Yějīn kǒujué chāo 野金口決鈔
Oral-Transmission Record on the Vajradhātu (in the Hirosawa Tradition) by 頼瑜 (撰)
About the work
A single-fascicle ritual oral-transmission record by 頼瑜 Raiyu (1226–1304) on the Vajradhātu 金剛界 ritual sequence in the Hirosawa-ryū (廣澤流, here 野 yo = no/ya the Hirosawa lineage’s nickname) tradition. The work’s catalog meta lists no author, but the parallel companion text KR6t0237 Yětāi kǒujué chāo (野胎口決鈔) is explicitly by Raiyu, and the Yějīn / Yětāi pair are conventionally attributed to him together as the Vajradhātu / Garbhadhātu paired oral-transmission records. The standard authority (DILA, CANWWW, traditional cataloging) treats both as Raiyu compositions.
Abstract
Method: a sequential commentary on the Vajradhātu meditation-ritual, organized by ritual-stage with oral instructions (御口云 o-kuchi ni iwaku). The opening ritual-stage is the entering-the-hall contemplation (上堂觀), governed by the jūhachidō (eighteen-stage) protocol; the body-protecting rite always uses pure-three-activities and three-section armor (淨三業三部被甲); the actual practice-as-dharma begins with the three-secret contemplation. The text records detailed mudrā-prescriptions: “When you visualize Vajrasattva, in both hands form the vajra-fist; the left fist face-down at the waist, the right fist face slightly outward at the right breast-line. Or, depending on which deity you visualize, use the vajra-clasp. The vajra-fist — grip three fingers (earth, water, fire), slightly bend the void-finger to press its tip against the side of the fire-finger; bend the wind-finger and erect the void-finger atop the nail…”
The work also contains the Ninna-ji-ryū 仁和寺流 alternate mudrā for the vajra-fist (recorded in uragaki 裏書 = “back-of-page note”: “My private opinion: in the Ninna-ji tradition, the vajra-fist…”), and various other comparative-ritual notes.
Significance: with KR6t0237 Yatai-kuketsu-shō, the principal Raiyu witness to the Hirosawa-ryū transmission of the Vajradhātu ritual sequence. The pair is essential for reconstruction of the Vajradhātu / Garbhadhātu (Konkai / Taikai) parallel ritual systems in the late-Kamakura Shingon scholastic tradition.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- For the Ono-Hirosawa twin Shingon lineage system see Yamasaki, Taikō, Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism (1988), ch. 3.