The role of Shakyamuni

The role of Shakyamuni

Rather than place Shakyamuni Buddha at the centre of its teaching, Shingon regards the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in a cyclic sense in that he was the last of a series of Buddhas. The central 'deity' of Shingon is another Buddha, one who is considered the source of all Buddhas and represents the Buddha principle. He is called Mahavairocana a term composed of two sanscrit words meaning the 'Great Illuminating Brightness'.
Mahavairocana is considered an Adi-Buddha, that principle of Enlightenment which exists before or out of time. Different Buddhas are seen as emanations, symbols or physical manifestations of that principle. In practical terms this distinction has little significance but it does mean that the traditional relationship towards Shakyamuni is modified by being placed into a less individualised context and emphasis is placed more upon the fact of Enlightenment itself.

One reason this is done is to avoid the dangers of creating over attachment to the figure of Shakyamuni as a human being because of the possibly negative effects that this, perhaps unknowingly, can create in oneself or others.

Our minds are often seeking for ways to undermine our confidence in what we are doing and in such a task every possible source for self-undoing is seized and interpreted in negative manners. We choose the very things that help us to progress and twist them into forms which deter us from progressing. The very means by which we can attain inner peace can equally become methods for creating hatred, turmoil and despair within ourselves.

Such self undoing could for instance orientate us to view Shakyamuni only historically, as a person who has been dead for over two thousand years and who spoke of things with no relationship to life nowadays. Or, we could take the argument that he is an Indian, and Indians do not experience the same situations that we do now, and that therefore Buddhism is an obscure or irrelevant Eastern cult. We could develop the more subtle idea that what Shakyamuni taught was absolutely true and only if we duplicate the situation that existed at the time he was alive can we 'properly' understand his teaching. In this view we convince ourselves that only by recreating the same physical, emotional and psychological situations that existed in his followers can our own understanding be reached of what he taught.

This last attitude, for instance, can lead to a development of a Buddhist teaching which is excessively anachronistic in the way it understands and conducts itself and would severely limit its appeal and effectiveness as a means of overcoming the real causes of suffering. We can sometimes see people who are prone to this type of outlook and who will often seek to create a relationship to both the Buddha and the order of Monks itself which is rigid and unadaptable to external circumstance or change.

Shingon, on the other hand, pays respect to the Buddha in the form of Mahavairocana. Because Mahavairocana was never born he can never die: he is a principle, and as such he has a continual, universal and timeless significance. Such a relationship is not confined to any country, time, culture or situation. It cannot therefore be 'modernised' or 'westernised' for it represents the apogee of a view in which the potential for knowledge and understanding exists in any possible situation. This attitude ensures a more correct relationship towards the Buddha, and one in which an over simplistic attitude is difficult to maintain. One cannot read stories of the man and evade the meaning of his teachings.

Shakyamuni Buddha himself encouraged his students to see only what he taught rather than himself as significant. In order to emphasise this, before the Buddha died he forbade statues of him to be made. To accord with this after his death only representations of his absence were considered iconographically acceptable and this was shown by symbols such as an empty chair, a sunshade with no one underneath it, a handprint or a set of footprints. Such types of iconography changed as years went by until eventually statues of his earthly likeness came to be created.

The development of a Buddha who is timeless is a safeguard against anachronistic and thus ineffective relationship to the development and understanding of inner wisdom.

Human nature is such that it will seek to simplify things in order to grasp them and make them 'safe'. This is learning the outer form of something and ignoring the principle it embodies. There will always be those who worship the outer form of things and only a minority who will seek to understand the inner principle. In point of fact, both should be known, but of the two, the principle is most important because it extends beyond those who seek to understand it.

For instance in the practice of martial arts such as Kempo the principle of a good defensive blocking movement does not require performance, it is constant. Irrespective of the time and situation in which it occurs, the good block always works whereas the person who performs it will eventually die. Therefore the principle is ultimately much more important than the performer.

In much the same manner the Buddha showed that what he taught was far more important than himself. Even though the form of teaching may be subject to change the teaching itself is timeless. One of the reasons for the Shingon tradition developing its approach was because of its basic recognition that people are different and that their understanding of themselves is always highly individualised. In dealing with personal problems we must learn to apply what are in essence general teachings to specific situations.

Shingon teachings are intricate because people's problems are intricate. Individuals spend a great deal of their time and energy creating vast intellectual and emotional structures within their lives and it is within these that they experience their personal disasters. Few of us could create for another the types and depths of suffering we often blindly make for ourselves.

Shingon adapts itself to this trait and embraces it. It recognises within the intricacies of life's difficulties a great spiritual and personal potential. All that is required already exists but we need to learn how to go about uncovering it.

Such methods were first shown by the great masters of the esoteric tradition in India and were later taken to China. The way in which they are taught, used and enacted forms the battleground of training and it is the acknowledgement of such situations which distinguishes our Shingon practices from other traditions.

Shingon does not include everything in its teachings but what and how its principles are applied are adapted to each student#s needs. Although there may be a unanimity in the way in which things are shown in Mikkyo, the things themselves may vary. This approach to presentation and understanding is applied to the doctrine - i.e. making relevant what the Buddha taught, to the esoteric rituals and practices - understanding what they represent and imply, and to one's daily life.