Acala
Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Cleanup lang Template:Infobox Buddha Template:Transliteration or Achala (Template:Langx, "The Immovable", Template:IPA), also known as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, "Immovable Lord") or Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism.<ref name="murakami2">Template:Harvnb, Jp. rel. dict., pp. 242–246</ref>
Originally a minor deity described as a messenger or acolyte of the buddha Vairocana, Acala later rose to prominence as an object of veneration in his own right as a remover of obstacles and destroyer of evil, eventually becoming seen as the wrathful manifestation of either Vairocana, the Buddha Akṣobhya, or the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. In later texts, he is also called Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, "Violent Wrathful One", Template:IPA) or Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang, "Violent One of Great Wrath", Template:IPA), the names by which he is more commonly known in countries like Nepal and Tibet.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="donaldson2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="kreijger1232">Template:Cite book</ref>
In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Acala is classed among the Wisdom Kings (Template:IAST) and is preeminent among the five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, he occupies an important hierarchical position in the Mandala of the Two Realms. In China, he is known as Template:Tlit (Template:Lang, "Immovable Wisdom King", the Chinese translation of Sanskrit Template:Transliteration<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), while in Japan, he is called Fudō Myōō, the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name.<ref name="britacala2">Fudō Myōō and Myō-ō, Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> Acala (as Fudō) is one of the especially important and well-known divinities in Japanese Buddhism, being especially venerated in the Shingon, Tendai, Zen, and Nichiren sects, as well as in Shugendō.
Acala has been worshiped throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times in Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan, where sculptural and pictorial representations of him are most often found.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref name="donaldson2" />
Origins and development
Acala first appears in the Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang-zh, translated by Bodhiruci circa 707-709 CE<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), where he is described as a servant or messenger of the buddha Vairocana:<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref>
The first from the west in the northern quadrant is the acolyte Acala (Template:Lang). In his left hand he grasps a noose and in his right hand he holds a sword. He is seated in the half-lotus position.<ref name=":02" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
More well-known, however, is the following passage from the Template:Tlit (also known as the Template:Tlit or the Template:Tlit) which refers to Acala as one of the deities of the Womb Realm Mandala:
The deity was apparently popular in India during the 8th-9th centuries as evident by the fact that six of the Sanskrit texts translated by the esoteric master Amoghavajra into Chinese are devoted entirely to him.<ref name="donaldson2" /> Indeed, Acala's rise to a more prominent position in the Esoteric pantheon in East Asian Buddhism may be credited in part to the writings of Amoghavajra and his teacher Vajrabodhi.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
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While some scholars have put forward the theory that Acala originated from the Hindu god Shiva, particularly his attributes of destruction and reincarnation,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>[a] Template:Cite book;
[b] Template:Cite book</ref> Bernard Faure suggested the wrathful esoteric deity Trailokyavijaya (whose name is an epithet of Shiva), the Vedic fire god Agni, and the guardian deity Vajrapani to be other, more likely prototypes for Acala. He notes: "one could theoretically locate Acala's origins in a generic Template:Transliteration, but only in the sense that all Tantric deities can in one way or another be traced back to Template:Transliteration."<ref name=":02" /> Faure compares Acala to Vajrapani in that both were originally minor deities who eventually came to occupy important places in the Buddhist pantheon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acala is said to be a powerful deity who protects the faithful by burning away all impediments (Template:IAST) and defilements ([[Kleshas (Buddhism)|Template:IAST]]), thus aiding them towards enlightenment.<ref name="shincho2">Template:Harvnb, under Fudo Myoo (in Japanese)</ref> In a commentary on the Mahāvairocana Tantra by Yi Xing, he is said to have manifested in the world following Vairocana's vow to save all beings, and that his primary function is to remove obstacles to enlightenment.<ref name=":02" /> Indeed, the tantra instructs the ritual practitioner to recite Acala's mantras or to visualize himself as Acala in order to remove obstacles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
From a humble acolyte, Acala evolved into a powerful demon-subduing deity. In later texts such as the Template:Tlit, Acala - under the name Template:Transliteration ("Violent Wrathful One") or Template:Transliteration ("Violent One of Great Wrath") - is portrayed as the "frightener of gods, titans, and men, the destroyer of the strength of demons" who slays ghosts and evil spirits with his fierce anger.<ref name="donaldson2" /><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> In the Sādhanamālā, the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Kandarpa - described as "wicked" beings who subject humanity to endless rebirth - are said to be terrified of Acala because he carries a rope to bind them.<ref name="donaldson2" />
In Tibetan Buddhism, Acala or Miyowa (Template:Bo) is considered as belonging to the Template:IAST ("vajra family", Template:Bo), one of the Five Buddha Families presided over by the buddha Akṣobhya and may even be regarded, along with the other deities of the kula, as an aspect or emanation of the latter.<ref name="donaldson2" /><ref>Template:Cite book, p.100, "Aksobhya, the Buddha who presides over the family (kula) of deities with which Acala is associated"</ref><ref name=":12">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":22">Template:Cite web</ref> He is thus sometimes depicted in South Asian art wearing a crown with an effigy of Akṣobhya.<ref name="donaldson2" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":22" /> In Nepal, Acala may also be identified as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":32">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has a consort named Viśvavajrī in both the Nepalese and Tibetan traditions, with whom he is at times depicted in yab-yum union.<ref name=":32" /><ref name="kreijger1232" />
By contrast, the Template:Tlit (Template:Lang, "bodies of the three wheels") theory, based on Amoghavajra's writings and prevalent in Japanese esoteric Buddhism (Template:Tlit), interprets Acala as an incarnation of Vairocana.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> In this system, the five chief vidyārājas or Wisdom Kings (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit), of which Acala is one, are interpreted as the wrathful manifestations (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit, lit. ""embodiments of the wheel of injunction") of the Five Great Buddhas, who appear both as gentle bodhisattvas to teach the Dharma and also as fierce wrathful deities to subdue and convert hardened nonbelievers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Under this conceptualization, vidyārājas are ranked superior to Template:Nihongo,<ref>ja:護法善神, added 2008.4.23 (Wed) 06:02 by Boca samba (Japanese interwiki link to Dharmapala) makes this distinction.</ref> a different class of guardian deities. However, this interpretation, while common in Japan, is not necessarily universal: in Nichiren-shū, for instance, Acala and Rāgarāja (Aizen Myōō), the two vidyārājas who commonly feature in the mandalas inscribed by Nichiren, are seen as protective deities (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) who respectively embody the two tenets of Template:Tlit ("original enlightenment") doctrine: "life and death (saṃsāra) are precisely nirvana" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) and "worldly passions (kleśa) are precisely enlightenment (bodhi)" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Iconography
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The Template:Tlit's description of Acala is a good summary of the deity's depiction in South Asian Buddhist art.
In Nepalese and Tibetan art, Acala is usually shown either kneeling on his left knee or standing astride, bearing a noose or lasso (Template:Tlit) and an upraised sword. Some depictions portray him trampling on the elephant-headed Vighnarāja (lit. "Ruler of Hindrances", a Buddhist equivalent to the Hindu god Ganesha, albeit interpreted negatively as one who causes obstacles), signifying his role as the destroyer of impediments to enlightenment. He may also be shown wearing a tiger skin, with snakes coiled around his arms and body.<ref name="donaldson2" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
By contrast, portrayals of Acala (Template:Tlit) in Japan generally tend to conform to the description given in the Amoghapāśakalparāja Sūtra and the Mahāvairocana Tantra: holding a lasso and a sword while sitting or standing on a rock (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) or a pile of hewn stones (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit), with his braided hair hanging from the left of his head.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="snyder2">Template:Harvnb pg. 244</ref> He may also be depicted with a lotus flower - a symbol of enlightenment - on his head (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Unlike the South Asian Acala, whose striding posture conveys movement and dynamism, the Japanese Fudō sits or stands erect, suggesting motionlessness and rigidity.<ref name=":02" /> The sword he wields may or may not be flaming and is sometimes described generically as a Template:Nihongo or Template:Nihongo, which is descriptive of the fact that the sword's pommel is in the shape of the talon-like vajra (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit). It may also be referred to as a Template:Nihongo.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In some cases, he is seen holding the "Kurikara sword" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit),<ref>Template:Cite book, article on "akafudo" by Tanaka, Ichimatsu (Template:Lang)</ref> a sword with the dragon (Template:Tlit) king Kurikara (Template:Lang; Sanskrit: Template:Tlit or Template:Tlit) coiled around it.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The flaming nimbus or halo behind Acala is commonly known in Japanese as the "Garuda flame" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) after the mythical fire-breathing bird from Indian mythology.<ref name="shincho2" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
There are two main variations in the iconography of Acala / Fudō in Japan. The first type (observable in the earliest extant Japanese images of the deity) shows him with wide open, glaring eyes, straight hair braided in rows and two fangs pointed in the same direction; a lotus flower rests above his head. The second type (which first appeared in the late 9th century and became increasingly common during the late Heian and Kamakura periods), by contrast, portrays Acala with curly hair, one eye wide open and/or looking upwards, with the other narrowed and/or looking downwards, an iconographic trait known as the Template:Tlit (Template:Lang), "heaven-and-earth eyes". Similarly, one of his fangs is now shown as pointing up, with the other pointing down. In place of the lotus flower, images of this type may sport seven topknots.<ref name="snyder2" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Although the squinting left eye and inverted fangs of the second type ultimately derives from the description of Acala given in the Template:Tlit and Yi Xing's commentary on the text ("with his lower Template:Bracket tooth he bites the upper-right side of his lip, and with his left Template:Bracket his lower lip which sticks out"), these attributes were mostly absent in Chinese and earlier Japanese icons.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
Acala's mismatched eyes and fangs were allegorically interpreted to signify both the duality and nonduality of his nature (and of all reality): the upward fang for instance was interpreted as symbolizing the process of elevation towards enlightenment, with the downward fang symbolizing the descent of enlightened beings into the world to teach sentient beings. The two fangs also symbolize the realms of buddhas and sentient beings, yin and yang, and male and female, with the nonduality of these two polar opposites being expressed by Acala's tightly closed lips.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acala is commonly shown as having either black or blue skin (the Template:Tlit describes his color as being "like that of the Template:Tlit (flax) flower," which may be either yellow<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or blue<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), though he may be at times portrayed in other colors. In Tibet, for instance, a variant of the kneeling Acala depiction shows him as being white in hue "like sunrise on a snow mountain reflecting many rays of light".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Japan, some images may depict Acala sporting a red (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) or yellow (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) complexion. The most famous example of the Template:Tlit portrayal is a painting kept at Myōō-in on Mount Kōya (Wakayama Prefecture) traditionally attributed to the Heian period Tendai monk Enchin. Legend claims that Enchin, inspired by a vision of Acala, painted the image using his own blood (thus explaining its red color), though recent analysis suggests that the image may have been actually created much later, during the Kamakura period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The most well-known image of the Template:Tlit type, meanwhile, is enshrined in Mii-dera (Onjō-ji) at the foot of Mount Hiei in Shiga Prefecture and is said to have been based on another vision that Enchin saw while practicing austerities in 838. The original Mii-dera Template:Tlit is traditionally only shown to esoteric masters (Template:Tlit; Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) during initiation rites and is otherwise not shown to the public, though copies of it have been made. One such copy, made in the 12th century, is kept at Manshu-in in Kyoto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The deity is usually depicted with one head and two arms, though a few portrayals show him with multiple heads, arms or legs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Japan, a depiction of Acala with four arms is employed in subjugation rituals and earth-placating rituals (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit); this four-armed form is identified in one text as "the lord of the various categories Template:Bracket."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> An iconographic depiction known as the "Two-Headed Rāgarāja" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit or Template:Tlit) shows Acala combined with the wisdom king Rāgarāja (Aizen).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Acolytes
Acala is sometimes described as having a retinue of acolytes, the number of which vary between sources, usually two or eight but sometimes thirty-six or even forty-eight. These represent the elemental, untamed forces of nature that the ritual practitioner seeks to harness.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref name="faure152">Template:Cite book</ref>
The two boy servants or Template:Tlit (Template:Lang) most commonly depicted in Japanese iconographic portrayals are Template:Nihongo and Template:Nihongo, who also appear as the last two of the list of Acala's eight great Template:Tlit.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref name="shincho2" /><ref name="faure152" /> Kiṃkara is depicted as white in color, with his hands joined in respect, while Ceṭaka is red-skinned and holds a vajra in his left hand and a vajra staff in his right hand. The two are said to symbolize both Dharma-essence and ignorance, respectively, and is held to be in charge of good and evil.<ref name="faure152" />
Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka are also sometimes interpreted as transformations or emanations of Acala himself. In a sense, they reflect Acala's original characterization as an attendant of Vairocana; indeed, their servile nature is reflected in their names (Ceṭaka for instance means "slave") and their topknots, the mark of banished people and slaves. In other texts, they are also described as manifestations of Avalokiteśvara (Kannon) and Vajrapāṇi or as transformations of the dragon Kurikara, who is himself sometimes seen as one of Acala's various incarnations.<ref name="faure152" />
Two other notable Template:Tlit are Matijvala (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) and Matisādhu (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit), the first two of Acala's eight great acolytes. Matijvala is depicted as white in color and holds a three-pronged vajra in his right hand and a lotus topped with a moon disk on his left, while Matisādhu is red and holds a trident in his right hand and a wish-fulfilling jewel (Template:Tlit) on his left. The eight acolytes as a whole symbolize the eight directions, with Matijvala and Matisādhu representing east and south, respectively.<ref name="faure152" />
Texts
As noted above, Acala appears in the Template:Tlit and the Template:Tlit. As Caṇḍaroṣaṇa or Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, he is the primary deity of the Template:Tlit and is described in the Template:Tlit.
The Japanese esoteric Buddhist tradition and Shugendō also make use of the following apocryphal sutras on Acala:
- Sūtra of the Great Wrathful King Āryācala's Secret Dhāraṇī (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit)
- A sūtra consisting of a discourse on Acala given by the bodhisattva Vajrasattva (identified here with Samantabhadra) to Mañjuśrī, set in "Vairocana's great assembly." The sutra describes Acala as being identical with the all-pervading dharmakāya, "Template:Bracket no fixed abode, but [dwelling] within the hearts of sentient beings" (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Āryācala Sūtra (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit)
- A summarized version of the above sutra.<ref name="Ono51">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Kobayashi145">Template:Cite book</ref> Translated into English, it runs as follows:
- To this text is often appended two litanies of the names of Acala's young acolytes (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit), the 'thirty-six dōjiTemplate:' (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) and the 'eight great Template:TlitTemplate:' (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit).<ref name="Ono51"/><ref name="Kobayashi145"/>
- Sūtra on Reverencing the Secret Dhāraṇī of Āryācala (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Bīja and mantra
The bīja or seed syllables used to represent Acala in Japanese Buddhism are Template:IAST (Template:Lang / Template:Lang) and Template:Tlit (Template:Lang / Template:Lang), the latter being a combination of the two final Template:Tlit in his mantra: Template:Tlit (Template:Lang).<ref name=":42">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":52">Template:Cite web</ref> Hāṃ is sometimes confounded with the similar-looking Template:IAST (Template:Lang), prompting some writers to mistakenly identify Acala with other deities.<ref name="getty2">cf. Getty, Alice (1988). The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography. Courier Dover Publications. p.170, which mistakenly conflates the two Niō with Acala (Fudō) and Rāgarāja (Aizen).</ref> The syllables are written using the Siddham script and is conventionally read as Template:Tlit (Template:Lang) and Template:Tlit (Template:Lang).<ref name=":42" /><ref name="bonji-nyumon2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Three mantras of Acala are considered to be the standard in Japan. The most widely known one, derived from the Mahāvairocana Tantra and popularly known as the "Mantra of Compassionate Help" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit or Template:Tlit), goes as follows:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
| Sanskrit | Shingon pronunciation | Tendai pronunciation | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Tlit<ref name=":52" /> | Template:Tlit<ref name="naritasan2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="jishouin2">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Tlit<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> | Homage to the all-encompassing Vajras! O violent one of great wrath (Template:Tlit), destroy! Template:Tlit |
The "Short Mantra" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit) of Acala - also found in the Template:Tlit<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> - is as follows:
| Sanskrit | Shingon pronunciation | Tendai pronunciation | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Tlit<ref name=":52" /> | Template:Tlit<ref name="goishizan2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="shinnaji2">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Tlit<ref name="Haneda264">Template:Cite book</ref> | Homage to the all-encompassing Vajras! Template:Tlit |
The longest of the three is the "Great Mantra" of Acala, also known as the "Fire Realm Mantra" (Template:Lang, Template:Tlit / Template:Tlit):<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Sanskrit | Shingon pronunciation | Tendai pronunciation | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Tlit (or Template:Tlit<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) Template:Tlit<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> | Template:Tlit<ref name="jishouin2" /><ref name="goishizan2" /><ref name="shinnaji2" /> | Template:Tlit<ref name="Haneda264"/> | Homage to all Tathāgatas, the omnipresent doors, who are in all directions! Template:Tlit O violent one of great wrath! Template:Tlit Root out, root out every obstacle! Template:Tlit.<ref>Translation based on Akiyama (2012). pp. 28-29.</ref> |
Another mantra associated with the deity is Template:Tlit, found in the Template:Tlit. The text describes it as the "king of mantras" that dispels all evil and grants "whatever the follower of Mantrayāna desires".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Worship
Japan
Template:Tlit (Acala), was never popular in Indian, Tibetan or even Chinese Buddhism, but in Japan it became the object of a flourishing cult with esoteric overtones.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The cult of Acala was first brought to Japan by the esoteric master Kūkai, the founder of the Shingon school, and his successors, where it developed as part of the growing popularity of rituals for the protection of the state. While Acala was at first simply regarded as the primus inter pares among the five wisdom kings, he gradually became a focus of worship in his own right, subsuming characteristics of the other four vidyarājas (who came to be perceived as emanating from him), and became installed as the main deity (Template:Tlit) at many temples and outdoor shrines.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acala, as a powerful vanquisher of evil, was regarded both as a protector of the imperial court and the nation as a whole (in which capacity he was invoked during state-sponsored rituals) and the personal guardian of ritual practitioners. Many eminent Buddhist priests like Kūkai, Kakuban, Ennin, Enchin, and Sōō worshiped Acala as their patron deity, and stories of how he miraculously rescued his devotees in times of danger were widely circulated.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
At temples dedicated to Acala, priests perform the Template:Nihongo, or ritual service to enlist the deity's power of purification to benefit the faithful. This rite routinely involves the use of the Template:Nihongo<ref name="murakami2" /> as a purification tool.
Lay persons or monks in Template:Tlit gear who go into rigorous training outdoors in the mountains often pray to small Acala statues or portable talismans that serve as his Template:Tlit.<ref name="murakami2" /> This element of yamabushi training, known as Shugendō, predates the introduction of Acala to Japan. At this time, figures such as Template:Nihongo, who appeared before the sect's founder, En no Gyōja, or Vairocana, were commonly worshiped.<ref name="murakami2" /> Once Acala was added to list of deities typically enshrined by the yamabushi monks, his images were either portable, or installed in Template:Tlit (outdoor shrines).<ref name="murakami2" /> These statues would often be placed near waterfalls (a common training ground), deep in the mountains and in caves.<ref name="snyder2" />
The daimyo Takeda Shingen is known to have taken Fudō Myōō as his patron (particularly when he transitioned to being a lay monk in his later years), and has commissioned a statue of Fudō that is supposedly modelled after his face.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Acala also tops the list of Thirteen Buddhas.<ref name="nichidaijisho2">Template:Cite book, Japanese Dictionary, p.748, middle row, under Template:Lang</ref> Thus Shingon Buddhist mourners assign Fudō to the first seven days of service.<ref name="nichidaijisho2" /> The first week is an important observance, but perhaps not as much as the observance of "seven times seven days" (i.e. 49 days) signifying the end of the "intermediate state" (bardo).
Literature on Shingon Buddhist ritual will explain that Sanskrit "seed syllables", mantras and mudras are attendant to each of the Buddhas for each observance period. But the scholarly consensus seems to be that invocation of the "Thirteen Buddhas" had evolved later, around the 14th century<ref name="gerhart2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book, p.68 gives "late Kamakura Period"</ref> and became widespread by the following century,<ref name="gerhart2" /> so it is doubtful that this practice was part of Kūkai's original teachings.
China
Budong Mingwang (Acala) worship in China was first introduced into China during the Tang dynasty after the translation of esoteric tantras associated with him by monks such as Amoghavajra and Vajrabodhi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Iconography of Acala has been depicted in temples and grottoes from the Tang through to contemporaneous times, usually as part of a set depicting the Eight Wisdom Kings or Ten Wisdom Kings.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He has also commonly been depicted in Shuilu ritual paintings, which are a style of traditional Chinese painting depicting figures in Buddhist cosmology that are used during the eponymous Chinese Buddhist Shuilu Fahui ceremony where these figures are invoked.
In modern times, he continues to be regularly invoked during Chinese Buddhist rituals with esoteric elements, such as the Shuilu Fahui ceremony, along with the other Wisdom Kings where they are given offerings and intreated to expel evil from the ritual platform.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> He is also revered as one of the eight Buddhist guardians of the Chinese zodiac and specifically considered to be the protector of those born in the year of the Rooster.
- Tang dynasty statues of Acala, now kept at Forest of Steles, Beilin Stone Museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
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In popular culture
- Gary Snyder's 1969 poem Smokey the Bear Sutra portrays Smokey Bear (the mascot of the U.S. Forest Service) as an incarnation of Vairocana (the "Great Sun Buddha") in a similar vein as Acala. Indeed, Acala's Mantra of Compassionate Help is presented in the text as Smokey's "great mantra."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Sailor Mars from the Sailor Moon series invokes Acala through the Sanskrit chant of the Mantra of Compassionate Help during her "Fire Soul Bird" attack. Acala is flashed multiple times as a shadowed figure in flames, consistent with Japanese iconography, and in line with Sailor Mars's element of fire.
Gallery
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12th century Song dynasty statues of Acala (left) and Yamantaka (right) at the Dazu Rock Carvings in Chongqing, China.
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Ming dynasty(1368-1644) mural of Acala, one out of a set depicting the Ten Wisdom Kings, in Yong'an Temple[zh] in Hunyuan, Shanxi, China
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Gilt bronze statue from Tibet, 15th-16th century, Honolulu Museum of Art
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Thangka depicting four-armed Acala, from Khara-Khoto, 13th-14th century
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Acala with eight acolytes, Kamakura period, Nara National Museum
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The Kurikara sword flanked by Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka, Kamakura period, Nara National Museum
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Drawing of four-armed Acala, from the Template:Tlit (1245)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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A man with an irezumi tattoo of Acala
![Ming dynasty(1368-1644) mural of Acala, one out of a set depicting the Ten Wisdom Kings, in Yong'an Temple[zh] in Hunyuan, Shanxi, China](/index.php?title=Special:Upload&wpDestFile=%E6%B0%B8%E5%AE%89%E5%AF%BA%E4%BC%A0%E6%B3%95%E6%AD%A3%E5%AE%97%E6%AE%BF%E5%BF%BF%E6%80%92%E5%A4%A7%E5%A8%81%E5%BE%B7%E9%A9%AC%E9%A6%96%E6%98%8E%E7%8E%8B.jpg){kind=link}
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See also
References
Bibliography
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External links
- Fudo Myo-O, 不動明王 O-Fudo-sama in Japan
- Ellen Schattschneider "Fudo Myoo (Acala)" - In: immortal wishes (2003)
- Shingon Buddhist International Institute
- Tendai Buddhist Sangha in Denver Colorado