Chuánfǎ guàndǐng sījì 傳法灌頂私記
Private Notes on the Transmission-of-Dharma Abhiṣeka by 教舜 (記)
About the work
A three-fascicle detailed liturgical handbook for the Transmission-of-Dharma Abhiṣeka (denbō kanjō 傳法灌頂) — the most senior of the Shingon ordination rites, in which the ācārya (transmission-master) confers the full lineage on the receiver. The work is by Kyōshun 教舜 (CANWWW AUT01129, role 記 = “recorded”), and was composed for the Sanbō-in 三寶院 of Daigo-ji with the note “the present temple’s Sanbō-in procedure; other places may take this as a model” (付當寺三寶院作法餘處准之).
Abstract
Authorship and dating: Kyōshun was active in the late Kamakura / early Nanbokuchō period; composition window ca. 1250–1350. The header bears the signature: “Vajra Buddha-disciple Kyōshun, recorded” (金剛佛子教舜記).
Doctrinal content: the work presents the denbō kanjō in fully ordered ritual-sequence, with detailed instructions for each phase. The opening describes the first-night procedure for the Vajra Realm initiation:
On the day of performance, at the half-hour of the Dog [9 pm], the dusk-bell is struck; with the gathering-bell — although this is only when the abbot is the ācārya. The retainers and the receiver are seated in the worship hall, in the arrangement shown in the diagram. (Verso-note: the receiver wears the dharma-robe and the flat kesa, with the vajra-thread suspended from the left arm, holding the three-robe bag, holding the censer; or alternatively, the censer is not held.) When all have arrived, the shōji attends the ācārya’s quarters, announcing that the retainers are all present. Before this, the dan-gyōji — the altar-officiant — at the ācārya’s command, the shōji places the incense-fire and the lamp; including the so-mi etc. (probably honey-incense additions); but if the famous-incense is added to the burnt-incense, this is the dan-gyōji’s duty.
The text then proceeds through the complete sequence: the ācārya takes up the five-pronged vajra and prayer beads; enters the inner room from the rear door; first faces the Garbha mandala and makes a prostration; then proceeds to the western dais of the Vajra-realm mandala, advances to before the prostration-bench; the five-pronged vajra is placed in the incense-burner box; the censer is taken up, and three censer-prostrations are performed.
The work is one of the most detailed extant procedural manuals for the denbō kanjō in the late-medieval Sanbō-in tradition.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
- The denbō kanjō tradition is treated in Ryūichi Abe, The Weaving of Mantra (1999); Robert Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism (2002); and the Mikkyō daijiten s.v. Denbō kanjō.
Links
- CBETA: T78n2499
- DILA authority: A001129 (教舜)
- Related: KR6t0176 Gushi kanjō gishiki (Gangō’s parent procedural manual).