The Sutra on the Unlimited Life of the Threefold Body

[Nanashi]

At one time the bodhisattva [of wisdom] Manjushri was seated on a jewelled lotus, having a five-knotted crown on his head, his dark blue hair hanging down to his shoulders, his bodily form that of shining gold, his left [hand of] concentration holding a blue lotus with a five-pronged vajra above it, his right [hand of] wisdom grasping a sutra-box [backpack], and his body shining like an autumn rainbow.

 

Peacefully dwelling in [the state of concentration called] the "moon-ring," he spoke to the Buddha, saying, "World-Honored-One. We all have, from the distant past, listened to the Tathagata's preaching of the Dharma [sermons]. From which Buddha did the Tathagata hear this preaching of the Dharma-sounds?"

 

The Buddha spoke to Manjushri, saying, "I received the preaching of Mahavairocana (Great Sun Buddha) after passing through the forty-one levels to enter the great inner chamber."

 

The bodhisattva Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha, saying, "Who is within the inner chamber of the forty-one levels?"

 

The World-Honored-One again said, "After passing through the ten stages of abodes, the ten stages of practices, the ten stages of merit-transference, ten bodhisattva stages (bhumi), the stage of becoming comparable to enlightenment, and entering the inner chamber, I received the preaching of the Dharma he by Mahavairocana, who is at the stage of wonderful enlightenment."

 

The bodhisattva Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha, saying, "From what Buddha did Mahavairocana on the stage of wonderful enlightenment receive this preaching of the Dharma?"

 

The World-Honored-One replied, "Mahavairocana on the stage of wonderful enlightenment received the preaching of the Dharma from the beginningless and endless original Buddha who is of one mind and one thought."

 

The bodhisattva Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha saying, "From what Buddha did 'the beginningless and endless original Buddha who is of one mind and one thought' receive the preaching of the Dharma?"

 

The World-Honored-One again said, "The beginningless and endless original Buddha who is of one mind and one thought' received the preaching of the Dharma from the original Buddha of no mind and no thought."

 

Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha, saying, "From what Buddha did the 'original Buddha of no mind and no thought' receive the preaching of the Dharma?"

 

The World-Honored-One again said, "There is no Buddha above and beyond the 'original Buddha of no mind and no thought.' There is no Buddha before and no Buddha after 'no mind and no thought.' The original Buddha is in essence beyond conceptual understanding. From the beginning he/it does not go nor come, does not have the nature of the threefold body, does not have the nature of the ten destinies [from hell to Buddhahood]."

 

Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha, saying, "If above and beyond the original Buddha of no mind and no thought there is no nature of the threefold body and the ten destinies, from what basis do the threefold body and ten destinies arise?"

 

The World-Honored-One again said, "The original Buddha of no mind and no thought is by nature beyond conceptual understanding. Both the conceptually understood natures of the threefold body and sentient beings in the ten destinies, and the nature of that which is without a nature, arise from the nature that is beyond conceptual understanding."

 

Manjushri again spoke to the Buddha, saying, "If this is so, then is there no Buddha who teaches at the beginning?"

 

The World-Honored-One again said, "There is nothing that teaches or receives above and beyond the original Buddha of no mind and no thought. Moreover, this is a single Buddha, and there are not two Buddhas. You all should shut your eyes and contemplate the original Buddha that is without beginning and without end."

 

Manjushri spoke to the Buddha, saying, "That which the World-Honored-One preaches is exceedingly profound. It is true yet beyond our power to comprehend. It is good; it is good. I gladly preach this sutra."

 

At that time the Tathagata named King of Imposing Sound [bhismagarjitas-vara-raja] spoke to Manjushri, the prince of the Dharma, saying, "Well done, prince of the Dharma. You have questioned the Tathagata in such a way that it is cause for a great event. Now listen carefully. listen carefully. Reflect well on these things."

 

The Buddha, after preaching this sutra, sat in the lotus position and entered the concentration [samadhi] that is wonderful and supreme. At that time Manjushri, prince of the Dharma, and everyone in the assembly of eighty-four thousand monks, all entered this samadhi through the supranormal power of the Buddha.

 

The following events were seen. The Buddha, from within his state of concentration, emitted a great circle of light from his own face, illuminating with insight Manjushri and the eighty-four thousand monks. A sword of wisdom [appeared] from the top of Manjushri's head, and from his side emerged a golden-haired lion. The Tathagata's ray of light extended everywhere, and the color of his body was like that of gold.

 

Manjushri spoke to the Buddha, saying, "World-Honored-One. We have attained unprecedented [insight]. Our hearts greatly rejoice."

 

The Tathagata again preached in a verse, saying,

 

"The supreme path of all Buddhas Has the marks of perfect light and eternal abiding. Those who enter meditative concentration together with [the Buddha] In the same way realize the mind of enlightenment [bodhicitta]."

 

When the Buddha finished preaching these verses, the great monks in the assembly at once stood up, bowed, and went on their way.

[Zhuo Ming-Dao]

I think that it is excellent that you are bringing up such an important Shugendo text, given all of the discourse that has been going on between the Buddhists and Taoists on this site lately.

 

Shugendo is a Japanese tradition that skillfully blended Vajrayana Buddhism, Onmyoryo (Ying-Yang school techniques), and indigenous practices (which are typically referred to as Shinto) into a single unified and coherent school of thought. They took the best of all of these philosophies and spiritual/energetic technologies to perfect themselves into an immortal, enlightened being in "this very body."

 

The Shugenja (practitioners, also sometime called Yamabushi) would retreat into the mountains and practice intense asceticism, which included fasting, chanting sutras, meditating under waterfalls, energy work/inner alchemy, kuji-kiri and kuji-in, ritual magic, and so forth. Then they would come out of the mountains periodically to help ordinary people through exorcisms, energy healing, ofuda (charms or Fu), spells, and by providing shakipat-style transmissions to others. Also, it is said that they could see the kami (nature spirits) with their spiritual vision and use that knowledge to communicate and otherwise help the villages. At yearly festivals they would come down from the mountain to walk on swords and fire, holding the breath for hours, do katsura (spirit dance), and do other superhuman feats in order to spur the general populous on to support practice.

 

Most of the Shugendo tradition was made up of loners and individualists who were willing to try any technique in order to build spiritual power, help others, and further their own enlightenment. They are the perfect model for us modern Tao Bums.

 

According to their philosophy of honjisuijaku, all of the kami are limited manifestations of the Buddhas (for example, the son goddess Amaterasu is a worldly manifestation of Mahavairocana, but from her more limited perspective, she might not realize this. It was through the syncratism of the Shugenja that Buddhism was able to spread from the elite court officials to the ordinary people of Japan during the late Heian/early Kamakura periods. This Buddhism, though, was equally mixed with feng shui, 5-phase theory, inner alchemy, immortality, chi kung, three worm, yin-yang-style Taoism. Of course, formal Shugendo were utterly wiped out during the Meiji restoration in the 1860s (stupid National Shinto...), but their influence and impact lives on in modern day Japan, and hopefully in our own syncratistic practices.

 

I would love for us to talk about this kind of synthesis of ideas and techniques, in addition to having us think about this particular sutra.

 

Thanks Nameless! Shugendo is one of my favorite topics (I wrote my honors thesis on them in undergrad).

Edited September 25, 2009 by Zhuo Ming-Dao

[Aetherous]

Shugendo is one of my favorite topics

 

Mine as well.

[Vajrahridaya]

(I wrote my honors thesis on them in undergrad).

 

How wonderful!