Kakuban

Biography

Kakuban was born in Fujitsu-no-sho (Hizen Province, nowadays part of Kashima City, Saga Prefecture) about three hundred years after Shingon Buddhism was first founded by Kukai (空海). His given name was Yachitose-maro (弥千歳麿).

The third of four children, his father died at the age of 10, so he renounced the world at age 13 to enter the priesthood and became a pupil of the famous teacher, Kanjo (寛助) in Kyoto, who in turn had founded the Joju-in (成就院). Kakuban had briefly studied the Kusha and Hosso teachings at Kofuku-ji in Nara before returning to his master. At that time, he was given the ordination name of Shogaku-bo Kakuban (正覚房覚鑁). After prolonged training in Buddhism at Todai-ji in Nara, the twenty-year-old received full ordination. Kakuban left for Mount Koya (Koya-san), then the center of the Shingon sect, to pursue further learning of Shingon Buddhism and its founder under the tutelage of Shoren (青蓮), a devout follower of the Pure Land teachings.

By age 30, he received patronage from the noble families in Kyoto, including Cloistered Emperor Toba's permission to build the Denbo-in (伝法院) on Mt. Koya as a center for studying Buddhism. The following year, he constructed the Daidenbo-in (大伝法院).

Schism

When he was thirty-six, Kakuban took leadership in the revival of the Shingon Sect, by attempting to unify the existing branches of Ono (小野) and Hirosawa (広沢). Further, he attempted to assert authority of the Shingon sect from Mt. Koya, not the traditional seat at To-ji in Nara. Eventually, he gathered an increasing throng of followers and became the chief priest (座主, zasu) of both the temples Daidenbo-in and Kongobu-ji. In time, he came to govern the entire religious district of Koyasan as the chief priest under Imperial decree. This led to animosity from some monks, who called for his expulsion. Kakuban soon resigned from his post as chief priest (1135), and retired to Mitsugon-in (密厳院).

The animosity continued, however, and armed monks burned down the Denbo-in Temple in 1139. Kakuban and his pupils fled to Negoro-ji, where Kakuban ended his days at the age of 49 on December 12, 1143. According to legend, he died while sitting in the lotus posture, facing an image of Vairocana's Pure Land. His ashes remain buried in a tomb in the Okunoin cemetery there. Later he was given the posthumous title of Kogyo-daishi (興教大師, Great Master of Prosperous teachings) by Emperor Higashiyama in 1690.

One of his disciples, Raiyu (頼瑜, 1226–1304) moved the Daidenbo-in and the Mitsugon-in Halls to Negoro-ji in 1288 and established the independence of a new school called Shingi Shingon (新義真言宗, New Shingon).

Teachings

Kakuban wrote many works elaborating on the foundational teachings of Kukai, as well as existing rituals at the time, however he also introduced a new ritual called the himitsu nembutsu (秘密念仏, esoteric nembutsu). Kakuban, in keeping with Shingon thought, felt that the regular nembutsu used in Pure Land Buddhist practices contained esoteric elements as well. In the Amida Hisshaku (阿弥陀秘釈, The Esoteric Meaning of Amida), he describes each of the syllables of the nembutsu, their underlying esoteric meaning, and the important symbolism of breath as life, and as a means of recitation.

Similarly, he analyzed mantras related to Amitabha Buddha in the Shingon tradition, in order to discover their hidden meanings.