#hosso

When visiting famous Buddhist temples (o-tera, お寺) in Japan, it’s very common to see sutra books, or kyōten, (経典), sold in the gift shop. These are small booklets that contain popular Buddhist sutras of the Mahayana tradition, and are used for home services. Over the years, I’ve collected more sutra books than I care to admit, but I really liked the one I picked up from Kofukuji temple in Nara…

A sculpted image of the monk Jōtō (常騰) (740-815), one of the six patriarchs credited with establishing the Hossō school of Buddhism, the East Asian tradition of Yogācāra or “Consciousness Only,” in Japan

Crafted by the Buddhist artist Kōkei (康慶) in 1189 as part of the larger rebuilding of Kōfukuji Temple (興福寺) in Nara after damage sustained during the recent Genpei War and usually enshrined within the Nan’endō Hall (南円堂) of the temple but here on loan for a special exhibit at the Fukushima Prefectural Museum in Aizuwakamatsu in 2019

A hanging scroll of the monk Jion Daishi (慈恩大師) i.e. Kuījī (Kiki 窺基), a key patriarch of the Hossō school of Buddhism, the East Asian tradition of Yogācāra or “Consciousness Only” specialized in at Yakushiji Temple (薬師寺) in Nara

Color on silk dating to the 11th century from the temple’s collection

The main hall of Okadera Temple (岡寺), or more formally Ryūgaiji (龍蓋寺 "Dragon Lid Temple"), in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture: established by the Hossō founder Gien (義淵) in the seventh century, restored to prominence by the Shingon monk Hōjū (法住) during the 1700′s, with this hall dating to 1805

The Hossō Mandara (法相曼荼羅), a mandala depicting the patriarchs of the Hossō school of Buddhism, the East Asian tradition of Yogācāra or “Consciousness Only” specialized in at Kōfukuji Temple in Nara

Prominent in the center is the future buddha Miroku Bodhisattva (弥勒菩薩), considered to be the divine source of the tradition. Ranged around him in horizontal rows starting from the upper right are: Asaṅga (Muchaku 無著), Vasubandhu (Seshin 世親), Dharmapāla (Gohō 護法), Dignāga (Chin’na 陳那), Śīlabhadra (Kaiken 戒賢), Xuanzang (Genjō 玄奘), Kuījī (Kiki 窺基 or Jion Daishi 慈恩大師), Hui Zhao (Eshō 惠沼 or Shishū Daishi 淄州大師), Zhi Zhou (Chishū 智周 or Bokuyō Daishi 濮陽大師), Zenjū (善珠), Genpin (玄賓), Gyōga (行賀), Kisō (基操), Shin'ei (神叡), Jōtō (常騰), and Shinkō (真興)

Color on silk, Muromachi period (1336-1573)

Season three of Star Trek has one of my most favorite, albeit silliest episodes in the entire series: The Savage Curtain. The episode starts off with a bang: Abraham Lincoln (played by Lee Bergere) floating in space on his trademark chair. From there, the Enterprise crew and in particular Kirk and Spock are confronted by some of “histories worst villains”1 as well as an encounter with Spock’s…

Throughout the history of the Hossō Buddhist sect in Japan, descended from the Yogacara school of thought from India, no one doctrine has caused more controversy or sparked debate with other schools than the Five-Natures Doctrine, or goshō kakubetsu (五姓各別). I don’t necessarily endorse nor criticize this doctrine myself, but I am a big believer that a little healthy competition is good for…

In Chinese-Buddhist literature, the influential treatise Cheng Wei Shi Lun (成唯識論) contains the following quote, translated in the book Living Yogacara:1 Polishing their minds, the courageous do not waver. trans. Professor A. Charles Muller This treatise was written by the famous Chinese monk, Xuanzang (玄奘), whom I talked about recently. From his journeys in India, Xuanzang brought back…