Dharma Wheel

Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

Nothing in depth - sorry - but here (and following the links from it) is some introductory history: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4900.html


Kim

M.G. wrote:Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

shingon japanese esoteric buddhism https://www.amazon.com/Shingon-Japanese ... 0877734437

Kukai: Major Works https://www.amazon.com/Kukai-Major-Works/dp/0231059337

mahavairocana tantra/sutra https://web.archive.org/web/20130210115 ... a_2005.pdf

sutra and tantra in Japanese cannon are written with same character, therefore sometimes you find in translation 'sutra' and in other places 'tantra' but it means the same text..

Matylda wrote:

M.G. wrote:Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

shingon japanese esoteric buddhism https://www.amazon.com/Shingon-Japanese ... 0877734437

Kukai: Major Works https://www.amazon.com/Kukai-Major-Works/dp/0231059337

mahavairocana tantra/sutra https://web.archive.org/web/20130210115 ... a_2005.pdf

sutra and tantra in Japanese cannon are written with same character, therefore sometimes you find in translation 'sutra' and in other places 'tantra' but it means the same text..

I bought the 1st of the books listed by matylda, it has quite a lot of material. Though it does present an overview of Shingon history it doesn't go into a lot of the history between Tendai & Shingon which is unfortunate but it does introduce some of the Shingon practice which I very much appreciate learning about.

M.G. wrote:Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

It is strongly suggested to start with the first 100 pages of Kukai: Major Works and then to switch to Kukai on the Philosophy of Language. Kukai on the Philosophy of Language is available from the publisher (Keio University Press), Amazon Japan or resellers, like me, who import them in bulk and distribute in the US/Europe. I have copies of both books available.

Best,

Jake

narhwal90 wrote:I bought the 1st of the books listed by matylda, it has quite a lot of material. Though it does present an overview of Shingon history it doesn't go into a lot of the history between Tendai & Shingon which is unfortunate but it does introduce some of the Shingon practice which I very much appreciate learning about.

Have you already read the article by Abe, "Saicho and Kukai: A Conflict of Interpretations"?
https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2562

Abstract:

This article reappraises the interaction between Saicho (767-822) and
Kukai (774-835), founders, respectively, of the Japanese Tendai and
Shingon schools of Buddhism. This new appraisal is based on the historical
conditions in which these two men sought to introduce new types of
Buddhism at the close of the age of Nara Buddhism, rather than on the
conventional, idealized characterizations of the two figures as the founding
fathers of their respective schools. What emerges is the unbridgeable difference
between Saicho and Kukai in their interpretive strategies for delineating
the role of esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyd) in establishing a new order in
the early Heian Buddhist community, a difference that presented itself as a
persistent tension that underlay saicho ys alliance with Kukai from the very
outset of their relationship.

Fascinating, thanks! I've not run across that article yet. Saved in my to-be-read folder which is growing faster than I can read it...

M.G. wrote:Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

Published by BDK:

http://www.bdkamerica.org/book/shingon-texts

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Published by BDK:

http://www.bdkamerica.org/book/shingon-texts

BDK has a lot of really excellent works but I think the Takagi and Dreitlein translations found in Kukai on the Philosophy of Language are much more usable and have superior notations, plus the glossary is a real gem. FWIW

jake wrote:

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Published by BDK:

http://www.bdkamerica.org/book/shingon-texts

BDK has a lot of really excellent works but I think the Takagi and Dreitlein translations found in Kukai on the Philosophy of Language are much more usable and have superior notations, plus the glossary is a real gem. FWIW

Indeed. BDK has published a few root texts belonging to Shingon tradition or rather texts used by Shingon. However those are root tets and it is difficult to figure out on their basis what Shingon tradition actually is, or how it is practiced. Anyway they are recomended for those who are already engaged in Shingon.

The 2011 book edited by Orzech, Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, has a lot of interesting scholarly material.

M.G. wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:51 am Would anyone be able to recommend good English language material on Shingon Buddhism? Thanks so much!

What is the aspect of Shingon Shû which is interresting for you?

more Info:
http://selfdefinition.org/tantra/Yamasa ... ddhism.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Shingon
http://townsendgroups.berkeley.edu/site ... ritual.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/27230665/Shingo ... ration.pdf
http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/ ... ubunji.pdf
https://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Artic ... %20the.pdf
http://www.shingonbuddhism.org/
https://www.shingonbuddhism.org/blog/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_MS0H ... D-AncPThqw

The books by Taiko Yamasaki are a great introduction to practice.

Phyllobius wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:54 am The books by Taiko Yamasaki are a great introduction to practice.

I understand the English version is much more adaptation than translation.

jake wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:04 pm

Phyllobius wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:54 am The books by Taiko Yamasaki are a great introduction to practice.

I understand the English version is much more adaptation than translation.

If i remember correctly it's the concatenation of two books. However it doesn't disparage with my undestanding of Shingon Shû and more importantly with my Master's one.

RITUAL AND ICONOGRAPHY IN THE JAPANESE ESOTERIC BUDDHIST TRADITION:
THE NINETEEN VISUALIZATIONS OF FUDO MYOO
https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream ... lltext.pdf

Tendai and Shingon Bibliographie
www.pitaka.ch/unil/japheian.pdf

Si-do-in-dzou, gestes de l'officiant dans les cérémonies mystiques des sectes Tendaî et Singon, d'après le commentaire de M. Horiou Toki / traduit du japonais par S. Kawamoura ; avec introduction et annotations par L. de Milloué
https://archive.org/details/sidoindzoug ... ri/page/n9

crazy-man wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 1:50 am Tendai and Shingon Bibliographie
www.pitaka.ch/unil/japheian.pdf

Thanks for the link. It's a nice bibliography. I only wish it had the Takagi and Dreitlein Kukai on the Philosophy of Language. Keio University Press (I have a few copies I can send out, PM me).