Jīngāngdǐng zōng gānggài 金剛頂宗綱概
Doctrinal Outline of the Vajraśekhara Tradition by 杲寶 (撰)
About the work
A single-fascicle doctrinal-systematic outline of the Vajraśekhara 金剛頂 (Vajra-Crown) tradition of Shingon, by Gōhō 杲寶 (1306–1362) of Tō-ji. The work compresses the Vajraśekhara-sūtra tradition’s principal doctrinal-systematic positions into a usable outline-format reference.
Abstract
Authorship. Gōhō.
Date. Within Gōhō’s mature career, mid-14th century.
Content. The work opens with a foundational citation from the Shèng-wèi jīng 聖位經 (Adhyardhaśatikā / Stages of the Sage sutra):
“The Self-Enjoyment Buddha, from his mind, flows out limitless Bodhisattvas — all of one [same] nature, namely the Vajra-nature. Facing the All-Pervading-Light Tathāgata they receive the office of kanjō-consecration. These various Bodhisattvas each expound the three-mystery gate.”
(自受用佛從心流出無量菩薩。皆同一性。謂金剛性。對遍照如來受灌頂職位。彼等菩薩各説三密門文)
The opening citation establishes the central doctrinal premise of the Vajraśekhara tradition: that the limitless Bodhisattvas of the Vajra-realm mandala are emanations of Mahāvairocana’s own Self-Enjoyment body, and that each Bodhisattva is itself a teacher of the three-mystery gate — i.e., that the kanjō tradition’s inner ontology is that of Buddhas teaching themselves.
The work proceeds to the doctrinal-systematic outline of the Vajraśekhara tradition’s principal positions:
- The Self-Enjoyment Buddha doctrine — Mahāvairocana as the svabhāva-and-saṃbhoga-kāya in non-dual mode.
- The Vajra-nature — the universal common-nature of the Bodhisattvas of the mandala.
- The three-mystery teaching — body, speech, mind in the Vajra-realm mandala.
- The hierarchical-organizational structure of the Vajra-realm mandala.
- The contrast with the Garbha-realm — the Vajra-realm as the Wisdom aspect, the Garbha-realm as the Principle aspect.
The work cites extensively from Kūkai’s Bendō kemmitsu nikyō ron (KR6t0127), Yixing’s Mahāvairocana-sūtra commentary, the Bodhicitta-śāstra, and the medieval Shingon scholastic sub-commentaries.
Significance. As a compressed doctrinal-systematic outline of the Vajraśekhara tradition, the work is the canonical Tō-ji reference text for Vajraśekhara-tradition doctrinal study. It is paired with Gōhō’s Kāi-xīn chāo (KR6t0156) as the principal introductory doctrinal-systematic texts of his Tō-ji curriculum.
Translations and research
- No Western-language translation located.
- Ryūichi Abé, The Weaving of Mantra (Columbia, 1999).