Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism

Pure Land Buddhist Studies

by Aaron P. Proffitt

What, if anything, is Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism? In 1224, the medieval Japanese scholar-monk Dōhan (1179–1252) composed The Compendium on Esoteric Mindfulness of Buddha (Himitsu nenbutsu shō), which begins with another seemingly simple Why is it that practitioners of mantra and meditation rely on the recitation of the name of the Buddha Amitābha? To answer this question, Dōhan explored diverse areas of study spanning the whole of the East Asian Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Although contemporary scholars often study Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism as if they were mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed schools of Buddhism, in the present volume Aaron Proffitt examines Dōhan’s Compendium in the context of the eastward flow of Mahayana Buddhism from India to Japan and uncovers Mahayana Buddhists employing multiple, overlapping, so-called “esoteric” approaches along the path to awakening. Proffitt divides his study into two parts. In Part I he considers how early Buddhologists, working under colonialism, first constructed Mahayana Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism as discrete fields of inquiry. He then surveys the flow of Indian Buddhist spells, dhāraṇī, and mantra texts into China and Japan and the diverse range of Buddhist masters who employed these esoteric techniques to achieve rebirth in Sukhāvatī, the Pure Land of Bliss. In Part II, he considers the life of Dōhan and analyzes the monk’s comprehensive view of buddhānusmṛti as a form of ritual technology that unified body and mind, Sukhāvatī as a this-worldly or other-worldly soteriological goal synonymous with nirvana itself, and the Buddha Amitābha as an object of devotion beyond this world of suffering. The work concludes with the first full translation of Dōhan’s Himitsu nenbutsu shō into a modern language.

Genres: Buddhism

458 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2023

Reviews

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This analysis of the thought of the early Kamakura monk Dohan is a treasure in two senses. The first is as a case study challenging the way Buddhist sectarianism is often perceived in the west. Monks like Dohan, who lived on Koyasan, the holiest site of the Shingon school, and who were deeply devoted to Kobo Daishi Kukai, the founder of the Shingon school, but also wrote extensively on Pure Land methods and cited substantially from Tendai and Zen thinkers prove that sectarian distinctions were not nearly as clear during the early Kamakura period as they are today. The second sense in which this book is a treasure is its presentation of Dohan’s insightful way of thinking about Amitabha and the Pure Land. Dohan regards Amitabha as corresponding to the “middle truth” of Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism which links mundane reality (Shakyamuni) with the highest truth of emptiness (Mahavairocana). This also means that Amitabha corresponds to the Shingon mystery of the Buddha’s speech, which is itself the “middle” that joins the other two mysteries of the Buddha’s body and mind. Furthermore, Pure Land methods of contemplation are treated in Dohan’s thought as a bridge between the Taizokai and Kongokai mandalas central to Shingon ritual. The only negative aspect of this text is that Dohan’s himitsu nembutsu sho which is translated in its entirety in the appendix, is apparently not meant to be read by non-initiates. This was disappointing to see and I would have liked to have been aware of that fact before arriving at the appendix’s first page- many will choose to ignore the caveat which is fine, but others like myself who want to abide Shingon rules will be disappointed not to be able to read the text being discussed in the book itself.