The Abominable Tachikawa Skull Ritual

Author(s): James H. Sanford

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Spring, 1991), pp. 1-20
Published by: Sophia University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2385144 .
Accessed: 22/12/2012 10:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Sophia University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monumenta
Nipponica.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 The AbominableTachikawa
Skull Ritual
JAMES H. SANFORD

A LTHOUGH a crucial category in Westernreligions,heresyis, fora

varietyof reasons, of much less concernin most Easterntraditions.
Further,to the extentthatthe conceptof heresycan be applied in a
Hindu or Buddhistcontext,itis morelikelyto referto issuesof behavior(ortho-
praxy)thanto thoseof doctrineor dogma (orthodoxy).Unusual ideas become
criticalonly when theyeventuatein actions too bizarreor too disreputable
to be ignored.
Withinthe pale of Hinduism and Buddhism,however,thereis, one rich
huntinggroundforthoseinterestedin findingheterodoxideas and practices-
namely,tantrism. 1Indeed,evenin theWesttheterm'tantra'tendsto elicitrais-
ed eyebrowsand dubious smiles.The usual cause forsuch a guardedwelcome
is tantra'sclaim, commonin both Buddhistand Hindu venues,thatspiritual
enlightenment and sexual bliss are fundamentally
of one quality.The explicit
stone carvingsat Khajuraho and the copulatingyab-yumicons of Tibetan
Buddhismare well knownin theWest as examplesof just suchtantricexotica
cum erotica.The further presenceof thenecromanticand magicalthemesdis-
played in not a fewtantrictextsonly adds fuelto alreadysmolderingfiresof
suspicion.
East Asian exegetes,too, can findsuchmaterialsembarrassing, and oftenin
discussionsof both Hindu and Buddhisttantraa distinctionis made between
disreputable'left-handed'practicescarriedout by marginalfigureswith an
unfortunately all too worldlyunderstandingof the esotericlore, and the
contrasting'right-handed'interpretations of trueinitiates.For the latter,the
tantrictexts'tendencyto emphasizethe biologicaldifferentiation of male and
femaleand thenmove on to the resolutioninto onenessof thisdualityin the
act of physicalintercourseis to be explainednot as referencesto literalsexual
congressbut as symbolicallusion to the ineffable'coincidentiaoppositorum'

THE AUTHOR is an associate professor in the sorts of knottyproblems.But in the case of

Departmentof Religious Studies, University
of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill.
1 Some indologistsobject that the reifica-
tion of the textualterm'tantra' into a quasi-
institutionalizedterm 'tantrism'leads to all
Mahayana Buddhism, this criticismis less
pointed,since tantricBuddhism,also known
as Mantrayana,Vajrayana, or EsotericBud-
dhism,presentsitselfas a reasonablycoherent
historicalphenomenon.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
2 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1
non-dualityof higherspiritualstates. Left-handedideas and ritualsare thus
dismissedas merelya degenerationof higher,and basically metaphorical,
truths.Needlessto say, thisneat analysisis moretendentiousthanhistorical.
Worldlyand antinomianthemeslurkat or just beneaththesurfaceof virtually
everytantrictradition.
GiventhatJapanesemikkyO2 constitutesthe easternmostextensionof Bud-
dhisttantrism,the questionnaturallyoccurs,and thenpersists,as to whether
anysuch 'degenerated,left-handed'heterodoxyor heteropraxy evermade itall
thewayto Japan. The initialanswergivenby mostmodernprelatesof mikkyo5
is likelyto be, 'No, of course not.' But even they,on second thought,may
recallthe existenceof some odd ideas held by a medievalShingonmovement
called the Tachikawa-ryut And some of themmay even know of the
v JIIAiL.
mostatrociousleft-handed theinfamousSkull
practiceof thisTachikawa-ryut,
Ritual.3

Tachikawa-ryu
Since few Tachikawa texts survivedthe purges of orthodox opponents of
medievaltimes,muchof thehistoryof thisschool mustbe reconstructed from
theinconsistent and unsympathetic assertionsof thesesame opponents.There
is, therefore,a greatdeal of uncertaintyabout both the beginningsand the
evolutionof themovement.Nevertheless, if we followthestandardstorywith
some caution,we can discernroughlythreephases of Tachikawadevelopment.
The firstperiodlasted fromabout 1100 to 1250, fromthe school's putative
inceptionin 1113 to the eventualwidespreadacceptanceof its teachingsall
along the marginsof the mikkyomovement.The pricipalfigurehereis sup-
posedlythe ShingonmonkNinkan LVi, d. 1114,who towardtheend of 1113
managedto geton thewrongside of an imperialsuccessiondisputeand was, as
a consequence,banished to Izu.4 While in Izu, Ninkan joined forceswitha
yin-yang master(onmyoii-7Th) fromMusashino TachikawacalledKenrenX
X, and together thesetwo createda synthetic fusionof esotericBuddhismand
Taoism thatcame to be knownas the Tachikawa-ryui. In 1114 Ninkanthrew
himselfoffa cliffin a protestsuicide and it fellto his partner,Kenren,and
other followersto propagate furtherthe mysteriesof theirbudding move-
ment.5Chief among the tenetsof the Tachikawa school was the equation of
2 Mikkyo ?M, or 'secret teachings', pri- untilhispoliticalmisstepa personof somecon-
marilyrefersto the Shingon (Tomitsu Ag) sequence.
and Tendai (Taimitsu#>I+W) sects,althoughby I WhetherNinkanactuallyput togetherthe
extensionitis also possibleto speak of mikkyo wholeTachikawasystemin thefewmonthsbe-
aspects of otherschools. tweenexileand suicidemaybe calledintoques-
3 The English usage here has no Japanese tion. At a minimumhe would have had to
counterpart.The Japanese usually call this drawon ideas alreadyin theair-if indeedhis
ritual the Izuna-ho &MM, or 'ritual from entireconnectionwith the Tachikawa-ryfi is
Izuna'. But this termis confusingsince it is not simplyapocryphal.
used to cover severalquite diverserituals. Kushida Ryoko E ShingonMikkyo
4 Ninkan fz2 was the youngerbrotherof SeiritsuKatei no KenkyiuA W;t A)R 0i Rf
Shokaku *A, founderof Sambo-in,and thus I, Sankibo Busshorin,1979, pp. 334-36.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 3

sexualblisswithKtukai'sz keydoctrineof sokushinjobutsuXP4'fIA (Bodily

Buddhahood).6
Apparentlythe Tachikawa doctrinesmade such an attractivepackage that
by themiddleof thethirteenth centurythesecthad becomea realthreatto the
orthodoxtradition.It is, in fact,theappearanceof textsdenouncingthemove-
ment that marks its second stage of development.These tractswarn that
Tachikawa notions are found everywhere, but have become especiallypro-
minent in the rural areas that are regrettablyseparated from the more
sophisticatedteachingsof Buddhistcenterssuchas Kyotoand Mt Koya. It was
doubtlessjust this sort of businessthat stimulatedthe followingcomplaints
writtenaround 1280 by Mujui Ichien sfiT-PJ,1226-1312,in his Shasekishu

Thesepersonslacktruefaithin Buddhismand do notaspireto celibacy,the

first of monkhood.Theyclingto theformsofthesecularworld.They
principle
that,whentheyattempt
attitude
havesuchan unfortunate topracticeBuddhism,
theydo notturnto suitableactionsand books, but to strangeaberrations. . . to
suchideasas 'thepassionsthemselves 'therealmofsamsara
areenlightenment,'
is in and of itselfNirvana,''man and womanare the twinKongokaiand
Taizokai mandalas,'and 'sexual intercourse is the union of Principleand
Wisdom.'Theysaythesethings justas iftheyweretrue,as ifuncleanactswere
theinnerpractices of theesotericschools.8
This second stage of development,which lasted to about 1500, saw an
increase in the orthodox invectiveagainst the abuses and excesses of the
Tachikawa Heresy,as it was now termed.Particularlyimportantamongthese
were Shinjo's L? Juho Yojinshu a L'\ ('On the CircumspectMain-
tainanceof the Dharma'), withits close descriptionof the Skull Ritual, and
Yukai's 10AHokyo-sho rPb ('The PreciousMirror').9These attacksreached
theirculminationin the 1470swhenorthodoxShingonmonkssimultaneously
6
pp_4JfAL,sometimestranslatedas 'bud- 8 In fact,reasonabletextualsupportcan be
dahood in thisverybody'. This crucialtenet advanced for all these claims, at least at the
of Kfikai'ssystematization of JapaneseShin- level of proof-texting.
gon is treatedin his Sokushin Jobutsu-giPP 9 Yfikai,1345-1416,was a vociferousoppo-
4hRZfIAL, of which two basic variants in nentof theTachikawa heresy.His H6ky6-sho
several versions are included in the Taisho (T 2456), 1375,is a major, althoughnot fully
Canon (T 2428). Kuikai probably meant trustworthy, primarysourceforthehistoryof
sokushinto signal that a person could attain the movement. He attacked not only the
full enlightenment in a single lifetime.More Tachikawa-ryfi but all formsof the radically
radical Shingon thinkerscommonlyunder- non-dualFuni-monTzPriwing of Shingonin
stand the termin a more literalfashion. favor of the more gradualist,provisionally
My rendering'Bodily Buddhahood' is in- non-dualNini-monmIWri view.
tendedto reflectthis less dualistic,more cor- Yfikai also attacked Monkan iZ& (aka
poreal understanding. KOshin CLi0), 1278-1357, the purportedre-
7 A major work written between1279 and viverof the Tachikawa school, forpracticing
1283. The translationof this passage, not in- ddkinTritualsin the courtitself,but it is not
cluded in all versions,is based on Watanabe clear whetherthese were the Skull Ritual. T
Tsunaya R4PIt, ed., Shasekishu,NKBT 85, 77, p. 850a.
lwanami, 1974, pp. 496-97.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
4 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1

incinerateda largebatchof Tachikawabooks in Kyotoand burieda secondset

on Mt Koya. From thispoint on, Tachikawa ideas werepushed into extreme
marginality or even forcedunderground.
The thirdstage, from1500 on, is one of indirectmanifestation.Although
Tachikawa ideas wereformallyanathametizedin themaincentersof Buddhist
thought,theycontinuedto survivein popular and less regulatedsettings;they
repeatedlypercolated into later works, such as Sangai Isshin-ki3 -XLB
('The Three Worlds's Single Heart'), Fudo-son Gusho + ('Humble
Notes on Lord Fudo'), and Konko-sho &L4LB ('Compendium of the Primal
Cavity'). Other elementsof Tachikawa ideology also appeared, again in-
directly,in culticpracticesassociatedwiththe Dual Ganesa (Soshin Kangiten
'N7tZ) and Aizen Myoo kVThE, and in Tendai's Genshi KimyodanA
2)w fw cult. They are perhaps implicatedin some aspects of Pure Land
'heresies'duringtheEdo period,althoughthelatterphenomenawereprobably
moredirectlydependenton the HimitsuNembutsu ?I traditionof Kaku-
ban Ai and Dohan 3i-Th than on the Tachikawa movement.

Shinjo and the Skull Ritual

Shinjo's Juho Yojinshu, writtenaround 1270, predatesthe anti-Tachikawa
textsof Mujuiand Ytukai.It is also a muchbetterinformedsourcethanthose
polemicsby morefamousmen. Shinjo's detailedgraspof Tachikawamaterials
is so good thatwhilewe can onlybe overjoyedthathe did not stop his writing
afterthepublicationof thefirstpartof his text,we mustbe equallydepressed
thathe did not producea fulltreatment of everything else he knewabout the
Tachikawa-ryui.
Virtuallynothingis knownabout Shinjo save whathe writesabout himself.
This is not a greatdeal, althoughhe does listall of his manyteachersand what
he studiedundereach of them.He also identifies himselfas SeiganboShinjo -
OM,L2 of Hogenji V; in Echigo. This makessense,sinceEchigo, Echizen,
and Etchuiwere earlycentersof Tachikawa influence,but it tellsus nothing
more of the man himself.Beyondthe institutional detailsthatShinjo himself
provides,I can add nothing,save to notethathis writingis clearand effective,
and also whollyfreeof the pedanticexcessesbeloved of so many Buddhist
authors.
The two parts,or maki @, of Juho Y6jinshuwere,as will be seen below,
writtenat two separatetimes.In thefirstsectionShinjo speaksof theso-called
scripturesof the Tachikawa school, and in passing denouncesits infamous
Skull Ritual. The second part,apparentlywrittenwhenthe firsthad failedto
fullyconvincesome readersof thewretchedness of theTachikawa movement,
providesa moredetailedaccountof thisritual.The translationthatfollowsis
an abridgment,focusingprimarilyon the centerpieceof Shinjo's work,the
Skull Ritual. To provide continuityand clarity,the translatedpassages are
linkedby summariesof the sectionsomittedand by some discussionof the
various issues raised.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 5
The translationis based on the modernprintedtextin MoriyamaShoshin
IT ' Tachikawa Jakyoto sono ShakaitekiHaikei no Kenkyu -LJI IE t a
) _t b e11TE, Rokuya-en,1965, pp. 530-71.

Juho Y6jinshu
The textbeginswithan anonymouspreface,writtenin classical Chinese and
dated the 27th day, NinthMonth, Bun'ei 9 (1272). This prefaceintroduces
Shinjo as a knowledgeableman withan importantmessage.
The remainderof the textis dividedinto two parts,each of whichfollows
fairlycloselythestandardmondo r, or question-and-answer, formatfound
in manyBuddhisttexts.As in most such cases, we should presumethatthe
questioneris a literarycreation,a foilset up by theauthoras a pretextto pre-
senthis own 'answering'views.Here he is giventhepersonaof an uninformed
and namelessnovicewho is seekingstraightanswersto difficult questionsfrom
an older and wiserhead-that is, fromShinjo himself.
The firstquestion that this innocentraises is a query about the contents
and status of the 'Three Inner Sutras'.10 He understandsthat these works
'hold that fornicationand meat-eatingconstitutethe innercore of Shingon
teachings,'and that theyprescribea special ritualby whichthe officiant will
receivethedirectaid of itshonzon tm;11theseblessingswillcome in theform
of wealth,social position,knowledge,and magicalpowers(siddhi).
Shinjo respondsthathe is, in fact,intimately acquaintedwiththesematters
throughhis long yearsof wide-ranging studyof Shingonmysteries.Most of
thesestudies,he allows, have been quite conventional,but evenby thetender
age of twenty-five he had alreadyencounteredand copied some of 'the inner
textsof one of theTachikawa sub-schools';and bytheage of thirty-six he had
gaineda muchdeeperknowledgeof themas a resultof meetinga monknamed
)
Koamidabutsu L fA.12
Then, in the summerof 1250, when I was thirty-six, a monk named Ko-
amidabutsuof Shinzenkojiin Akasaka in the provinceof Echizen came to our
hermitage.He stayedsome littlewhile,dailymakingpilgrimageshereand there,
and afterwe had become familiarwithhis eruditionand discussedhis way of
performing rituals,we asked himfora lectureon theBodaishin-ron.13Some four
of the bodhicitta
or fivedays later,afterwe had receiveda basic understanding
of Wisdom and the bodhicittaof Compassion, Koamidabutsuleft.
10 Many Tachikawa texts refer to 'The I The termmost commonlyrefersto the
Three Sutras and One Commentary'(sangyo main imageof a sanctuary,but hereindicates
ichiron ) that allegedlysupporttheir the object of specificritualperformance.
views.Whilevarioustextsare indicatedas the 12 The factthatKoamidabutsuhas an ami-
Three and One, the most commonlycited set go PJJqy-'name suggestsconnectionswiththe
consists of Rishu-kyo ffibff(T 243, trans- Koya hijirim movement.
lation by Amoghavajra), Yugi-kyo C f (T 13 The originaltextis attributedto Nagar-
867, translation by Vajrabodhi), Hokyoin juna and providedmajor supportforKuikai's
Darani-kyo ~RgN)t (T 1022, transla- doctrineof Bodily Buddhahood. Bodhicitta
tion by Amoghavajra), and Bodaishin-ron = (J. bodaishin)is boththeaspirationto and the
I,I (T 1665, translationby Amoghavajra). innatepotentiality forbuddhahood.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
6 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1

When later I happened to have occasion to visit Shinzenkoji, I went to

Koamidabutsu'shermitagetimeand again. On one of theseoccasions, I entered
and discovereda large bag on his librarydesk. Koamidabutsuopened the bag
and took out some scrolls.Therewerenearlya hundredof them.When I asked
to look at them, I saw that most of them were lineage documentsof the
Tachikawa school, whichwas thenflourishing in Etchui.Mixed in among these
werethesevenor eightfoliosof theoral transmission of Kikuran14on theThree
InnerSutras. I borrowedthemand took themback to myown residenceto copy
themout in full. But theirdetailswereinsufficientand did not make thingsen-
tirelyclear. This was myencounterwiththisritualin the countryside.
In the followingyear,1251,whenI was thirty-seven, I wentto thecapitaland
at the Jizo-do,by the FifthStreetGate, I met anotheradept of the ritualand
again copied out the scripturesand some esotericcommentaries.
Before proceedingto a discussionof the meetingin 1251, Shinjo outlines
his later studies,whichoccupied manyyearsat various templesundersome
eminentShingonmasters.Duringthistimehe continuedto wonderabout the
sourcesand validityof Tachikawa texts,but to littleavail. One periodof these
studies, he tells us, '. . . occupied fourteen years. But whenever I sought to
learn about the source of the Three Inner Sutras, the name seemed to go
withoutrecognition.'Not one of his manyteachersappeared to know of the
Tachikawa ritual.
If thisritualwerea Shingonpractice,would not someoneknowit somewhere
fromthe works of the luminariesof the various sects or else fromthe inner
documentsof the many lineages? Would not at least some textshave just a
sentenceor two about it?
WhenShinjo assertsthathe could findno mentionof theThreeInnerSutras
and thathis teachersdid not recognizetheTachikawa ritual,we need not con-
clude thattheyhad nevermetthe term'Three InnerSutras' or thattheyhad
heardabsolutelynothingof theritual.He merelymeansthathe could findno
legitimatelineage for whateverset of textswere recommendedas the Three
Inner Sutras and likewiseno crediblesource for the ritual. It is clear from
the followingpassage, in which he revertsto his 1251 encounterwith the
Tachikawa tradition,that Shinjo was, in fact,well versedin the specificsof
theseideas.
Yet therewas the timein the springof 1251 when I was discussing[Kuikai's]
'The Treatiseon Bodily Buddhahood' withKaiken Ajari, thesuperintendent of
the Jizo-dOat theFifthStreetGate in Kyoto.'5 Kaiken was an elderof Mt Koya
and a profoundscholarof theShingontradition.I wentto his residencein Fifth
Streetto talk withhimeveryday forthirtydays. On one occasion I was stopped
by a visitorand held back for a while at the worshiphall of the Jizo-do.This
14 M, an unknown,butclearlyimportant, serious datingproblem.For Shokai took the
figurein the Tachikawa tradition.His name gushikanjO H -ir initiationin 1383,a cen-
occurs again later. turytoo late forShinjo's timeframe.
15 If this is meant as a referenceto the Sawa Ryuiken IT , Mikkyo JitenW
Kaiken Ajari : or Shokai -P,, who *:t, Hozokan, Kyoto, 1975, p. 372.
restored the Jizo-in at Daigoji, there is a

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 7
visitor,who was dressedas an ordinarymonk,approachedme and began a con-
versation.
'What's in that scroll-caseyou are carrying?'he asked.
'The Treatiseon Bodily Buddhahood,' I replied. 'The Superintendent is ex-
poundingit to me.'
The visitingmonk thentold me, 'The highestsecretteachingof Bodily Bud-
dhahood is that found in the Three Inner Sutras. If a person does not obtain
transmissionof thesescriptures,how can he hope to knowthe deep meaningof
Bodily Buddhahood?'
When I asked forthedetailsof thesescriptures, thevisitorsaid, 'They are not
easy to comprehend,but ifyou trulyhave a strongdesireto knowthem,come to
my dwellingat Hosshoji near Hitotsubashi.Come seekingand I will teach.'
ThinkingthatI should take thisopportunity to extendmyknowledgewhileI
could, I wentwithhim directlyto his place at Hosshoji. We talked the whole
nightaway, but I stillremainedunconvinced.He thentold me thatif I wantedto
receivethisknowledge,an initiationappropriateto theritualwouldbe necessary.
If I did not receivetheinitiation,he would notbe able to tellme anything.Since I
wantedto fulfillmyoriginalintention,I agreed.Afterthatthemonktransmitted
to me, withoutexception,all the core textsof the ritualas well as theoral com-
mentarieson it. And whenhe showedme the lineagerecords,I saw thathe had
receivedits transmissionfromKenmitsuboof Kitayama.16
I receivedat thispointfivekindsof scriptureand commentary conferredupon
me bythatmonk. Firstwas 'The ThreeSutrasand One Commentary'.Thereare
threeversionsof whatmake up theThreeSutras.The firstis thattheyconsistof
Gozo Kotei-kyoin fivechapters,theMyoaji-kyoin threechapters,and theShin-
nyo Jisso-kyoin two chapters.The threescripturesjust listedwere all said to
have been translatedby I-hsing.17 The second versionis the Shichi Ten Teki
Henge JizaiDarani-kyoin one chapter,the Uso Muso KukkyoJizaiDarani-kyo
in one chapter,and the Yaku Hoshikijutsu-kyoin one chapter. These three
sutraswereall said to have been translatedby Amoghavajra.The thirdset com-
prisedthe Nyoi Hoshu-kvo in one chapter.the Henge-kvoin one chapter.and
16
Otherwiseunknown. Sutra', 'Sutra on Medicinal Rituals', 'The
17 Shinjo gives three variants of the Wishing-JewelScepter Sutra', 'The Trans-
Tachikawa Three Sutras and One Com- formationSutra', and 'The Formless True
mentary,each of which seems to have been Essence Sutra'.
chosen forits purportedconnectionto one of The firsttext mentionedis probably con-
the major figures of Chinese esotericism: nectedwithTaoist workson the fiveorgans,
I-hsing -'j, 683-727; Amoghavajra, 705- such as Huang ti infuchingX iThR('Scrip-
744; and Subhakarasimha, 637-735. All of ture of the Secret Talisman of the Yellow
theseattributionsare apocryphal. Emperor') and Huang t'ing nei wai ching
Translationof the titles,clearlyintention- chingXA N XIf('Scriptureof theInnerand
allygrandiose,of thesetextsmustremainpro- OuterProjectionsof theYellow Court'), texts
visional owing to lack of overt syntactical thathad muchinfluenceon Kakuban's Gorin
markersin the original titles. But in rough Kuji Myo Hishaku ~Ek WL , ('SecretEx-
fashiontheycan be renderedas follows: positionof the Five-Wheeland Nine-Syllable
'Sutra on theEmperorsof theFive Viscera', Mantras').
'Sutra on the Wondrous Syllable "A"', It is curious that none of Shinjo's lists
'Sutra on theTrue Essence of Reality','Trans- correspondsto the most common rendering
formativeAutonomy of the Seven Sweet of the legitimatingThree Sutras and One
Drops Dh7ranTSutra', 'The Absolute Auto- Commentary,recordedin n. 10, above.
nomy of Form and FormlessnessDhiIranT

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1
theMuso Jisso-kyoin one chapter.Thesethreetextsare said to have been
translated
by Subhakarasimha.The 'One Commentary' was the one-chapter
Isshin-naiJoju-ron.
of textsconsistedof a groupof esotericsutrasthatin-
The secondcategory
cluded the Shaku Renge-kyo,the Hokan Darani-kyo,the Kikuran Doji-kyo,
the Gongen Noju-kyo, the Bonai Fudo-kyo, and the Hen Joju Darani-kyo.18
Altogethertheseamountedto eighty volumesand wereof thesamesortas the
ThreeInnerSutras.
Thethirdsortoftextsweretheesoteric commentariesthatclarified thesescrip-
tures.Thesecameto 126volumes.The fourth groupcomprised theinitiations,
thecertificates
ofinitiation, lineages,as wellas therecordsof
and theinitiatory
transmission
specific ceremonies.Finally,thefifth
groupcomprised threeprivate
volumesof initiatorydisciplines.
WhenI concludedmyperusalof thesefivekindsof text,I immediately told
KaikenAjariaboutthemandherepliedthathedidnotevenknowtheirtitles.At
thatpoint,I wentbackto myroomto ponderall of thismoredeeplybehind
closeddoorsand foundthatI eventually hadto wrestle
witha number ofdoubts
aboutthesescriptures,theiresotericcommentaries,and thelineagedocuments.
WhenI tookthesedoubtsup withthetransmitter ofthetexts,he wasunableto
resolveevenone of them.It was as ifwe werewalkingan unknown roadinthe
deadofnight.So now,forthesakeofmyowndisciples'education, I havepulled
thesedoubtfulpointstogether.
The restof the firstpartof thetextcomprisesa detailedexaminationof ten
technicalobjectionsto thelegitimacy of theTachikawa scriptures. The follow-
ing pointsare included.
1. These so-calledscripturesare not listedin any of the familiarcatalogsof
Shingontexts.
2. Althoughsome of thempurportto be Chinese translationsof Sanskrit
originals,theyare writtenin a formof classical Chinesetoo crudeto be cre-
dible.
3. Ktukai,the founder of Japanese Shingon and a genius who knew
everythingabout the esoteric tradition,seems wholly oblivious to these
teachings.
4. The purportedlineages of Tachikawa initiationsand discipleshipare
confusedand inconsistent.
5. The textsspeak of profoundsecrets,but then recountthese secretsin
completelyopen language,whereasa real textof inneresotericismwould be
encoded in such a way as to be inaccessibleto the uninitiated.
18 The titlesof
Shinjo's second categoryof The titlesin the passage can be rendered
textsseem evenmorebombasticthanthoseof something like 'The Red Lotus Blossom
the Three and One. Judgingfromthe many Sutra', 'The JeweledCrown DharanTSutra',
titlesof lost textsrecorded,this was a com- 'Sutra of the AcolyteKikuran', 'Sutra of the
mon featureof Tachikawa works. Mizuhara Reception of the Avatar', 'Sutra of Fudo
Gyoei 7 JakyoTachikawa-ryu no Ken- Within the Bedchamber', and 'Transforma-
A
kyuH \II~ArL7UFA, Shibundo,Kyoto, 1931, tion of Siddhi Dh7iranT
Sutra'.
pp. 172-215, listsmore than 300 such titles.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The Abominable Tachikawa Skull Ritual 9

All of these considerationshave led Shinjo to conclude that both the

Tachikawa teachingsand any associatedTachikawa ritualsmustbe forgeries,
invalidexpressionsof the esoterictraditionthatcan lead onlyto perdition.
Part One ends at thispoint. Apparentlythiswas as much as Shinjo origi-
nally intendedto reveal of the awful doctrinesand practicesof the Tachi-
kawa cult. The publicationof this work, however,met witha surprisingly
mixedresponse,and aftersome unexpectedattacks,he eventuallyfeltobliged
to produce and publishan additionalchapter.

Part Two
Shinjo beginsthesecondpartwitha meditationon good and evilpersons,and
notes thateven the good can be led astrayby bad teachings.
Then thereare those naturallygood men fromwhomwe mightexpectmoral
behavior.Theyhave heardthis[heresy]is thecore teachingof theesoterictradi-
tion and, believingthat to be true,practicethe ritual.For the sake of leading
suchmenout of heresyand back to thetrueDharma, I wrotethefirstpartof this
textas a guide to my fellows.
But, aftermyworkreceivedunexpectedly wide circulation,some readershave
made variouscommentssuch as, 'Because thisriteis the secretof secrets,it is a
pityto see it revealedin thistext.' Otherscomplain,'He keeps the actual ritual
a secretforhimself.'Or, 'Because the detailsof the ritualhave not been trans-
mittedto him, he does not understandits deepermeaningsand thuswritesthis
criticalexposition.'
I feltupsetbecause such statements mightgiveriseto depravity.And so I now
feelthatI mustpresentan authoritative account of the riteand outlinethe con-
tents of the secretoral transmissions.I thereforeintendto keep nothingto
myself,but will tell it all. I will begin withthe secretoral transmission'sown
descriptionof the ritual.
Allegingthathis accountis 'onlyabout one-hundredth of thewhole', Shinjo
proceeds to describein detail the Skull Ritual itself,an expositionwithheld
when he had circulatedthe firstpart of his text. Since almost all of the
Tachikawa textswere eventuallydestroyedby Shingonorthodoxy,thislong,
almostethnographicaccountis of unique value and provideswhatmaybe the
mostfullydevelopedepitomeof left-handedtantrain East Asia. It also opens
up some seriousquestionsabout thetransmission of suchideas. The conflation
in
of necromanticas wellas eroticelements whatis at leasta purportedly prac-
tical ritual,would seem to put the Skull Ritual in a separatecategoryeven
frommost othersurvivingTachikawa literature;it makes it appear close in
styleto the most radical Anuttarayogatantrasof Indo-TibetanVajrayana,
such as the Hevajra Tantra and the Candamaharosana Tantra.19Thus the
Skull Ritualis importantnot onlyforthewayin whichit opens up our under-
standingof the limitsof Japanesereligiosity,but also forthe way it suggests
19 D. L. Snellgrove,The Hevajra Tantra:A tra, AmericanOrientalSociety,New Haven,
CriticalStudy, Oxford U.P., 1959; Christo- 1974.
pher S. George, The Candamaharo?ana Tan-

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
10 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1
possible mikkyolinkagesbetweenIndian and Japaneseesotericismthatwere
quite separatefromthose forgedby the orthodoxmainstream.
If anyone would practicethis secretdharma [ritual]and attain greatsiddhi
[powers],he mustconstructan object of worship[honzon].I do not referto the
auspicious face of a woman here;thismisogiis a skull.20 Thereare, in fact,ten
different typesof skullthatmaybe used: the skullof a wiseman, theskullof an
ascetic,theskullof a king,theskullof a shogun,theskullof a greatminister, the
skull of an elder, the skull of a father,the skull of a mother,a 'thousand-
cranium'skull,and a Dharmadhatuskull.2' The firsteightare clearenough.The
'thousand-cranium'skull is made by grindingthe tops of a thousand men's
skulls into flourand moldingthe paste into a honzon. For the Dharmadhatu
skull,one goes to a cemeterygroveon thechoyoday,22collectsa largenumberof
skulls,chantsdakinTincantations,23 and praysover them.Finally,he takes the
one that,whenplaced at thebottomof thepile repeatedlyrisesto thetop; or else
he goes out on a frostymorningand selectsthe one on which no frosthas
gathered.Or, bestof all, he selectsa skullthatis completelyfreeof suturelines.
Whatevertypehe chooses can be made intoa honzon. For anyof thetentypes,
thereare threemethodsof construction possible.These are 'thewholehead', 'the
small head', and 'the moon-shapedhead'. For 'the whole head', the officiant
uses the originalskull. To thishe adds a chin, puts in a tongueand teeth,and
coversthebone withhardlacquer so thatit looks just liketheunblemishedflesh
of a livingperson.When the skullhas been completelyformed,he places it in a
box. Then he musthave sexual intercoursewitha beautifuland willingwoman,
and mustrepeatedlywipe the liquid productof this act onto the skull untilit
reaches 120 layers. Each nightat midnighthe must burn 'spirit-returning in-
cense', pass the skull throughthe fragrantsmoke, and chanta spirit-returning
mantrafullyone thousandtimes.
The attributionof religiousand magical power to skulls is probablyan
almostuniversalculturaltrait.Nonetheless,it is especiallyprominentin tan-
trism.The passage here, in its concernfor typesof skull, specifically
recalls
the Great Vow (Mahavrata) of the proto-tantric Kapalikas, whose adherents
wanderedabout carryinga skullon theend of a long stickand who attainsid-
dhi by sacrificing
'eitherthe head of a willingkingor of a willingomniscient
sage'.24
20 Shinjo here
refersto theraw materialsof representationof maximal yang, this is an
an image. Whetheror how thisusage mightbe especiallypowerfulday.
connectedto the Shinto termmisogiiMfor a 23 DTikinT
representa crucialcomponentof
purificationrite,I do not know. The passing theSkull Ritual.The internalrationaleforthis
referencethat it is not a woman's face may is discussedbelow.
indicate that women were considered 'im- 24 David N. Lorentzen,The Kapalikas and
plements' in the guidebooks writtenfor at Kalamukhas: Two Lost SaiviteSects, Univer-
least some Japanesetantricrituals,just as was sityof CaliforniaPress, 1972, pp. 32-33, 73-
the case in Indian tantrism. 82, & 87-88. I wonder whetherthe famous
21 Dharmadatu is the entirematerialuni- storyof Ikkytu-f wavinga skull on a stick
verse.Whythistermis applied hereeludesme. on New Year's Day is not some distant
22 I , a festivalheld on the9thday of the transformation of thistheme.
NinthMonth. Since nine is the numerological

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 11
The Skull Ritual is also reminiscentof the use of animal skullsas oracles
commonlynotedin Siberianand East Asian shamanism.A classic exampleis
citedby Mircea Eliade.
... all the Yukagirtribestracetheiroriginto a shaman. Untilthe last century
theskullsof dead shamanswerestillvenerated;each was setin a woodenfigurine
whichwas keptin a box. Nothingwas undertakenwithoutrecourseto divination
by theseskulls.25
The parallel, perhaps historicallyconnected,oracular use of animal heads
by the Ainu survivedat least into the 1930s. These skulls 'ornamentedwith
fetichshavings-resemblingShinto"gohei"-are keptin thetreasureplace by
theeast windowand worshipped.26 This practiceseemsin turnconnectedto a
Japaneseformof dog sorcery,oftenconfusedwithfox sorcery,in whichan
oracle is made by starvinga dog to death, afterwhichits head is placed in a
vesseland worshipped.27 The Shintomiko's oi A, a box in whichan objectim-
bued withsacred powers-often an animal's skull-was kept,seemsanother
relateditem.28Furtherconnectionsbetweentantricskulls and Japanesefox
worshipare givenbelow.29
The use of hangon-koF or frankincense,to call up thedead maytrace
back to the folktale told of EmperorWu A of the Han dynasty,forwhoma
magicianinvokedthespiritof a dead consortin a cloud in frankincense. There
is, however,an equallyappositetantricusage to be foundin theHevajra Tan-
tra whereit describesthe 'mudra' (ritual partnerin a sexual rite) as a girl
'possessed of frankincense and camphor',a characterization thatturnsout to
be an encodedreference to blood and semen.30In anycase, thereligiouspower
of the twinwatersof femaleblood and male semen(the red and the white)is
standardin themorebaroque formsof tantrism.A graphic,but otherwisenot
untypical,exampleis foundin the so-called Yoni Tantra('Vagina Tantra') of
theKaulas thatrecommendsthat'thehighestsadhaka [officiant] shouldmixin
waterthe effusionfromYoni and Lingam, and sippingthisAmrita[elixirof
immortality], nourishhimselfwithit.'31The red and thewhiteare also found
25 Mircea
Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic afterstrippingoffthehairand cleaningout the
Techniquesof Ecstasy,Pantheon,New York, inside,and theypreserveit as a sortof sacred
1964, p. 245. image, to whichtheyoffersacrifice.'
26 D. C. Buchanan, 'Inari: Its origin, Aubreyde Selincourt,tr., Herodotus: The
Development,and Nature', in TASJ, Second Histories,Penguin,Baltimore,1954, p. 250.
Series, 12 (1935), p. 55. Or the warningin the BabylonianTalmud:
27 M. W. De Visser, 'The Fox and Badger 'Our Rabbis taughtBa'al ob denotesbothhim
in Japanese Folklore', in TASJ, 36:3 (1908), who conjures up the dead by means of
pp. 138-39. soothsayingand one who consultsa skull.'
28 Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow, I. Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud, Son-
Allen & Unwin, London, 1975, p. 151. cino, London, 1935,27, p. 445.
29 Numinous skulls are not limitedto East 30 Snellgrove,p. 100.

Asia. Consider Herodotus's account of the 31 The Yoni Tantra, Sothis-Weirdglow &
Issedones (a tribelocated somewhereeast of Svecchacara, Seattle, no author, no pagina-
the Scythians). tion, no translatornamed. I am indebtedto
'The dead man's head, however,theygild, Dwight Tkatschow, Universityof Toronto,

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
12 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1

fairlyoftenin Tachikawa writings,but usually in somewhatattenuatedand

metaphoricalusage. The clinical directnessof the Skull Ritual is quite re-
markable.
Aftercarrying out theprocedure above fora numberof days,theofficiant
placesappropriate charms and secrettalismans intotheskull.32 Oncethispro-
cedurehas beenmeticulously completed, he coversthe skullwiththreelayersof
goldand silverleaf.Over these, themandala must be inscribed,and thenmore
gold and silverleaf applied,then another mandala applied over that,just as
before.Thusthelayersof foil and writingare builtup-the outer are
layers five
andsix,theninthecenter thirteenlayers,all overthebaseof 120layers.Theink
forthesemandalasshouldbe thetwinfluidsof intercourse.
Cinnabaris rubbedintothetongueand lips,theteetharesetwithsilverleaf,
andtheeyesarepaintedincomelyfashion, oralternativelyjade maybe usedfor
theeyes.The faceis paintedwhiteand rougepattedin to createtheappearance
ofa beautifulwoman.(It canalso be madeto resemble a youngboy.)Theimage
mustlook prosperous and havea facethatsmileswithout theslightesthintof
reproach.
The exactnatureof theitemsplaced in theskullor of themandala laid over
it is unclear,althoughI suspectthatthelatterwas a fairlysimplediagram.The
use of cinnabar is perhaps easier to explain. Cinnabar is the reddish-brown
ore, mecuricsulfide,fromwhichmercuryis refined.Because of its color and
because it producesa 'livingmetal' (note theEnglishterm'quick-silver'),it is
equated with life-bloodin many cultures.The use of cinnabarin the Skull
Ritualis thus,at least in part,as an agentforbringingthedead skullto life-
thatis, as a replacementfortheblood thata motherprovidesunbornchildren
in her womb.33More directexamplesof the officiant'smaternalrole in this
processof artificialgestationappear in subsequentpassages.

forreferenceto this fugitivesource. 33 The SinduiraConsecrationof the Can-

A contemporary exampleof thenearuniver-
salityof proceduresof sorcerymay be seen in
the ingredientsplaced in the nganga cauldron
of theAfro-Caribbeancultof Palo Mayombe.
The crucialingredientis a human skull, fresh
enoughto have residueof thebrainstillintact.
In addition,thecauldronshould containwax,
ashes, the body of a small black dog, magical
herbsand spices, insects,worms,quicksilver,
seawater, and human semen, blood, and
feces.
Personal interviewwithDr Mark Paulhus,
S.E. Regional Director, Humane Society of
the U.S., 14 September1990.
32 The specificshere are not clear. 'Ap-
propriatecharms'translatessOOmotsutHtlt,
itemsused in a ritual.The essentialnatureof
suchitemsshould correspondto theofficiant's
intentionand thus help to control the out-
come. For example, the use of flowersin a
love ritual.
damaharosana Tantra shares some elements
withthe Tachikawa Skull Ritual. The ritein-
volves a guru, his male pupil, and a woman
who takes the role of Wisdom, the Divine
Lady. It employsboth a humanskullmade of
wood and ritualintercourse.
At the end of the ritual, the guru '. . hav-
ing satisfiedWisdom, being in her embrace,
should place the resultingwhiteand red on a
leaf, shaped into a funnel,etc. Then having
summonedthe student,he should take that
substancewithhis ring-fingerand thumb,and
writetheletters,'Hum, phat' on thestudent's
tongue.'
ChristopherS. George, The Candamaha-
rasana Tantra,pp. 54-55.
Sindu7ra,a powdered red lead compound
used in Nepalese wedding ceremonies to
decoratethepartin thebride'shair,recallsthe
cinnabarof Shinjo's description.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 13

~~~'W I

An Edo-periodTachikawamandalafromSangaiIsshinki

Duringtheentireprocess,theskullis to be kepton an altarin a place whereno

one evergoes, and variousdelicaciesand finewinesoffered to it. No one mustgo
therebut the craftsman,the adept, and the woman.34There theymusthappily
and ceaselesslydisportthemselvesas ifcelebratingthefirstthreedays of theNew
Year. Everyact and word mustbe whollyfreeof any signof care.
Once the honzon is finished,it is installedon the altar. Offeringsof rare
things-fish,fowls, hares, and venison, fromthe mountainsto the sea-are

34 The suddenintrusionof a craftsman

into Shinjo's descriptionis produced from mul-
theritualis an anomalythatmayindicatethat tiple,not whollyconsistent,writtensources.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 14 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1
made; spirit-returning incenseis burned;and thevariousobservancesare carried
out at the hours of the Rat, the Ox, and the Tiger [midnightto dawn].
Withthearrivalof theHour of theHare [dawn],thehonzonis placed in a bag
made of sevenlayersof brocade. Once thisbag has been closed, it is not easy to
reopen.At nightthebag is heldclose to theadept's bodyto keepit warm;during
theday itis placed on thealtar,wheredelicaciesmustbe gatheredand offered for
its nourishment.
For sevenyears,day and night,theadept devoteshis wholemindearnestlyto
the practice. When the eighthyear comes, the ascetic will obtain siddhi.For
thosewho reachthehighestgradeof practice,thehonzonwillspeak aloud. Since
it will informhim of all the eventsof the world,he should listento it and thus
become as someonewithdivinepowers.For practitioners of themiddlingrank,
the honzonwill tell themsuch thingsin theirdreams.It will not speak to those
who attainonlythelowestlevels,but all theirdesireswillcome to be realizedin
accordancewiththeirwishes.
In the next section Shinjo describes the economical 'small head' and the
'moon-shaped' procedures for performingthe Skull Ritual. In the latter case
the skull itself becomes a womb.35
The second technique,the 'small head' method,existsbecause of thedifficulty
of carryinga whole-headskullabout. The top of one whole-headcan be divided
into eightpieces and each piece of bone used as a face lacquered into a plate
made of the wood of a sacred tree.Again, one sketchesin the mandala in thin
layers,daubs the honzonwith the twin watersof intercourse,insertsthe ap-
propriatecharmsand secretamulets,and decoratesthe facejust as before.The
small-headis thenhungabout theneckand nourishedin thesame wayas before.
In the case of the third,'moon-shaped'method,a whole-headcraniumis cut
offat thelevelof theeyebrows,thebrainpan is carefullydriedand cleaned,and
the moon-shapedinnercavitycoated withlacquer. Various appropriatecharms
and secretamuletsare placed in it, again the mandala is laid out in thincolor,
and thetwinfluidssmearedover,all as before.On thesurfaceof themoon skull,
the practitionermustpaint a honzonwhilecontinuouslyrecitingmantras.Cin-
nabar is packed inside. Then the practitionershould wrap the skull in a nine-
layeredmonk's habit made fromsilk stained with menstrualblood. He then
places it in a nine-layeredcasketwrappedin sevenlayersof brocadedsilk,hangs
this fromhis neck, and devoutlyrecitesmore mantrasto it.
Thereare some recommendedvariationson thisprocedure,fromthetakingof
the skull to its finalinstallation,since severaloral traditionshave been handed
down fromof old. I have notedhereonlyabout one-hundredth of thewhole.But
in generalthisis how the practitioners of thisheresycarryout theirintentions.
Dissatisfied with even this rich account, Shinjo's interrogatorasks several
more questions about the rationale for, and details of, the Skull Ritual, each
of which stimulates answers from Shinjo that are worth our interestas well.

35 The imageof skullas womb is also found literally,'lotus vessel', as an esotericcover

in theHevajra Tantra'suse ofpadmabhtjana, word forboth vagina and skull.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 15
The firstof these questions of clarificationis, 'Why is a skull always used for
the honzon?'
A/. The bodies of livingbeingscontainten spiritualessences-threehun[A,
J. kon]souls and sevenp'o [0t,J. haku]souls. Whena persondies,thethreehun
souls disperseand suffer rebirthin therokudo,36 whilethesevenp'o souls linger
about theirold body as guardianspiritsin thismiserableworld.The spiritsthat
appear in oraculardreamsare all manifestations of thesevenp'o souls. Whenthe
practitionertakes a skull and carriesout the riteof carefullynourishingit, the
sevenp'o souls are happyto granthimtheworldlyfortunehe seeks. If he draws
themandala and insertsthesecretcharms,he will attainmasteryof thoseoccult
powersappropriateto themightypowersof theparticularcharmsand mandalas
used. This is whythereare severaltypesof installationritual.
Q/. Why are the twinfluidsof intercoursepaintedon?
A/. The vitalityof livingthingshas the twinfluidsas its seed. Whentheskull
is daubed withthesetwo fluids,thesevenp 'o souls thatlingerin theskullare re-
vived. It is like adding waterto sproutseeds. Justso, the threehunand seven
p'o souls of the humanbody wereoriginallycontainedin the two fluids,which
graduallycongealedin themother'swombto becomefleshand bone. The bodies
of even noble men of wisdom are composed of hunand p'o souls in thisway.
In the presentsituation,the threehun souls of the twin fluidscombine with
the sevenp'o souls of the skull, and a livinghonzonis produced. Hun souls
are called male souls, or o-tamashii, and p'o souls are called femalesouls, or
me-tamashii. If yin and yang are not in balance, a livingbody is not likelyto
develop. But whenyinand yangare in appropriatebalance, a livingbodyresults.
For thisreason, whilethe watersof intercourseare beingused in the ritual,a
normalconceptionwillnottake place. If thehonzon'sconceptionhas not occur-
red by theend of the 120 days of layeringon, thenone ceases to countthelayers
and simplykeepsaddingon thetwinfluidsuntilit does happen. If thechild-seed-
intercourse-water thethreep'o souls in it willunitewiththe
is applied correctly,
sevenhunsouls of the skull whenthe balance is correct.
Afterthe skull has been prepared,the asceticmustdiligently warmit against
his bare skin, neverlettingit cool off,just like a bird warmingits eggs to give
themlife.Taking care thatthe skullis keptwarmand nourishedforsevenyears
is a secretritualforthedakinTwho livein thehonzon.These .dakinT aremanifesta-
tionsof Mafijusuriand of Nagakanya,the serpentgirl.Nagakanyais an earthly
formof a dakinT-deva.She attainedperfectenlightenment at the age of eight
years and the honzonmirrorsher example. That is whyone has to wait eight
yearsforits efficaciouspowers.
The passage above brings to the fore some complex themes that link the
Skull Ritual to both its tantric roots and the tangled folkways of Japanese
popular religion. DCakinT(J. dagini EtJqP or daten E) are flesh-eatingfemale
demons. In spite of their terrifyingappetite, they were drafted into the Va-
jrayana pantheon and transformed from horrifyingold crones lurking in

36
A,A, thesixgeneralcategoriesof rebirth.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
16 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1

as depictedin the Taizo mandala

Three .dCkinT

cemeteriesinto beautifulspiritualguides. As Mafijusuriis the bodhisattvaof

Wisdom, thesewonderful'anima' figuresfellunderhis auspices.
Jackals,also commonvisitorsto graveyards,becamecloselyassociatedwith
ddakinTin India and Tibet. Whenthiscomplexof ideas reachedJapan,jackals
(J. yakanff) were confusedwith foxes. Elementsof the Skull Ritual-or
parallel Buddhistrites-eventuallybecame entangledwithJapanesefox cults
and withthe formationof Inari f1'HShinto. Since Mt Izuna was, in legendat
least,a centerforthisconflation,some fox-possessionritualscame to be called
Izuna-ho, as did the considerablydifferent hereticalBuddhistritualscentered
on dakinT. One such dakinTritual is the Skull Ritual; its jackals will appear
shortly.A commonversionof the largelynon-Buddhist,fox-related Izuna-ho
has a magiciantame a pregnantvixen,who eventuallyturnsone of her own
cubs over to him as an invisibleoracle. The dog sacrifice,alreadymentioned
above, is probablyanothervariant.Whilethereare clearconnectionsbetween
thehereticalBuddhistIzuna Ritual(s),also knownas theDakinTRitual(s),and
popular fox-possessionpractices,theyare not simplyone and thesame, as the
usage of the singletermIzuna-ho would imply.The fullcomplexityof these
relationscan perhapsbe measuredby referring to theshrinementionedby De
Visserthat managed to intertwine dakinT, fox possession, Inari, the Mt Fuji
Sengen cult, and the famous Soto Zen monk Doryo A:T, who purportedly
transformed himselfinto a tengu.37

37 The connectionsamong .dckinT, skulls, plex. These are touchedon in severalWestern-

fox possession, Inari Shinto, etc., are com- languagesources,but the richesttreatment is

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 17

(left)and Izuna Gongen (right),patrondeityof Mt Izuna, ridingon whitefoxes.

A kidkinT

In the Lotus Sutra, Nagakanya was the eight-year-old daughterof the

dragon-king,Sagara. In spite of her youth and her 'filthywoman's body',
whichwas 'an improperDharma-receptacle',she obtainedmoreor lessinstan-
taneous enlightenment. The immediatereferencehereis a comparisonof her
age and the eightyearsof the Skull Ritual. Beneaththissuperficial
connection
lies a long textualhistoryin both Shingonand Tendai in whichNagakanya,
eitherin a transformed male body or, moresimplyand less dualistically,
in her
own 'filthywoman's body', was made an emblematicexample of sokushin
jobutsu, Bodily Buddahood. The metamorphosis of the dead skull into a liv-
ing being is, therefore,a parallel transformation 'in its very body'.
Q/. Well,then,afterthisdharmais effected and thehonzoncomesaliveto talk
withthe adept, in what guise will it appear beforehim?
A/. The earthlyformis simplya transformation of thehonzon's composition.
If one practicesassiduously,at timesthe sevenp 'o will appear in the formof
sevenfemalespirits;at othertimestheywillappear as sevenjackals. This is why
thedJkinT riteis also called theseven-jackaldharma.At othertimes,we are told,
theyappear in the formof sevenbuddhas. Theyappear in theguisemostfitting
to the circumstancesat hand.
Q/. Are the formsof the sevenbuddhas in whichthe honzon manifeststrue
buddhas and bodhisattvas?
A/. No. As theyare transformation-spirits, theyare not true buddhas and
bodhisattvas.Nor is theDharma theyteachnecessarilythetrueDharma. It is the
same as when foxes and badgersturnthemselvesinto buddhas and pretendto

De Visser, 'The Fox and Badger', esp. pp. sound virtuallyidenticalto Japanesefolktales
105-29. about seductionsby foxwomen.Here too is a
My colleague Eva K. Dargyayhas outlined potential historical connection that would
forme the plots of some Tibetan folk stories bear some close study.
about seductionsof humanmenby dcakinTthat

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 18 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1

teachtheDharma. Nor is thisan unprecedented occurrence.In theschoolsof the

hereticalYueh-chihTaoists and the Chinese of ancienttimes,thereweremany
who practicedthe skull ritualand exercisedits powers.
The specificmention here of practitionersof the Skull Ritual among
'hereticalYiieh-chihX - Taoists' suggeststhat Japanesetantristsof the thir-
teenthcenturymay have been familiarwith some formof the Mongolian
shamano-tantric unegen-u-sangfox offering in whichthe blood and fleshof
a scapegoat/saviorfox are burned and offeredup to purifythe universe.
Althougha skullper se is notmentionedand .dakinTare referred to onlyin pas-
sing,the mythsupportingthe Mongolian ritualdoes containseveralelements
of JapaneseIzuna ritualsbeyondthemerepresenceof thefox,namely,a cen-
tralfocuson Mafijusuri,on seven(or nine) foxes,and on sevenstars.In some
versionsthemythalso involvesinitialincestand a wronglyperformed burial.38
If thereis a historicallink here, it mightexplain furtherwhy 'Shinto' fox
ritualsand Buddhistheresycame to sharethesinglename,Izuna rite.The con-
flationmay have predatedthe arrivalof some aspects of ddakinT worshipin
Japan and various sourcesbehindShinjo's account reflectdifferent stagesof
thisprocess.
At thispoint,Shinjo leavesbehindhis directdescriptionof theSkull Ritual.
The nextfewpages of his workare concernedwithsome seeminglyirrelevant
tales about the value of filialpiety.Then he returnsbriefly
to his main theme
by firstoutliningsome Tachikawa textsthathe has not previouslymentioned
and by pointingup some practicalobjectionsto anyoneconsideringtakingthe
Skull Ritual seriously.
Futhermore,thishereticalritualseemsalmostimpossibleto carryout. It is not
easy to findsome quiet room wherea personcan do as his heartpleases. And to
carrythesethingsout so that no one knows about themwould presentserious
It would be hard to collectdelicaciesfromthemountainsto thesea,
difficulties.
and not easy to findand seduce thebeautifulmaiden. Doing thiswould be both
costlyand difficult.
And how troublesometo warmtheskulleverynightand feed
it everyday fora fullsevenyears!Even if a man wereto earnthehighestsiddhi
offeredby thisritual,it would amountto but a momentary gloryand bringbut
the joys of a fleetingdream. Heaven and the truthsof the world oppose each
other,forworldlytruthis, by necessity,but a transientthing.
How doubtfultheworkof demonicforces!Nine timesout of tentheygo awry,
and even if theywork,the finalresultis some disaster.If we look at the practi-
tionersof thisritual,fewindeed have attainedits goal. Rather,theyfail in its

38 Henry Serruys,'Offering of the Fox: A
ShamanisticText from Ordos', in Zentral-
asiatischeStudien [zs], 4, 1970, pp. 311-25;
Charles R. Bawden, 'The "Offeringof the
Fox" Again', in zs 10, 1976, pp. 439-73;
Walter Heissig, 'Zur Morphologie der
'Fuchsopfer": Gebete', in zs 10, 1970, pp.
475-519; and Charles R. Bawden, 'An Oirat
Manuscriptof the "Offeringof the Fox" ', in
zs, 12, 1978,pp. 7-34.
If we assumethatyakan, the Japaneseterm
for 'jackal', is a loan, unegenwould seem,at
firsthearingat least,to be a morelikelysource
than the usually suggested Sanskrit term,
s.rgala.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 SANFORD: The AbominableTachikawa Skull Ritual 19
practiceand theirmindsare twistedby thisheresy.Or theygo mad and beginto
eat fecesand turnintosomethinglikeanimals.If such karmicrecompensecomes
to themin this life,just imaginethe insane scene at theirdeathbeds!Most of
theseimmoralpersonsend up dyinga dog's death. If we wereto supposethatthe
hard-foughtcompletionof those seven yearscould furtherthe meritsof Bud-
dhism,that,strangeas it may seem,therecould be some late-maturing positive
effectin all of this,thenwouldn'tthatmake a mockeryof all our vows directed
towardthe improvement of our futurelives?
The restof Juho Yojinshuconsistsof a fairlylongsectionin whichtheques-
tionerraises objectionsto Shinjo's attack on Tachikawa ideas and attempts
to show how theycan, indeed,be supportedby certainpassagesin thoroughly
orthodoxShingontexts.It is clear that the questioneris at this stage being
made to playtheroleof spokesmanfortheradicallynon-dualFuni-monT-iIrEI
wingof Shingon.At each point,however,Shinjo refuteshisarguments in favor
of a morequalifiednon-dualinterpretationthatis in linewitha Nini-monThi-r
understanding.Then havingproved his points, at least to his own satisfac-
tion, Shinjo concludesthe second partof his workwiththe followingparting
admonition.
Althoughthe commonpersonand the saintdiffer, the purposeof Dharma is
the same for all. Therefore,no matterwhat, since the stage of InnerRealiza-
tion39is profound,indeed almostincomprehensible, it mustbe approachedby
takingthe tantrasone by one, not freelyjust as one pleases.... The esoteric
traditionsurpassestheexotericschools by neverbreakingthechain of transmis-
sion. Make no mistakeabout this.Make no mistake,I say. If you wishto know
the deep meaningof mikkyo,then you must enterinto [authentic]teachings,
practicethe [true]disciplines,and receivethe secretcommentariesof the illus-
trious[orthodox]masters.

Conclusion
Shinjo's descriptionof the Skull Ritual raises a numberof issues that more
conventionalworks,whichtreatmainstreamaspects of JapaneseBuddhism,
seldomillustrate.In thefirstplace, in spiteof its formallymarginalstatus,this
rite provides an instructiveexample of just how extraordinarily tangled
Japanesereligion'on the ground' can get-in contrastto the neat lines that
bothsectarianand academicscholarshave oftentendedto draw.It forcesus to
take a much broader,if less certain,contextualview than is usuallythe case.
In this regard it doubtless stands as representative of a numberof other
ideologies,cults,and practicesthat,because of theirlack of anchoragein some
safesectarianharbor,tendto rideunrecognized,virtually invisible,in thebud-
dhalogicaloffing.
In a somewhatsimilarfashion,Shinjo's workopens the suggestivepossibi-
lityof unfamiliar,butperhapsfairlydirect,linksbetweenJapanesemikkyoand
39 Naisho P1E. This compoundis the stan- interiorcan be used to supportthe themesof
dard Shingon term for enlightenment.Its both embodiednessand secrecy.
implicationthat enlightenmentis something

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
20 MonumentaNipponica, 46:1
late tantricdevelopmentsin India and CentralAsia. This leaves the Japanese
esoterictraditionopen to broadercontextualizations of yetanothersort.
Along anotherdimension,the peculiar,we mighteven say kinky,natureof
the proceduresdescribedas integralto the Skull Ritual, forceus to ponder
a pyschologicalpoint or two. What, we have to wonder,about the actuality
of the Skull Ritual? Is Shinjo's descriptionindicativeof any factual ritual
behavior,or do his sources simplyrepresenta provocativetextualtradition
whoseproceduresmightat besthave been carriedout in some vicariousor im-
aginativeform?Thereis no firmanswerto thisquestion.I have to agreewith
Shinjo's assessmentthatpracticalconsiderationswould probablypreventeven
the mostseriousaspirantfromcarryingout the ritualin its fullform.But the
repeatedreferences to 'awful /dakinT
rituals'made by medievalsourceslead me
to suspect,nonetheless,thatthe Skull Ritual probablywas carriedout from
timeto timein some abridgedvariantformor other.
Finally,also in a psychologicalmode but at a muchbroaderlevel of com-
parison,I would notethattheSkull Ritualparallelsimportantaspectsof other
esoterictraditions,such as Taoist yoga and Westernalchemy,in bringingto
theforethegeographically widespread,evenif statistically
infrequent theme-
perhapswe should call it a fantasyor a projection-of male gestation.This
motif,whichcan fairlybe termed'womb envy', may well reflectsome deep-
structureconstituentof human psychology,althoughdiffusionist historical
explanationsare also conceivable. In any case, heretoo is a topic worthyof
furtherscrutiny.

This content downloaded on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:18:29 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions