“Pilgrimage
to Koyasan” is a slow-paced (some would say boring) documentary about Koyasan in
Japan, a temple complex recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Koyasan was
originally founded by the Buddhist monk Kukai (Kobo-Daishi) during the 9th
century. Kobo-Daishi was the creator of Shingon, the most esoteric of the
Japanese Buddhist sects (also known as Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism and originally a Vajrayana lineage introduced to China by Indian monks).
The
documentary shows most of the important sites at Koyasan, with the exception of
Kobo-Daishi´s mausoleum, where taking photos is prohibited. Pilgrims, monks and
causal visitors fill the area. Inside the temples, there are statues of Vairocana
(the “god” of Shingon) and other cosmic buddhas, and also of Hindu-looking
wrathful deities.
It´s obvious from the description that Shingon has strong
similarities to Advaita Vedanta, since the goal is to realize that “the Buddha”
is really in your mind (i.e. it´s the Atman), and that the mind of the Buddha,
you and all sentient beings is the same. This is connected to the belief in the
Dharmakaya, the cosmic body of the Buddha, similar to the Brahman in Hinduism. Vairocana
is purely symbolic in nature, since in this system, everything is divine, and
the divine is ultimately impersonal.
Thus, we are dealing with another form of
Eastern pantheism. Some people find it profound. I just find it depressing, a
kind of worship of the fallen world as “God”. Why the instinctive religion of
mankind has to be “esoteric” is beyond me. Perhaps the meditation techniques
are too dangerous to ordinary monads?
No comments:
Post a Comment