Mìmì zhuāngyán chuánfǎ guàndǐng yīyì yì 祕密莊嚴傳法灌頂一異義
On the One-and-Different Doctrine of the Secret-Adornment Dharma-Transmission Abhiṣeka by 覺鑁 (撰)
About the work
A single-fascicle liturgical-doctrinal treatise by 覺鑁 Kakuban (1095–1144), explicitly signed Sramana Kakuban of Kongōbu-ji in Great Japan 大日本國金剛峯寺沙門覺鑁記. The work analyses the divergent contemporary Shingon Ajari practices of administering the dharma-transmission abhiṣeka 傳法灌頂 — the formal ācārya-consecration that confers the rank of master — for the two-realm (兩部 ryōbu: Vajradhātu + Garbhadhātu) abhiṣeka, classifying the variants and reconciling them under a doctrine of one-and-different (一異義).
Abstract
Opening problem: Kakuban observes that contemporary Shingon ācāryas administer the two-realm abhiṣeka in highly divergent ways. “Some bestow distinct mudrās and mantras for each realm and call this the foundational practice. Some transmit a single shared mudrā-and-mantra and call this the supreme. Some use one mudrā with two mantras and call it ultimate. Some bestow a shared mantra with distinct mudrās and call it the wonderful-perfect. Each master sets up his own lineage; each disciple inherits accordingly. Each praises his own gate, none believing or knowing of the other house. Within a single lineage there arises the strife of ‘self vs. other’; within a single sub-school the partisanship of ‘this vs. that’ takes hold. Such practices are beyond counting. What was the original intention of the great founder [Kūkai]?”
Method: Kakuban proposes a ten-fold abhiṣeka taxonomy (十種灌頂) that, viewed vertically, displays gradations of depth, but viewed horizontally displays mutual-equality. The work then proceeds through each gate:
- 両部各別 Vajradhātu and Garbhadhātu separated — mudrās distinct, mantras distinct, the Twofold maṇḍala unified in its non-duality despite formal distinction.
- Various intermediate gates
- … — through the higher gradations.
Significance: a key witness to twelfth-century inter-Ajari abhiṣeka controversies within Shingon and a documentary record of the divergent ritual traditions then competing for legitimacy. The treatise is one of Kakuban’s most directly ritual-doctrinal works. According to CANWWW it has a related text at KR6t0617 (T83n2617).
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
- van der Veere, Henny, A Study into the Thought of Kōgyō Daishi Kakuban (2000).