Table Of ContentThe Buddhist Goddess Marishiten
0-1 Six-armed, Boar-mounted Marishiten image. Central image of the Hōbyōkan
Dōjō. Courtesy, Joe Hill and Scott Beard.
The Buddhist Goddess
Marishiten
A Study of the Evolution and Impact of her Cult
on the Japanese Warrior
By
David A. Hall
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2014
Cover illustration: Marishiten from the thirteenth-century Asabashō (Courtesy Daizō Shuppansha)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hall, David A.
The Buddhist goddess Marishiten : a study of the evolution and impact of her cult on the Japanese
warrior / by David A. Hall.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-25010-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Marici (Buddhist deity)--Cult--Japan--History.
2. Samurai--Religious life--Japan--History. 3. Marici (Buddhist deity)--Cult--China--History.
I. Title.
BQ4750.M374J35 2013
294.3’42114--dc23
2013026376
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the
humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISBN 978-90-04-25010-9 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-25266-0 (e-book)
Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV
provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used
in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes
communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made
in future editions, and to settle other permission matters.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
<UN> <UN>
To Margie
who has supported my efforts in this endeavor
for over twenty-five years
<UN> <UN>
In memory of
Michele Strickmann (1942–1994)
Namiki Yasushi (1926–1999)
Itō Masayuki (1930–2001)
Mutō Masao (1924–2001)
Yagyū Nobuharu (1919–2007)
<UN> <UN>
CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Abbreviations xv
Language Notes xvii
List of Illustrations xix
Introduction: The Buddhist Warrior Goddess 1
1 Mārīcī—The Warrior Goddess in India 19
2 Molizhitian—The Warrior Goddess in China (Sixth Century)
Discourse on the Incantation of the Goddess-Spell Mārīcī 33
3 Molizhitian—The Warrior Goddess in China (Seventh Century)
The Collected Dhāraṇī-sūtras 51
4 Molizhitian—The Warrior Goddess in China (Eighth–Tenth
Centuries) 77
5 Marishiten—The Warrior Goddess in Japan 121
6 Marishiten and the Japanese Warrior 189
7 Reflections on Mārīcī’s Significance 237
Selected Bibliography 285
Indices and Character Glossaries 307
Chinese Index & Character Glossary 309
Japanese Index & Character Glossary 315
Sanskrit Index & Glossary 329
General Index 333
Index of Texts 339
<UN> <UN>
<UN> <UN>
FOREWORD
It is my great pleasure to write a foreword for the The Buddhist Goddess
Marishiten: The Evolution and Impact of Her Cult on the Japanese Warrior
by Dr. David A. Hall. I have known the author since 1976 when he requested
I interpret for chief instructor Ōtake Risuke of the Tenshinshō-den Katori
Shintō-ryū when he spoke on Japanese Buddhism and martial culture at
the University of Hawaii. That event was part of a presentation of tradi-
tional Japanese martial arts organized by Donn F. Draeger at the University
of Hawaii’s East-West Center. Dr. Hall became my student when I was
Minister of the Tendai Mission of Hawaii and a visiting lecturer in Tibetan
Buddhism at the University of Hawaii.
When Dr. Hall came to Japan as a visiting scholar of Taishō University
in 1977 he trained under my guidance in the practices of the Japanese
Tendai Esoteric tradition at the Tamonin temple. These practices included
the Juhachidō (the Eighteen Paths), the Garbha Dhatu Mandala, the Vajra
Dhatu Mandala, and the Goma (Esoteric Fire Ritual). I ordained Dr. Hall
and another trainee, Mr. Jonathan Driscoll, in the Tendai denomination
in 1979.
The Tendai tradition in Japan originated with the monk Saichō (766–
822) who founded the Tendai Institution on Mt. Hiei. Saichō emphasized
both teachings and practice, an approach called Ge-Gyō Soshu (non-dual
awareness, both theory and practice). Dr. Hall’s extensive training in these
key Tendai rituals, esoteric practices which are particularly demanding,
enabled him to master the theory and practices of the Buddhist Goddess
Mārīcī, both within the Buddhist esoteric tradition, and in the field of tra-
ditional Japanese martial arts. After a year’s immersion in the Tendai
Tradition, Dr. Hall and Mr. Driscoll engaged in the austere practices of the
Shido Kegyō rituals at Tamonin temple for about two months. Arising
each morning at 2:00 a.m., they performed water purification at the local
well and numerous rituals under my direction at the Bishamondō (a ritual
altar hall) throughout the day. They also fasted and followed a restricted
diet as they studied the various ritual texts. A reporter from the Daily
Yomiuri English Language newspaper in Tōkyō, interviewed Dr. Hall and
Mr. Driscoll who were the first non-Japanese to undergo this Tendai train-
ing at Tamonin.
The oral transmissions of many Japanese martial arts which are tradi-
tionally passed directly from master to disciple are derived from Buddhist
<UN> <UN>
x foreword
esoteric ritual traditions. This relationship and its importance in the
psychology of the Japanese warrior have been poorly understood until
now. Dr. Hall’s groundbreaking work will be a boon to those attempting
to understand both the relationship of Buddhism to the Japanese
warrior as well as anyone seeking insights into the psychological nature of
combat and the way in which the Japanese warrior dealt with that
traumatic stress.
Rev. Masao Ichishima
Professor Emeritis of Taishō University, Tōkyō
<<UUNN>> <<UUNN>>
