1 - Pramudita, joyful stage, where initial awakening is perfected by severing misleading views and gaining insight into emptiness. Misleading views (skt. kudrshti) are naive self (satkaya), extreme biases (antaragraha) like nihilism (uccheda) and eternalism (shashvata), perverted views (mithya) such as rejecting cause and effect, affirmation of the above three (drshti-paramarsha), ethical and moral offenses (shila-vrata-paramarsha), greed (raga), hatred (vyapada), delusion (moha), conceit (mana), and doubt (vichikitsa). Insight into emptiness is the understanding of the void nature of self and phenomena. The following stages constitute a breakdown of items inherent in the first stage.

2 - Vimala, immaculate stage, where purification is perfected.
3 - Prabhakari, luminous stage, where patience (kshanti) is perfected.
4 - Archishmati, brilliant stage, where vigor (virya) is perfected.
5 - Sudurjaya, hard-to-conquer stage, where meditation (dhyana) is perfected.
6 - Abhimukhi, facing stage, where understanding (prajna) is perfected.
7 - Durangama, fa-going stage, where skillful means (upaya) is perfected.
8 - Achala, immovable stage, where vow (pranidhana) is perfected.
9 - Sadhumati, good-minded stage, where power (bala) is perfected.
10 - Dharmamegha, dharma-cloud stage, where knowledge (jnana) of reality (dharmadhatu) is perfected.

Whereas the exoteric approach views the ten grounds as causal steps leading to Buddhahood, Shingon interpretation is twofold: a) practice, and b) innate.

a) Practice has two aspects: klesha-eliminating, and bodhicitta-revealing. Both of these perspectives make sense if the ten grounds are seen as stages, in general accordance with the exoteric view, although in the esoteric view every obstacle and negativity is seen as useful material from which awakening is born.

b) Innate perspective comes from the notion that everything is implicit in each thing, an idea we find in every Ekayana scripture. The influential Shrimaladevi-simhanada Sutra claims that all facets of morality are implicit in the bodhisattva activity of awakening [with] others, Tendai claims that three thousand worlds are implicit in one instant thought, and Kegon speaks of the ‘all-in-one.’ In later Japanese Buddhism, we find Zen teaching the three disciplines (shila, samadhi, prajna) are implicit in Zen, Jodo Shin claims that all practices are implicit in faith, and even Nichiren claims that all knowledges are implicit in their Lotus Dharma, the entirety of which is implicit in the chanting of the title of the Saddharmapundrika Sutra. The Shingon innate perspective presupposes that bodhicitta is inherent in the practitioner, so it does not conceive dashabumi as literal stages of practice. The numeral ten, following the Avatamsaka/Kegon tradition, is interpreted as inexhaustible. The ten grounds are therefore interpreted as the manifestation of the inexhaustible merits of bodhicittta. This perspective does not make practice useless. On the contrary, practice itself is a natural expression of the inexhaustible innate potential.

Now, dashabhumi is modeled upon the classical Mahayana six paramita (tr. ‘far-reaching’ practices). The six were elaborated into ten, so that dashabhumi corresponds to ten paramita. The six far-reaching practices are generosity (dana), morality (shila), patience (kshanti), vigour (virya), meditation (dhyana) and understanding (prajna). In the Ekayana context, prajna embraces and gives birth to all other paramitas. That is, understanding is meditation as the source of morality that, through ongoing patience and vigour, is expressed in generosity. Such integrated far-reaching practice is expanded by additional four paramitas, themselves descriptive attributes of prajna: skillful means (upaya), vow of commitment (pranidhana), power to awaken (bala), and pristine awareness (jnana). Shingon identifies the first five as items of self-cultivation, and the last four as instruments to benefit others. All paramitas are implied in prajna.

Insofar as the itemized description of dashabhumi is concerned, there is no difference between exoteric and esoteric. What distinguishes the two is the interpretation: exoteric conceives dashabhumi as graded stages of practice; Shingon esoteric views them as embodiment of a variety of virtues, not stages to eliminate something or to gain something. Hence, path is the embodiment of awakening – Dharmakaya. Awakening is described iconographically as four buddhas (Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitayus, and Amoghasiddhi), each with four attending bodhisattva, represent the four attributes of pristine awareness (jnana) of Dharmakaya Mahavairochana. The whole mandala of awakening, each stage and path, each aspect and attribute, presented simultaneously. This concomitance is no coincidence. And yet, it’s a mystery in plain sight.

Summary. Mahayana literature reveals the nature of buddhahood, while Mahayana practices are disciplines to achieve buddhahood, the purpose of Mahayana being realization of buddhahood. Questions as to whether buddhahood consists of a theoretical or a factual possibility, a mental realization or an actual physical attainment, a state limited to Shakyamuni or a universal one shared by all humans, a past possibility, a present possibility, or a future possibility – these have been discussed for centuries among Buddhists in Asia. The history of the development of Buddhist thought has been in large part a history of the evolution of the concept of buddhahood.

In India, after the death of Shakyamuni, buddhahood was conceived as a special realization, a possibility limited only to Shakyamuni. Reverence to Shakyamuni eventually gave rise to deification, and later to the development of the theory of universal body of awakening, Dharmakaya. The theory of universal buddhahood paved the way for the development of the theory of innate buddha-nature. Universal buddhahood was discussed in India for centuries, as attested by Saddharmapundarika, Nirvana, Vimalakirti, and Shrimaladevisimhanada Sutras. Chinese and Japanese Buddhists accepted this teaching, but they were not satisfied to interpret it merely as the possibility of one becoming a Buddha, an idea which presupposes a duration of time and a process of becoming. Instead they emphasized that universal wakefulness means the recognition of the innate wakefulness in all sentient being. This means that all beings are in themselves, as they are, the embodiment of wakefulness.

Master Kukai wrote in the Nenji Shingon Rikan Keihaku-mon (Treatise on Visualization of Truth by Mindful Recitation of Mantra):

If the Buddhas are the Dharma Realm, they exist within my body. If I myself am also the Dharma Realm, then I exist within the Buddhas.

For Shingon, this is evident in the teaching sokushin jobutsu, meaning ‘realizing buddhahood in this body.’ This phrase has three levels of meaning. (1) Rigu jobutsu is the innate principle presupposing that man, whether awake or not, consists of six elements, four mandalas, and three mysteries; that his body is the Garbhakosha mandala, and his mind the Vajradhatu mandala. (2) Kaji jobutsu is the ‘buddhahood by blessing’ i.e. awakening experienced through practice. (3) Kendoku jobutsu is buddhahood acquired by revealing our own inherent nature.  These are not three distinct approaches to buddhahood, for the first two are dependent upon one another to realize the third. Rigu provides the doctrinal premise for practice; kaji provides evidence for validity of that premise; kendoku is the purpose. Shingon is thus a combination of gradual and immediate methods to enlightenment. Gradual for the practitioner, immediate for the awakened one.

Excerpts from Minoru Kiyota’s “Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice” 

(1) Sannirbhaya, fearlessness of virtue, the stage of virtuous deeds. At this stage one is free from the dictates of impulse and mindless behavior, develops a feeling for humanity, and observes moral principles. Conventionally, this corresponds to abandoning eight worldly concerns and performing ten good deeds (not killing, not stealing etc.). In Shingon, the practitioner comes to realize the need to perform daily tri-guhya practice (three mysteries of body, speech, and mind), is guided into the mandala, receives the samaya precept, learns various mudras, mantras, and visualizations, and generates bodhicitta.

Comment: At ground level, before recognizing any responsibility for our condition, we’re subject to an almost incessant functioning of habits in behavior, emotional reaction, and conceptual biases. Although this first stage affords very little freedom or wiggle room for genuine transformation, it’s an important step in that one significantly disengages from cross-purpose of arbitrary hopes and fears, and thus finds a different orientation by relying on felt purpose and resultant intention to produce a way of living. At this point, to which one frequently returns during fluctuations in the subsequent stage(s), the practitioner has yet to internalize a sense of direction, reliance, and confidence. It’s a crucial first step, however, in that one becomes fearlessly intentional, not unlike an adolescent boldly asserting their will for the first time. As Shingon emphasizes a non-linear view of ground, path, and fruit, this stage is said to be ‘shoji soku goku’ or ‘the first is the final.’

(2) Kaya-nirbhaya, fearlessness of body, the stage of eliminating the naive identification with the body. Here one enters the Buddha-path, a realm beyond mere moral principles. One contemplates the limitations of the coarse body, appreciates mortality, rids himself of the anxiety of craving, and realizes liberation from the delusion of attachment to the separate self. This is the shravaka stage. In Shingon, the practitioner attains the vision of “the wondrous form” of the deity, experiences heat in the practice while working with elements and energies, and enters various samadhi states.

Comment: In the Pali tradition, we find ‘sakkaya-ditthi’ (tr. ‘view of the existing body’) as the first samsaric fetter to be abandoned by stream entry. The body here stands for personal identity. According to the esoteric teaching, the body is not to be feared (skt. nirbhaya). When physical needs have been taken care of, an open-ended relationship with one’s world becomes possible. Imagination and inspiration come center stage at this point, and one becomes keenly aware of the possibility of partaking in a realm beyond physical limitations, yet firmly grounded in the openness and vulnerability of an embodied sentient impermanence. The practitioner at this stage finds an increasing ability to challenge his or her instinctual limitations, while also discovering fresh ways of being with the body, in the body, and – perhaps most importantly – as the body. In master Kukai’s Shingon thinking, ‘body’ became a signifier for body-mind-spirit, one’s whole being. ‘Fearlessness of body’ thus means both a firmness of will *and* a capacity to relax into presence, both implicit in the exoteric Buddhist notion of ‘preciousness of this human birth’ and also in the wealth of body-based purification, devotion, and mindfulness-awareness methods in various schools. In the esoteric paradigm, this is a challenging transition, as the practitioner negotiates a *balance* in this not-just-instinctual embodiment, while holding to the vision of the deity as a developmental omega point, and deepening one’s steadfast resolve through occasional relapses to the previous stage of virtue. In short, one becomes unflinching in dealing with embodiment-and-environment, while sensitive at all times to their energy and vitality.

(3) Nairatmya-nirbhaya, fearlessness of selflessness, the stage of realizing the emptiness of self. One who is free from attachment to the separate self now also finds freedom from the notion of possession. This is also a shravaka stage. In Shingon, the practitioner, who has perfected visualizing the presiding deity, is no longer obsessed by its representation.

Comment: This stage corresponds to the insight that body and mind are a temporary combination of various elements, being devoid of substance, yet apparent and functional. Such insight leads to a stable realization of emptiness of personal identity, which cuts away coarse attachments. In Shingon practice, based on the experience of arising as deity, one abandons pride and envy, which leaves the mind in a refreshing state of profound calm and balance.

(4) Dharma-nirbhaya, fearlessness of phenomena, the stage of realizing the emptiness of phenomena. Five aggregates are themselves empty of essence. This is the pratyekabuddha stage. In Shingon, the practitioner realizes that arising as deity is empty of essence and signless (skt. alakshana), like a moon in the water or an image in the mirror.

Comment: Simply put, one abandons fascination with various experiences, inquires into the nature of phenomena and finds their dependent nature. In Shingon context, contemplating ten allegories (phantoms, heatwaves, dreams, reflections or shadows, forms in clouds or in the mist, echoes, moon in water, floating bubbles, dust or motes, fire-circle) to discover that every experience is already open and pellucid in the realm of suchness, the practitioner becomes ‘arya.’

(5) Dharmanairatmya-nirbhaya, fearlessness of emptiness, the stage of simultaneous emptiness of phenomena and self. This is liberation from all phenomena, a recognition of the objective world as a mental construct. This is the stage of Yogacara and Madhyamika. In Shingon, the tri-guhya practitioner realizes the presiding deity as one’s own mind cultivated through samadhi. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are mind, here meaning qualities.

Comment: Seeing that apperances and meanings arise from potentialities (‘seeds’) that have no substance, one discovers undivided emptiness. In Shingon context, meditating on the sacred syllable A, the practitioner finds primordial awareness is not separate from one’s own mind, and that all experience arises – as experience – from this unbounded potential. One is no longer afraid of being nothing and thus free to experience everything.

(6) Samata-nirbhaya, the stage of sameness (skt. sarva-dharma-svabhava-samata), where one no longer distinguishes between supreme and conventional, between mind and attributes. One realizes the unity of diversity, since all phenomena are interrelated because of emptiness and co-arising. This is the Ekayana stage of Tendai, Kegon (and Zen), and Shingon. In Shingon, the practitioner gains insight into the source of unity of diversity by realizing adhi-anutpada, the originial non-arising state, namely primordial awareness.

Comment: At this highest stage one finds sameness of suchness and apparent reality, while recognizing that even emptiness is devoid of being something – ontologically, logically, semantically, and pragmatically – thus abandoning the most subtle separation of apparent and real, realizing non-discriminating wisdom. In Shingon terms, maintaining constant awareness that phenomena neither arise nor vanish, the practitioner enters the equality of everything interior and exterior, interpenetration of sacred and mundane, to accomplish identity of mind and body, awareness and appearance. Further stages may be said to exist in the unfolding of this natural samadhi, but these are not conceived as realization, since openness/emptiness has been fully probed. Anything further pertains to an unending responsiveness, moment to moment. Reality is forever new, bright, and fresh. All deadening influences (skt. mara) have been pacified in stages, liberating an inexhaustible source of creativity, goodness, and intelligence.

Summary. The first four nirbhayas correspond to the first kalpa, while the fifth and sixth nirbhaya correspond to the second and third kalpa, respectively. Next, ten stages (skt. bhumi).

Notes from Minoru Kiyota’s “Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice” with personal annotation.

The term “kalpa” means an immeasurable duration of time (skt. maha-asamkhyeya-kalpa). In exoteric Mahayana, it takes three of these immense aeons to complete the path of bodhisattva to complete awakening of Buddhahood. However, Shingon interprets the term as three levels of grasping the unreal (skt. mithya-graha), namely the coarse (skt. sthula), the subtle (skt. sukshma), and the very subtle (skt. prasukshma). The Awakening of Faith describes these three veils as follows: confused action, the perceiving, and the perceived. Therefore, Shingon does not conceive kalpa as an immense duration of time. Instead, it conceives it as layer of delusion. This leads to a controversial issue which must be clarified before describing the Shingon concept of kalpa.

Disputes surrounding the sudden vs. gradual awakening are largely based on whether wakefulness (skt. bodhi) is determined by the length of practice or not. According to Kukai’s system of doctrinal evaluation, the exoteric schools affirm the kalpa (duration) requirement, though there is considerable dispute around that for Mahayana schools like Tendai or Kegon (and Zen). Shingon presupposes inherent buddhahood but in practice it nevertheless requires the triguhya (‘three mysteries’) meditation and claims that practice is the actualizing of human-Buddha identity. In practice, it would seem, there is no difference between esoteric and exoteric, but the rationale involved in practice is quite different. The two are different because of the interpretation of the term kalpa. It follows that in Shingon wakefulness is not a matter to be realized in terms of a duration of time (whether short or long). In other words, wakefulness does not take place in time, strictly speaking. Thus, the sudden/gradual dispute only arises in an attempt to temporalize wakefulness.

The first, coarse kalpa is the delusion of grasping the self-sense of separate existence. It’s a delusion because such self is impossible, while its seemingly-real appearance is a distortion. Every Buddhist school teaches this self is devoid of essence (skt. pudgala-shunyata or pudgala-nairatmya), instead of which only five aggregates are found, none of which is this self. According to Shingon, the shravaka and pratyekabuddha have transcended the first kalpa, and have realized the emptiness of self-sense of separate existence.

The second, subtle kalpa is the delusion of grasping the reality of phenomena. It’s a delusion because phenomena are also devoid of essence (skt. dharma-shunyata or dharma-nairatmya), so that experience is neither absolutely real, nor absolutely unreal. According to Shingon system of evaluation (see the post on Ten Stages), those who practice according to Yogacara gain insight into mind-onlyness, while those who practice according to Madhyamaka realize the middle. Through the insight into emptiness of phenomena, both transcend the second kalpa.

The third, very subtle kalpa is the delusion of grasping to ignorance (skt. avidya), namely distinguishing phenomena in terms of conditioned and unconditioned. According to Shingon system of evaluation, Tendai and Kegon (and Zen) have transcended the third kalpa by realizing the synthesis of the conditioned and unconditioned. Through such synthesis Tendai realized the realm of suchness, while Kegon and Shingon realized the realm of Dharmadhatu, the dynamic creative universal realm, a seamless fusion of emptiness and form.

Thus, this three kalpa theory is a categorization of Buddhism into Hinayana, Triyana, and Ekayana. Hinayana refers to the shravaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles; Triyana, meaning ‘three vehicles,’ claims the superiority of the bodhisattva vehicle; Ekayana does not discriminate the three but encompasses all three within one universal vehicle. Shingon is also Ekayana, but it is esoteric, and therefore called Vajra-Ekayana. 

Doctrinally, Kegon and Shingon are closely related. What distinguishes the two is the interpretation of Dharmadhatu. The Avatamsaka Sutra (ch. Huayen, jap. Kegon) describes Dharmadhatu from the perspective of cause. This distinction is important. Shingon, unlike Kegon, does not speak of one becoming Buddha (which ‘becoming’ presupposes a duration of time), because one already is Buddha by one’s inherent buddha-nature. Shingon practice is the revelation of Buddhahood in a concrete context – the attributes indicated by six elements, four mandalas, and three secrets. This brings us back to sudden vs. gradual awakening theories. The process of awakening is gradual, but once awakened, one realizes that the very moment is abrupt, sudden, and direct – like a flash of lightning. Shingon awakening – consisting of direct awareness of one’s inherent bodhicitta – refers to the latter. Apart from such distinctions, both approaches are Ekayana, transcending the three kalpas, and realizing Dharmadhatu. Hence, master Shubhakarasimha’s Commentary on the Mahavairocana Sutra says,

“If one transcends the three graspings in one’s lifetime, then in the present life s/he shall realize Buddhahood. Why should the duration of time be discussed?”

Next, the six nirbhayas.

Notes from Minoru Kiyota’s “Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice”

While practice here means eliminating one’s own reactive patterns, such elimination cannot be accomplished just by realizing a new conceptual horizon. One must simultaneously act in accordance with that new horizon. View and action must merge as a single concern. Shingon refers to the awakening of this kind of will as ‘arising bodhicitta’. Sanskrit word bodhicitta means ‘awakening heart-mind.’ This initial awakening takes place when one becomes aware of the futility of an indulgent life and of the paradox involved in leading a wholesome life, but also, more importantly, when one develops an intense desire to overcome such futility and paradox. This type of will presupposes that human nature is inherently clear and bright, hence it is also confidence in this inherent nature. Thus, bodhicitta and buddha-nature are synonymous.

The Bodhicitta Shastra describes three attributes of such bodhicitta: supreme truth, compassion, and samadhi. Supreme truth is insight into emptiness, and equals wisdom or understanding; compassion refers to the application of emptiness at an empirical level, and equals vow or practice; samadhi refers to the internalized discipline required to cultivate both understanding and practice, these two supplementing one another, for there can be no understanding without practice, and no practice without understanding. In this context, samadhi is the agent of integrating understanding and practice.

From this we see that bodhicitta – representing the ‘middle’ – is not merely a matter of apprehension. It is to be realized in experience, since it involves faith in the inherent good, as well as an empirical demonstration of that inherent quality.

Buddha-nature is that which is sought by one who has become aware of the futility and paradox of life, and has become deeply sensitive to the tragic problems of mankind. Master Kukai defines faith in buddha-nature as

“…the awareness of the inherent quality within all men which can be discovered by penetrating beneath the consciousness level dominated by ‘seeds’ of attraction, aversion, and indifference.”

This inherent and universal quality is real only to those who have come to understand the limits of the intellect in pursuit of an existential insight – the paradox one faces in pursuit of his authentic being. Such faith (skt. shraddha) and confidence (skt. adhimukti) is beyond self-awareness. Nonetheless, our very own self is the basis of discovering the authentic situation of one’s own beingness.

How is such bodhicitta cultivated to maturation? In response to this question, master Kukai refers to the triple formula from the Mahavairochana Sutra, which says,

“Bodhicitta is the seed, great compassion (skt. mahakaruna) is its roots, and skillful means (skt. upaya) is the fruit.”

This sutra explains understanding (skt. prajna), the function of awareness which cognizes supreme truth, by comparing it to a seed, requiring the condition to establish its roots and to produce fruit. Bodhicitta is the cause (seed) of understanding, and compassion (i.e. actual daily practice) is the condition which enables that cause to produce result (fruit of buddhahood). Bodhicitta cannot be awakened and matured without compassion, the conditioner which brings about buddhahood. This triple formula articulates the theory of the primacy of practical wisdom (i.e. phronesis or prudence). In other words, though arising bodhicitta is essential to practice, practice at the same time is the conditioner which cultivates the maturation of the arising bodhicitta.

Notes from Minoru Kiyota’s “Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice”

1. Unstable goatish mind: stage of the worldling, at which the unawakened mind understands neither good nor evil, neither cause nor effect. One is driven by instincts and needs for security, sex, and food. This stage may be seen as prehumanistic.

2. Foolish abstinent mind: something has stirred in the buddha-nature so that one begins to restrain, so that this mind strives to be ethical and moral. This stage may be seen as humanistic.

3. Childlike fearless mind: seeking the peace of dwelling in heaven, due to weariness with human condition. First awakening to spirituality. Like a child seeking comfort of mother’s embrace, the person at this level seeks to believe in an eternally unchanging god or salvation doctrine.

4. Mind of selfless aggregates: self seen as impermanent, but five aggregates (skt. panca-skandha) seen as real. This corresponds to the “vehicle of hearers” (skt. shravakayana). One seeks personal liberation through insight into three characteristics, namely suffering (duhkha), impermanence (anityata), and no-self (nairatmya).

The treatise Abhidharmakosha explains existence in terms of karmic cycle, conditioned by misleading views and misleading thoughts. Existence essentially means karma, and liberation means severance from karma. Insight into the four truths is the initial step. A shravaka therefore negates the reality of self and affirms the reality of basic phenomena. Complete liberation means extinction of both mind and body, because both are accumulator and repository of unwholesome qualities.

5. Mind free of karmic seeds: understanding the process of conditioning, one destroys the ignorance that is at root of all bad karma. This mind, however, like the previous stage, still lacks compassion for other beings, corresponding to the “vehicle of solitary realizers” (skt. pratyekabuddhayana).

Masters of Abhidharma conceived two types of ‘nirvana:’ one reserved for the historical Buddha, and the other for the professional monk as the state of arhat. The laity was expected to be guided by the monks, to lead wholesome secular life, to dedicate themselves to supporting the monks, and to aspite for better rebirth in the future. Nirvana suggests a “blowing out” of human passions. Hence, in referring to awakening, Mahayana generally employs the term ‘bodhi,’ from which the term ‘buddha’ is derived. Even when Mahayana does employ the term ‘nirvana,’ in the context of its own doctrine, the term does not mean “extinction” of body and mind. It generally refers to a state of tranquility and quiescence. But more often than not, it is spoken of with reference to the identity of nirvana and samsara, based upon the doctrine of emptiness and dependent co-arising, which led to the development of the theory of universal buddhahood. Kukai thought that the Abhidharma tradition of analyzing existence in terms of dharmas is speculative, contributes to de-centralizing the human personality, does not in fact offer awakening for all beings, and thus on its own cannot serve as basis of human creativity and the ultimate dignity of all mankind.

6. Compassionate mahayana mind: great compassion wells forth. Objects are seen as void, but the nature of storehouse consciousness is real. This corresponds to teachings of Yogacara school, founded by Indian masters Asanga and Vasubandhu. According to esoteric perspective, they were inspired by bodhisattva Maitreya.

Mahakaruna is compassion without discrimination. While in previous stages compassion is present as sensitivity to others’ suffering, in Mahayana it becomes a positive, proactive concern for the awakening of all beings. Turning our heart-mind at the basis (skt. ashraya-paravrtti), we shift from discrimination based on arbitrary values to non-discrimination, that is, to unconditioned concern for every being. Cittamatra school also enumerates basic phenomenal constituents, but puts emphasis on their transformation. For example, every type of consciousness (skt. vijnana) becomes a type of deep awareness (skt. jnana) or wisdom.

7. Mind awakened to the Unborn: realization of the void nature of both objects and mind itself. This corresponds to teachings of Madhyamaka school, founded by Indian masters Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. According to esoteric perspective, they were inspired by bodhisattva Manjushri.

 This teaching reveals the middle path principle by positing two levels of thought – the realm of emptiness, which is called the ‘supreme’ (skt. paramartha), and the realm of co-arising, which is called the ‘conventional’ (skt. samvrtti). Co-arising is possible because of emptiness; that what co-arises, due to emptiness, is the sign of emptiness; the insight into the organic relationship between the supreme and the conventional is the middle. The middle path articulates the principle of nonduality, thus providing the basis for the theory of the identity of nirvana and samsara. 

Kukai’s work “Precious Key” says, ‘The great space, boundless and silent, encompasses ten thousand images in its life-force; the great sea, deep and still, embraces thousand elements in its single drop. The all embracing one is the mother of all things. Emptiness is the source of conventional reality. Conventional reality is not real existence but it exists conventionally. Emptiness is not nothingness for it exists non-abidingly. Because form is not different from emptiness, it produces phenomena and eternally abides as emptiness; because emptiness is not different from form, it brings phenomena into extinction and eternally abides as form. Form is emptiness and that very emptiness is form. All dharmas as so likewise. What is there that is not? The water and the waves are inseparable, the gold and its marks are indistinguishable. Nothing is identical nor is anything different. This is the essence of the two truths, the middle. Realize the nature of emptiness without grasping it; and through the eight negations, transcend meaningless arguments.’

8. Mind of the single way: worlds of delusion and awakening, worlds of matter and mind, all possible worlds are contained in a single thought within mind. Consciousness and its objects form one body. This corresponds to teachings of T’ien T’ai, established on the basis of Lotus Sutra and the works of Nagarjuna (this is one reason why Kukai breaks the historical development and places Madhyamaka a step higher than Yogacara, so as to establish an inseparable continuity between Indian Madhyamaka and Chinese T’ien T’ai). According to esoteric perspective, these were inspired by bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

9. Mind of ultimate no-self-nature: all things interpenetrate, and all things contain the ultimate. Still, limited by void and nothingness, this mind does not progress beyond negation. This corresponds to teachings of Hua Yen, rooted in the Flower Ornament Sutra, inspired by bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

Four worlds according to Hua Yen: (1) world of co-arising, the phenomenal reality; (2) world of emptiness, principle underlying phenomena; (3) harmony between phenomena and principle, their synthesis; and (4) harmony between phenomena, the synthesis among the co-arising, also called ‘dharmadhatu,’ a dynamic cosmic harmony beyond being and non-being.

Dharmadhatu as conceived in this school refers to the world of harmony between phenomena, an empirical world in which all forms of diversity are unified and harmonized.  Ten principles of causation follow. (1) Co-arising of all elements at the same time to complete the whole; the whole is suchness (skt. tathata). (2) Complete blending of one and many, like many lights directed at one spot. (3) One and many are implicit in each other. (4) Co-identity of one and many. (5) Actualized and potential, revealed and unrevealed, are implicit in each other, like seed and sprout. (6) Blending of all parts. (7) Indra’s net, a metaphorical description of universal interpenetration, i.e. every thing reflects everything. (8) Co-identity and interpenetration seen through phenomenal reality. (9) All time periods implicit within the one.  (10) Harmony between causes and conditions produces results.

10. Secret sublime mind: breaking through attachment to void, fully realizing true nature. In this realm of affirmation, one finds the creative mind at the source of all things.

Master Kukai states in “Ten Stages” – ‘The glorious mind, the most secret and sacred is, ultimately, to realize one’s own mind in its fountainhead and to have insight into the nature of one’s own existence.’ He conceives man as ‘body-mind’ and holds that this body-mind is grounded in the Body-Mind, the secret and sacred living Body-Mind of all, the Dharmakaya Mahavairocana.

Some levels are only slight steps, others are separated by a vast chasm of purpose and meaning. All levels are necessary and valid in their own framework. The last levels does not reject but fulfills all preceding levels, and lower levels embody the potential fulfillment of higher ones. The tenth level is not realized by penetrating in the same direction as the previous nine, though. It does not exist separate from the previous nine, but is seen as bringing them to new life.

Notes from Taiko Yamasaki’s “Shingon – Japanese Esoteric Buddhism,” Minoru Kiyota’s “Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice”, and Yoshito Hakeda’s “Kukai: Major Works”

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It’s painful to think of awakening in terms of the limited emotional range model. Once our humanity has been “blown-out” and eradicated, how do we relate to anything or anyone? Is there just one reality and understanding the emotional range pre- and post-realization – with many stages in between, and quite a few post-awakening stages – or is it possible, as has been insisted upon by so many previous masters, that different views on the nature and dynamics of emotion and motivation will yield different realization-potentials, so that the emotional range of an awakened one may be validated as “limited and virtuous” in a classical arahant, “positive and dynamic” in a bodhisattva, and “total/complete” in a siddha? It’s not just how we “see” these things (whether speculatively or not), but how this will impact the path-enactment via pre-meditated reach and range of attainment, and thus even the effect of any such attainment on the individual mind-stream, but also on his or her eventual social benefit and whole-life engagement.

So, does a realized human being experience every emotion, and act in every way? No! Is s/he thus limited emotionally or behaviorally? No! Being free and real is no limitation. So not experiencing secondary emotions based on confusion and separation is one thing, but still experiencing every primary emotion – including the “difficult” ones – is something else altogether since these primary energies have been purified of I-other in the ultimate sense, and also intrinsically aligned with open equanimity-kindness-compassion-joy, and guided by integrity-in-action in the relative sense. From this vantage point, the previous non-awakened state may be more reasonably regarded as a “limited emotional range”, arising as it does from a limited awareness of self and environment.

I’m certain it’s not the universe that punked you, or me, or anyone else.:-) Being punk’d and pwn’d is to be accepted cheerfully, no? Ultimately, this whole going on cannot be just an opportunity to develop evasion skills and thus get away without being punk’d, and I believe you know that, so I’m writing this for the sake of clarity. We are children of this universe. We *are* the eyes, hearts, and minds of this universe. Having unresolved issues with our genitor is a major source of our search for meaning and purpose, often stopping short of discovering that this whole going on is of our own creation, and thus not really taking up the task of improving what we have thus far managed to clarify to some (actually, quite exceptional) degree. An inner pureland is only a reminder and promise of an ever-receding horizon of potential that is this world in its suchness. Selves are appearances, true, but appearances of what? And why? Liberation, once found, being free of this and that, serves a definite, inherent purpose. Call it compassion, love, or service, but also creativity, novelty, emergence. And thus realization manifests spontaneously as engagement and response to everything or anything in its reach and range. Beyond the distinction of samsara and nirvana already lies the firm ground of certainty, the source of enlightened stewardship, influence, and impeccable action. Such willful engagement is it’s own reward, no?

Actual sexual activity, present in certain popular movements combining Hindu and Buddhist elements as “tantra”, is not to be confused with symbolic sexuality in esoteric Buddhism. Orthodox lineages of Secret Mantra do not employ sexual energy in literal ways, but sexual and other drives are seen as vital sources of energy for practice. The Wisdom-Path Sutra (skt. Mahasukha-vajra-amogha-samaya-sutra, jap. Hannya Risshu Kyo), recited daily by Shingon priests, is the esoteric culmination of teachings expressed in earlier Prajnaparamita literature. Since every thing and every being is intrinsically pure, core human desires are like a lotus. In section “The Way of Supreme Joy,” the Wisdom-Path Sutra says,

Enraptured and embraced,
In the heart of the Buddha,
Receive the grace of compassion,
Enclosed in affection of the great profound love.
One who knows the purity of such true state of mutual interaction is a bodhisattva.

An arrow of the craving and eager affection shot,
Quickly reaches and touches the beloved one.
Tied with the threads of immaculate love,
Live in joy and win the mastery of will.
One who knows such purity of rapture is a bodhisattva.

Seeing the Buddha as is,
Delighting in touch with the beloved one,
Enlarging the scope of love,
Gained in heraldic dignity,
One who knows such purity of enjoyment is a bodhisattva.

Endowed with the Buddha’s wisdom,
Fulfill the happiness of mind,
Radiate the light of compassion,
Rejoice at the physical pleasure.
One who knows such purity of fulfillment is a bodhisattva.

The color you see is the Buddha.
The sound you hear is the Preaching,
The odor you smell is the fragrance of the Dharma,
the flavor you taste is the Meaning.
One who knows such purity of sensations is a bodhisattva.

Much of Buddhism stresses desire as equivalent to attachment, addiction, and craving, something negative that should be rooted out and destroyed once and for all in order that the self may be extinguished. While most contemporary public teachers downplay this basic exoteric approach, general Buddhism lists desires for possession, fame, sex, food, and sleep, as obstacles. Because these represent basic human needs for security, recognition, intimacy etc. to deny these could be to frustrate the energy of life itself.

Desires do cause attachment, since satisfying of one simply gives rise to another. However, desire is one of basic energies of our existence. Thus, in the esoteric view, the individual’s desire are all summed up in the desire for awakening, attainment of which represents the Great Bliss of genuine satisfaction.

In the mandalas of Secret Mantra, which portray hundreds of different deities, both static and dynamic, both smiling and wrathful, we recognize embodiments of various energies in their heightened, sacred dimension, all simultaneously manifestations of the all-embracing activity of Mahavairocana Buddha.

The “Manual of Five Secrets” details the process by which deluded reactions reveal themselves as pure bodhicitta. This text describes Vajrasattva (innate bodhicitta) accompanied by four attendant bodhisattvas, namely desire, sensation, love, and satisfaction. Known together as five mysteries, these figures embody deluded desires revealing their nature as awakened wisdom. Thus, Desire Vajrabodhisattva represents all human desires and appetites, and in esoteric practice this is desire for awakening that results in realization; Sensual Vajrabodhisattva represents all phenomenal senses, which are actually the faculties by which we can approach awakening; Love Vajrabodhisattva symbolizes all lust and libido, and the unfolding of compassion which is inseparable from wisdom; Satisfaction Vajrabodhisattva stands for pride and arrogance, and the joy of perfect awakening. In this esoteric view, human passions are energies directed toward the benefit of all beings. Desire becomes sadness for others’ suffering and the determination to bring them to liberation; sensation becomes approaching others in deep intimacy; love becomes compassion; and satisfaction becomes experiencing joy of their awakening. Thus, Vajrasattva and four attendant bodhisattvas together represent the fivefold deep awareness of Buddhahood.

Human sexuality can be a beautiful expression of our nature. However, misunderstanding and misuse of human potentials result in suffering. Master Kukai wrote in the Secret Key to the Heart Sutra,

How pitiful, the children long asleep, how miserable, how painful, the mad, intoxicated people. The suffering mad ones laugh at those who are not drunk. The cruel sleepers mock the awakened. Never asking the King of Medicine for his cure, when will they see Mahavairocana Buddha’s light?

Building on the concept of the individual self, early Buddhism taught that as long as there is a self, no matter how subtle or fine, it is impossible to escape from the wheel of death and rebirth. Thus, in the doctrine of no-self, liberation meant elimination of self, which creates its own suffering. The esoteric tradition, however, affirms the individual personality and the desires that motivate it as highly evolved expressions of buddha-nature. Instead of denying the self, we dissolve its limitations to reveal the great self.

Secret Mantra teaches that, from the awakened perspective, there is the perfectly realized body of self and universe continuous together, without obstruction. In the Meaning of the Syllable Hum, master Kukai wrote,

Self is Dharmadhatu, self is Dharmakaya, self is Mahavairocana Buddha, self is Vajrasattva, self is all Buddhas.

The exoteric ideal of no-desire is brought about by extinguishing the self. The esoteric teaching sees all desires as expressions of a root desire for awakening, called the great desire, which it cultivates by re-framing deluded desires into the dimension of awakening. Desire used for the benefit of self and others is not negative. It is termed the vow of the bodhisattva.

Notes from Taiko Yamasaki’s “Shingon – Japanese Esoteric Buddhism”