Āmítuó mìshì 阿彌陀祕釋
Esoteric Exegesis of Amitābha by 覺鑁 (撰)
About the work
A short, single-fascicle doctrinal essay by 覺鑁 Kakuban (1095–1144) — one of the foundational texts of his Esoteric-Pure-Land synthesis (Mikkyōjōdo). The work expounds Amitābha 阿彌陀 from the standpoint of the Shingon honji-suijaku / gōshū doctrine, identifying him with Mahāvairocana’s wondrous-discerning wisdom (妙觀察智 myōkanzatchi) — the wisdom-aspect that is one of the Five Wisdoms of the Vajradhātu tradition.
Abstract
Doctrinal thesis (opening): “Amitābha is the substance of the wondrous-discerning wisdom of the Dharma-body of innate-nature, the universal awakening-and-realisation-shared ground of all sentient beings. Self-realising the one-mind, he contemplates and sees the true-real of all dharmas; self-realising all dharmas, he universally knows the mind-grades of sentient beings. Therefore the substance-and-aspect of the one-mind perfectly comprises the two truths without distinction. The form-and-mind of the nine realms equally possess the Five Wisdoms in their array. Thus the four-maṇḍala holy-assembly always abides in the five-skandha provisional body; the three-secret deities always reside in the nine-consciousness deluded mind — without limit.”
Soteriological argument: “This-very-mind is the Buddha — originally one substance; it is not further to be sought. The mind is the Buddha. By the body’s deluding-and-revealing, by the body’s becoming-Buddha. Thus when one preaches the Buddha-body outside one’s own body, the Pure Land outside the defiled-land, this is for the encouragement of deeply-attached worldlings, the salvation of the most-evil beings. The teaching is delivered according to capacity; the deep meaning is concealed and the shallow displayed. As for the dharma-body’s true preaching: it opens the real wisdom and removes attached views. Therefore, one who awakens to the deep source of the one-mind — the nine-grade lotus of the heart — equally opens the nine-consciousness pure mind, realising the manifest-awakening of the three-secrets; the Five-Buddha auspicious marks together complete the form-body of the five-faculties.”
The Pure-Land doctrine: rebirth into the Sukhāvatī Pure Land is here identified as a secret-allegorical preaching (祕釋) of the Esoteric self-realisation in this very body. The visible Sukhāvatī of the Three Pure-Land Sūtras is a provisional encouragement (爲勸深著凡愚) for those weak in faith; the real meaning (實義) is the Mitsugon-jōdo (Esoteric Pure Land) discovered within one’s own mind.
Significance: paired with KR6t0220 and KR6t0221 as the third foundational text of the Kakuban-school Shingon-Pure-Land synthesis. The work’s identification of Amitābha with Mahāvairocana’s myōkanzatchi is the doctrinal pivot of the entire gōshū tradition.
Translations and research
- No complete Western-language translation located.
- van der Veere, Henny, A Study into the Thought of Kōgyō Daishi Kakuban (2000) — extensive discussion.
- Inaya Yūsen, Kakuban no kenkyū (1969).
- For the broader medieval Japanese Pure-Land context see Stone, Jacqueline I., Right Thoughts at the Last Moment, Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2016.