Horner, I. B., trans. The Book of the Discipline, 10: 1. 1938; reprint, London: Pali Text Society, 1982.
Leighton, Daniel Taigen, Bodhisattva Archetypes. New York: Penguin, Putnam, 1998.
Murcott, Susan. The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentary on the Therigatha. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1991.
Murdoch, James. A History of Japan: From the Origins to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1542 A.D. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd., 1925.
Tsai, Kathryn Ann, trans. Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
Chapter Six: The Pilgrimage of Jizo Bodhisattva
App, Urs, “St. Francis Xavier’s Discovery of Japanese Buddhism,” The Eastern Buddhist 31 (1998): 40-71.
Boheng, Wu, and Cai Zhuozhi. One Hundred Buddhas in Chinese Buddhism. Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1997.
Dore, Henry, S. J. Researches into Chinese Superstitions, trans. from the French with historical and explanatory notes by M. Kennedy, S.J. Shanghai: T’usewei Printing Press, 1922. VII:i-vii, 235-302.
Eliade, Mircea, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1987.
Frederic, Louis. Flammarion Iconographic Guides: Buddhism. Paris: Flammarion, 1995.
Getty, Alice. The Gods of Northern Buddhism. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1978.
Johnson, Reginald F. Buddhist China. San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, 1976.
Mkhas-Grub-Rje. Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems. Trans. F. D. Lessing and Alex Wayman. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1978.
Nanamoli, Bikkhu. The Life of the Buddha According to the Pali Canon. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1972. 263-264.
Saunders, E. Dale. Mudra: A Study of Symbolic Gestures in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1960.
Teiser, Stephen F. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.
____The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
ten Grotenhuis, Elizabeth. Japanese Mandalas. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
Yamada, Patricia. “Through Space and Time: Iconography of the Bodhisattva Jizo.” Lecture presented at Department of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona, October 1991.
Chapter Seven: Jizo Bodhisattva and the Path of Pilgrimage
Nanamoli, Bikkhu, and Bikkhu Bodhi, trans. Majjhima Nikaya: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995.
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press, 1959.
Sekida, Katsuki, trans. Two Zen Classics: Mumonkan and Hekigan-roku. New York: Weatherhill, 1977.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. New York: Weatherhill, 1970.
Walshe, Maurice. The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1987.
Chapter Eight: The Ring Staff
Aitken, Robert, trans. The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan). San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990.
Blyth, R. H. Mumonkan, vol. 4 of Zen and Zen Classics. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1966.
Prip-Moller, J. Chinese Buddhist Monasteries: Their Plan and Function as a Setting for Buddhist Monastic Life. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1937. 83-85.
Shibayama, Zenkei. Zen Comments on the Mumonkan. New York: The New American Library, Inc., 1975.
Yamada, Koun. Gateless Gate. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1979.
Chapter Nine: The Cintamani Jewel
Cook, Francis H. trans. The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1991. 82-83.
Hofstadter, D. R. Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York: Basic Books, 1979.
Nishijima, G. and C. Cross, trans. Ikka-no-myoju (One Bright Pearl), in Master Dōgen’s Shobogenzo. Surrey, England: Wind-bell Publications, 1994. 39-44.
Stevens, John, trans. Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan. Bōston: Shambala, 1993.
Chapter Ten: The Six Rings and the Six Realms
Hsun Hua, trans. and commentary. Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva. New York: Buddhist Text Translation Society and The Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, Publishers, 1974.
Kalu Rinpoche. Luminous Mind: The Way of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1997.
Khema, Ayya. When the Iron Eagle Flies: Buddhism for the West. London: Arkana, 1991.
Salzberg, Sharon. Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala, 1995.
Stevens, John. Three Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakuin, Ryokan. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993.
Chapter Eleven: Earth Store Bodhisattva
Herold, A. Ferdinand. The Life of the Buddha. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1954.
Hui, Pitt Chin, trans. Bilingual Sutra on the Original Vows and Attainment of Merits of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva. World Fellowship of Buddhists, Singapore Regional Centre. Hong Kong Buddhist Book Distributor, 1976.
Chapter Twelve: Practicing with Jizo Bodhisattva
Leggett, Trevor. The Warrior Koans: Early Zen in Japan. London: Arkana, 1985. 34-38, 74-76, 116-118.
Chapter Thirteen: A Simple Ceremony of Remembrance for Children who Have Died
Aitken, Robert. The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984. 21-23, 175-6.
Poems
Cook, Francis H. trans. The Record of Transmitting the Light. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1991
Heine, Steven, trans. The Zen Poetry of Dōgen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1997.
Stevens, John, trans. One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan. New York: Weatherhill, 1977.
____, trans. Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf Zen Poems of Ryokan. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1993.
Wentz, John. “Jizo the Sky Is Crying.” Unpublished. Used by courtesy of the author.
Appendix
Abe, Ryuchi, and Peter Haskel, trans. Great Fool: Zen Master Ryokan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1996. 122.
Braverman, Arthur, trans. Mud and Water: A Collection of Talks by the Zen Master Bassui. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1989. 23-26.
Cook, Francis H. The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1991.
LaFleur, William R. Liquid life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1992. 63-64.
Morinaga, Soko. “Jizo Bodhisattva and Children.” Translated by Giko Shimazaki with Susan Postal.
Waddell, Norman, trans. Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. Boston: Shambhala, 1999. 57-60.
Glossary
bhikshu/bhikshuni: (also spelled bhikkhu) a monk/nun, a person who has been ordained into a monastic life of poverty, celibacy and obedience to the rules set down by the Buddha in the Vinaya. Jizo is the only bodhisattva portrayed as a bhikkhu, with shaved head and monk’s robe.
bodhisattva: an “enlightenment being,” a person who vows not to enter the freedom from suffering called nirvana, but instead works with the wisdom and compassion he/she has gained through spiritual practice to free all others who suffer. Avalokitesvara or Kannon Bodhisattva is the embodiment of compassion. Often shown as a companion to Jizo Bodhisattva, she also is able to move freely among the six realms to aid those who cannot free themselves under their own power. Jizo is sometimes portrayed as the other bodhisattvas usually are, in royal garments and jeweled ornaments.
Buddha: literally “awakened one.” See also Three Treasures. Shakya-muni Buddha is the completely enlightened being who lived during our historical era. Amida Buddha is the Buddha who has the power to bring believers to paradise if they believe and call upon him, particularly at the time of death
. Maitreya Buddha is the Buddha who will come in the future. Jizo Bodhisattva has vowed to save all beings in the interval between the appearance on earth of Shakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya Buddha.
cintamani jewel: a jewel carried by Jizo that represents the light that banishes fear, the light of the Dharma truth.
deva: literally “light- or shining-being”, a being who is mortal and, living in a realm higher than the human realm, may be not at all or only barely visible to humans.
dharani: longer than a mantra, a dharani may also induce a particular state of mind and/or contain a particular teaching in an abbreviated form. The most abbreviated form or seed syllable of the Jizo mantra is KA.
Dharma: See the Three Treasures.
earth meditation: one of the meditations on the four great elements that the Buddha taught to his son Rahula. Rahula had been ordained at the age of seven. When he was eighteen he realized that he was handsome like his father. The Buddha detected his adolescent son’s emerging pride and prescribed the four-element meditation to help him let go of attachment to his body as a self or as a possession of the self. In this case the meditation on earth helps develop impartiality and imperturbability. These are the qualities of Kshitigarbha or Jizo Bodhisattva.
eightfold path: the eight aspects of spiritual practice which, if practiced sincerely and continuously, will become correct or “right” and lead to release from suffering. They consist of (1) right understanding, (2) right thought, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, (8) right concentration.
four noble truths: the first and foundational teachings of the Buddha. They are (1) a fundamental aspect of life is the experience of dissatisfaction or suffering, (2) the cause of this suffering is clinging, ignoring or pushing away, (3) there is a way to lessen and ultimately end this suffering, (4) there is a path of practice to accomplish this (see Eightfold path).
ihai: wooden memorial plaque inscribed with the name of the deceased. An ihai for a child may have the seed syllable for Jizo written at the top.
kesa: patchwork robe (surplice) worn by an ordained Buddhist.
Kshitigarbha: Sanskrit for earth store or earth womb. Kshiti (Ji- in Japanese, Ti- in Chinese, Ji- in Korean) means “earth,” and -garbha (-zo, -tsang, -jang) means storehouse, treasury or womb.
Mahayana: a school of Buddhism that arose in the first century c.e. It stresses practicing not only to liberate the individual, but also to free all who suffer. Jizo Bodhisattva emerged from the Mahayana.
mandala: a symbolic representation of the structure and forces of the universe, used to teach and as a focus for meditation. Jizo Bodhisattva is one of the eight great bodhisattvas often depicted in mandalas.
metta: loving-kindness, one of the four divine states of dwelling that can be cultivated through practice. The other three are maitri or kindness, karuna or compassion, and upeksha or equanimity.
mizuko: “water baby,” a child who has died before or shortly after birth. The mizuko kuyo is a memorial ceremony for these children.
nirvana: literally “extinction.” The goal of Buddhist practice, an indescribable “state” revealed by the cessation of suffering.
Obon: Japanese harvest festival. From the Sanskrit word ullambana, the ceremony is said to have originated with Moggalana, a disciple of the Buddha. Moggalana’s mother had died and he had a vision of her as a hungry ghost. He asked his teacher what he could do to relieve his mother’s suffering. The Buddha recommended preparing a feast and offering it to the other monks on behalf of his mother. The Jizo festival is usually held at the end of Obon so that Jizo can guide and comfort distressed spirits who come to the feast.
samsara: literally “journeying,” the cycle of suffering, birth and death that will perpetuate itself endlessly until nirvana is revealed through practice. Jizo is the guardian of those who journey, both in physical and spiritual realms.
sangha: See the Three Treasures.
sanzen: individual instruction from a Zen master, usually held in a private room. Also called dokusan.
sutra: literally “thread.” A sutra is a collection of essential words or teachings, “lovely to hear,” that are strung together as flowers and leaves are strung to make a garland. The original Indian sutras were collections of the teachings of the Buddha. They were written on palm leaves which were threaded together to make books. The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva is the most popular sutra about Kshitigarbha in China, and the Enmei Jizo Kyo is the most popular in Japan.
sharira: relics, sometimes appearing as jewels, left when the body of an enlightened one is cremated. They may be collected and placed in a pagoda or shrine for veneration.
sesshin: literally “to settle the heart/mind.” A silent Zen retreat, three to seven days in length.
six realms of existence: the realms through which all existence cycles, including those of hell (pain), hungry ghosts (desire), animals (ignorance), humans (rare opportunity to practice), asuras (jealousy and fighting) and gods (temporary pleasure). The six rings on Jizo’s staff represent these realms.
Tathagata: “thus come one,” an enlightened being.
Theravada: “teachings of the elders,” the school of Buddhism found in Southeast Asia and closest to the original teachings of the Buddha. See Mahayana and Vajrayana
three refuges: taking refuge in the Three Treasures.
Three Treasures: also called the triple refuge, three jewels, triple jewel. The first treasure is the Buddha. This refers to both the historical Buddha who lived, became awakened, and taught in India, and also to the inherent perfection that dwells in all existence, which is revealed through spiritual practice. The second treasure is the Dharma, the law underlying all existence. Dharma can refer both to the teachings of the historical Buddha and also to all forms of existence, for anything can teach us about our mutual and original essence. The third treasure is the Sangha, which refers both to the community of people, lay and ordained, who practice the way taught by the Buddha, and also to the harmony in all things that is revealed when we practice and become awakened. Jizo may be shown carrying three jewels representing the Three Treasures.
twelve-linked chain of arising: a teaching of the Buddha that nothing is permanent or exists in isolation. The staff carried by Jizo may have twelve rings representing the twelve factors that give rise to a cycle of existence that is conditioned, relative, and interdependent.
Vajrayana: an esoteric school of Buddhism that arose in about 500 c.e. and spread to the countries of northern Asia. It emphasizes devotion to the teacher (guru) and the practice of rituals and mantras.
zen: literally “concentration.” A spiritual practice based upon silent, seated meditation.
zazen: seated meditation.
For further definitions and information, please consult The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion, published by Shambhala Publications.
Acknowledgments
Gratitude to my beloved hermit friend, Donald Meyer, who loved books and whose death gift supported me as I wrote this book.
Gratitude to those at Tuttle Publications who made the vision manifest: Michael Kerber, Jan Johnson, Ben Gleason, Robyn Heisey, and PJ Tierney.
Gratitude to those who have given support, encouragement and advice. These include Robert Aitken Roshi, Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu, Gyokuko and Kyogen Carlson, Daniel Taigen Leighton, Bob Ryan, Gary and Carol Koda Snyder, and all my students.
Gratitude to those who have reviewed or added to the book, including Jean Blomquist, Pat Boland and Reverend Heng Sure. Gratitude to those who contributed original artwork and poetry or helped in obtaining permissions: John Braverman, Lou Hartman, Tetsuo Kurihara, Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Reverend and Mrs. Nishiyama at Denko-ji, Mayumi Oda, Mikyo Ogushi, Susan Jion Postal, David Schneider, Kaz Tanahashi, and Philip Whalen.
Gratitude to those who have generously shared what they know about Jizo Bodhisattva, translated texts I could not read, found references I had ove
rlooked and helped me with a Jizo pilgrimage. These include Laren Hogen Bays, Lenny Rozan Gerson, Hank Glassman, Ruben and Maria Habito, the stonemason Maekawa Ichiro, Scott Miller, Gary Snyder, David Wilson, William Scott Wilson, Mrs. Yamazaki and her grandson. Unfailing help came from the living intercultural bridge Tom Yuho Kirchner and the kind family outside the Myoshin-ji gate, Mr. and Mrs. Yunsei Yamaguchi.
Gratitude to Jillian Jiyu Romm for helping with the Jizo Ceremonies at Larch Mountain Zen Center.
Gratitude to the others who especially love Jizo and who have helped nurture this book in many ways: Yvonne Rand, Jack Van Allen, and Patricia Yamada.
Gratitude to my parents who began me on the path, my children and my husband who have continued to teach me so well. Lastly to my teachers who have given the greatest gift, the gift of the wonderful Dharma: Taizan Maezumi Roshi and Shodo Harada Roshi. Nine bows.
Index
Note: Page numbers correspond to the print edition.
abortion, xx, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 38, 39-43, 43-47, 50, 52, 52-54, 56, 57-58
Aitken Roshi, Robert, 12, 233
Alzheimer’s Disease, 22
Ameyami Jizo (Rain Stopping Jizo), 20
Amida Buddha, 25, 97
Ananda, 86-87
animal realm, 107, 166, 179-82, 190, 202
Asekaki Jizo (Sweating Jizo), 35
asura realm, 107, 110-11, 167, 168, 182-85
Avalokiteshvara, 7, 192, 200. See also Kannon
baby monk, 60
Bashō, 41-42, 146-48, 151, 152, 153
Bassui, Master, 239-42
begging, xxi, 59, 90, 95, 109, 110, 115, 146, 183, 246
Belly Band Jizo. See Hara obi Jizo
Bible, 71-72, 118, 123
Bidatsu, Emperor, 22, 90
bodhisattva, xvi, 4-11, 15, 23, 25, 26-28, 92, 192; ordinary humans as, xvi-xvii, xx, xxi-xxii, xxvi, 71, 169, 185, 193-94, 196-97, 211, 214, 241. See also individual bodhisattvas
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