single Way of Truth (nyojitsu ichido-shin). This level of mind understands that the worlds of delusion and enlightenment, the worlds of matter and mind, the human world, and all possible worlds, are contained in a single thought within the individual mind. This is the level of realization that consciousness and its objects form one body, but it does not know that yet other realms transcend it.” (Yamasaki, p. 96)
When they observe the One Way in its original purity, the Avalokitesvara softens his face in delight. [Tendai or T’ien-t’ai of Mahayana] (Hakeda, p. 160)
Recommended Readings:
Kukai: Major Works by Yoshito Hakeda, Part Three pages 205 - 211
The Threefold Lotus Sutra, translated by Kato, Tamura & Miyasaka, Losei Publishing, 1975, pages 319 - 327
Bibliography
Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, Taiko Yamasaki, Shambhala, 1988
Kukai: Major Works, Y.S.Hakeda, Columbia University Press, 1972
The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism, A. Snodgrass, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1988
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