Budismo Representacao

Secret Buddhas: The Limits of Buddhist Representation Author(s): Fabio Rambelli Reviewed work(s): Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol.
57, No. 3 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 271-307 Published by: Sophia University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3096768 . Accessed: 06/01/2013 13:36
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SecretBuddhas
The Limitsof Buddhist Representation
FABIORAMBELLI
as objectsof a moreor less sacredvalue; theseobjectscan be considered a is not a a "collection." Of course, temple museum, constitutingtemple's forselectionand inclusionof an objectin a temple'scollection and thecriteria more are notthesame as thosefollowedby museumcurators. Objects are there artistic or value. To borrow fortheir sacredpowerthanbecause of their beauty whilemuseumsemphasize"artistic WalterBenjamin'sterminology, value," objects in a temple'scollectionexhibit"cultvalue."' As such,theyare purported and to partakein the spiritual to transcend their their materiality, objectuality, unconditioned realmof thebuddhas. Certainobjectsthatare considered especiallysacredand valuable are usually not put on display; theyare kept "secret"and invisible.Such objects include an abbotto his sucand ritualimplements handeddown from texts, documents, Particuof and cessor as material proofs legitimacy, enlightenment, authority.2 "secret literally among such hiddenobjects are hibutsu Z{LA, larlysignificant theseimages are not buddhas."Consideredas themostsacredicons in a temple, displayed except on rare occasions.3 As such, they seem to question their
He THE AUTHOR is an associate professor at theFacultyof CulturalStudies,Sapporo University. to Rev. Fujita Ryujo lff i6, Eric Reinders,Christine wishes to express his gratitude Guth, for BernardFaure, PatriziaVioli, Ishizuka Jun'ichi iWM-, and the two anonymousreferees and suggestions. their comments 1 Benjamin 1985, p. 224. 2 box" handeddownfrom abbottoabbotatIshiyamadera Examplesofsuchobjectsarethe"secret sincethemid-tenth fILLIr (Kokuho,pp. 6-7); and thecopies ofDogen's 1S: Shobogenzo century the Soto handeddown within notas a textbut as a tokenof lineage legitimacy !EiIj)E treated uses require inmedievalJapan Zen ?il-W tradition (see Bodiford1992). All theseobjectsandtheir further inquiry. 3 It maynotbe irrelevant model of temple to notethatthemythological fora studyof hibutsu collectionsis perhapsto be foundin theDragon Palace (Ryougu S) situatedon thebottomof on theocean. In thissecretplace theDragon King Sagara has amassed themostpreciousthings such earth: from things jewels, to morespiritual gold to magicalobjectssuchas thewish-fulfilling These sacredandmagicalobjectsmaketheir theBuddhist as Buddharelicsand,finally, scriptures. appearancefromtime to time among humans,but theyare in generalkept hiddenand secret.
numerous thecenturies haveaccumulated throughout BUDDHISTtemples
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Monumenta Nipponica 57:3
semioticstatus:how can theyconveymeaningif theyare hidden,invisible?I will arguein thisarticlethathibutsu and ontologically are semiotically central attheintersection ofseveraltrajectories ofsignificance. objectssituated By quesin radicalwaysthenature and function ofrepresentation, tioning they emphasize in the dialecticsof visible/invisible, all the registers sacred/profane, meaning/ and so forth, animate/inanimate, reference, magic/secular, presence/absence, Buddhistsacredobjects. thatcharacterize Secret Buddhas: A Typology A hibutsu is defined as a Buddhist statue that is normally closed ina feretorykept view like shrine(zushi Jti), hiddenfrom and, often, My first public worship. a visit to the Shin to hibutsu occurred several years ago during exposure I buddha"of Yakushiji PiWlt templein Nara. asked a monkaboutthe"secret unusualJizoItMiimage; it was possible thetemple;he said thatit was a highly I agreed,and after would be necessary. to see it,but a thousand yen "offering" I paid myoffering, themonkgave me an amuletof thesecretbuddhaand took wherestooda closed zushishrine. me to a smallroomat theback of thetemple, The priestopened it and showedme thesecretbuddha.It was a wooden statue of a naked Jizo holdinga wish-fulfilling jewel in one hand,and whose major a to his genitalia.I was even was sphericalobject corresponding peculiarity knownas Otama Jizo ItiJtA The statueis popularly allowed to takea picture. thespherical refers to both (in whichtama i, "sphere," genitaliaand probably thisJizo back to the thirteenth thewish-fulfilling early century, jewel). Dating is a "guestBuddha" (kyakubutsu {14),brought to Shin Yakushijiin 1869 after thetemplewhereit originally the Jizodo 1tAM of Shogan'in SINiR, belonged, I have notbeen able the anti-Buddhist was destroyed persecutions. during Meiji to findany indication thatthe statuewas a "secretbuddha" also in its original The fact that ithas somewhereitwas probably dressed. location, fully displayed it is from the fact that to as however, hide, were, evident, publishedpicthing thushidingitsgenitalia.4 turesof thestatueusuallydepictonlyitsupperpart, of all Japanese The ShinYakushijihibutsu, whileprobably notrepresentative stillexem"secretbuddhas" (which,as we shall see, present manyvariations), A of buddha is a the the secret plifies major problematics category. particular in thatparticular collectionof sacredobjectsthatis theBuddhist entity temple. It is visible onlyat certain times(in some cases, never)and in specific ritualor a temporary ritualized suchas a temple contexts exhibition ata museum, festival, or contingent of an "offering" to thetemple-hibutsuare upon thepresentation
Earlier historical inJapan, suchas theToba ,%J palace (Shokomyoin examplesofsacredcollections in Uji, weremoreor less explicNBAR)), builtin 1136, and theFujiwara WJ Byodoin 'I1[ theDragon Palace; thetreasures inaccesitlyconceived as reproducing theystoredweremostly sible and thus"secret."On thesesubjects,see Faure 1999; Yiengpruksawan 1995; Tanaka 1993, related to collections as cultural esp. pp. 115-47. For an overviewof generaltheoretical problems see also Pearce 1995. entities, 4 Shimizuand Inaki 1990, pp. 111-14.
RAMBELLI:Secret Buddhas
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on display(whenthey are at all) in a strictly controlled ritualized space and time. A secretbuddhathusservesas a bridgebetweenthevisibleand theinvisiblein a moreradical,ambiguous,and problematic way thanmostBuddhistimages. withpermission to The factthatI was given an amuletof the Jizo together but take a picturefurther two different interconnected modes to exemplifies relateto Buddhiststatues, one more secular and one more sacred. On the one of was definitely closerto a touristic as pictures souvenir, hand,myphotograph secretbuddhas classifiedas "nationaltreasures"(kokuho BIi) are closer to hand, imagesof "artobjects"thanto religiousicons oftheBuddha. On theother the amuletreminded me of theculticfunction of the statue-of thefactthatit was notjust a touristic buta realpresenceendowedwithreligiousefficuriosity two These modes are not souvenirs, cacy. sharplyseparated,since touristic of artobjects,and religiousimplements reinforce each otherin reproductions a sense of a livingpresence,a magical forceembodiedin thestatue. generating In thissense,religiousimagesaremediators betweenthesacredand theprofane, betweenmereobjectuality and supernatural, forces,betweensystems spiritual of beliefs,ritualpractices, and individualbehavior, betweenmaterials, bodies, and meanings-mediatorsand at the same timeliminalentities situatedat the boundaries ofall theabove categories. Whatdifferentiates and,at thesame time, the of enhances role hibutsu as religiousimages is their invisiblepresence-an thatintensifies sacredness. invisibility Thereare a largenumber ofhibutsu scattered We can divide throughout Japan. in first them into the three on basis of their approximation categories accessibility/ Some images are neveron display,even to the Buddhistpriestsin visibility.5 charge of theirrituals. Among the most famous in this category are the to Sakyamuniat Seiryoji r,<, templein Kyoto, said to have been brought China in 987 (or 986) by Chonen f* (938-1016) and traditionally Japanfrom as a true-scale of theBuddha made during his lifetime;6 and regarded depiction the Amida VWpi,triad at Zenkoji 4A in Nagano, claimed to be the first Buddhistimage to arrivein Japanin 552.7 Otherhibutsu thatare neveron dis(Tokyo); themainimage (honzont play are theKannon uiRof Sensoji -r at Jison'in,, in A) of Todaiji's 0,k--jK Nigatsudo -Jil ; the Miroku iJJ KudosanmachiAftITWJ at thefootof Mt. Koya (themausoleumof Kukai's As mother); the Black Icon (kurohonzon z:tt) of Zojoji tkL; the naked Benzaiten Sgff:#?X of Enoshima lI/i ; the one-thousand-arm Kannon of Kokawadera tiiI ,, whose originis toldin thefamousKokawadera engi 'tjiilr IE painted scroll; and the Kichijoten A~d of Joruriji 9gM,, situated betweenKyoto and Osaka. or in a lifetime. Otherimages are displayedonly once or twice a generation Hk The hibutsuat the Kannonji s 1i r in Esashi I Hokkaido, , forexample, is
5 We shouldkeep in mind,however,thataccessibility to hibutsu may change. 6 See Seiryojiengi. 7 See "Butsuzo,"p. 146. See also thesynopsis inMcCallum 1994. narratives oftheZenkojiorigin
274
thelifeof thetemple'sabbot.8The eleven-headed, displayedonlyonce during inWakayama KannonofKimiidera one-thousand-arm X1i11M) ,Eh2^ (Gokokuin The Kannon once in Ti E of is =F fifty years.9 Senju prefecture displayedonly 4 of Kannon in the and W Mft Nyoirin Ishiyamadera Kiyomizudera 'kir Kyoto OuC are no are visibleonce everythirty-three tiLbr in Shiga prefecture years;there in is Fudo of The them. official mJfS H Tokyo every displayed Meguro pictures include and on an basis exhibited twelveyears.Further irregular rarely images and theSanjin -t images at theMieido {Of chapel theFud6 Myoo TAHjR3E on the timein the earlyfifties in Toji Atn (Kyoto), publiclyseen forthe first Kannonat Kanshinji theNyoirin workon thechapel;10 occasion of restoration atTodaiji' s Sangatsudo- H;11the IJL,, in Osaka; theShukongoshinAWg'lP the eleveneleven-headedKannon of Jimokuji -H r in Aichi prefecture;12 headedKannonofTenpukujiX1, inthecityofChiba; andan imageinKegonji that A third includesmoreaccessiblehibutsu '-r in Gifuprefecture. category are displayed once or twice a year, such as the Guze Kannon $Atl: i at on display Yumedono *V1 in theHoryujiitRr complexnearNara, currently the fall. and in the spring everyyear secret. It should be noted thatmost hibutsuare not always or completely of the of status or the abbot Access to some hibutsuis limitedto priests high temple, as in the case of an image of Kangiten HR-? at Heikenji ?'1f1t however,can be seen during public dis(Kawasaki Daishi )Jlrrili).13Others, as the as kaicho known Pg ("opening curtain"), "copies" (as in thecase plays atZenkoji),andas photographs atSeiryojiandtheAmidatriad oftheSakyamuni budthesecret and in countlessbooks,tourist guidebooks, magazines.At times, dha is displayedelsewherethanits originallocation,as in thefamousdisplay theEdo period(even though tours(degaicho tlM ) of theZenkoji icon during exhior contemporary on displaybuta copy),14 it was nottheoriginalhibutsu have moreor less accurate, stores.Various descriptions, bitionsat department actual of secret and features the circulated buddhas; concerning shape always form of vision). a meansto enhanceimagination was often (another invisibility of an explicit The combination regimeofsecrecywitha generallack of absolute issues thatwill be themaintopicsof thisarticle. raises important invisibility The Developmentof HibutsuDiscursive Practices in manycases as secret some iconstreated todayareofgreat antiquity, Although It is not not conceived of as secret hibutsu were images.15 originally present-day
10 Kokuho, pp. 6-7. 11 Kuno 1978, p. 66. 12 Kuno 1978, pp. 8-9.
13 14
8 I owe thisinformation to theabbotof Kannonji,Rev. Maekawa Kyoto HiJfJI[A. 9 Nishimura1990, 88. p.
to Rev. FujitaRyOjoof Kawasaki Daishi. I owe thisinformation See McCallum 1994; see also below, pp. 291-92. 15 as hibutsu are theNyoirin Kannonof Ishiyamadera, Amongtheoldesticons now worshiped said to be a Heian-period made in theeighth and theelevencopy of a statueoriginally century,
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associatedwith hibutsu thesetofpractices clearwhenexactly began.Documents tell of sacredimages subjectto regimesof secrecyalreadyin theHeian period, icons often ofesoteric Buddhism.Especiallypowerful seem undertheinfluence or behind a curtain to have been keptinside closed feretories (tocho 3 (zushi) of the term hibutsu made invisible to most most the which them time; i), people however,seems to have developedlaterin themedievalperiod.The exisitself, at least certain buddha and practicesof secrecy, tenceof a tradition concerning of of icons that were otherwise invisiis confirmed by reports display images, in of triad from late Heian the the Zenkoji ble, dating 1106) to period(a display at the late Muromachi period (a display of the bodhisattvaKokuzo *t9
Horin'in 1t1$
In the Edo period,spectaculardisplays(kaicho) of secretbuddhas attracted of people. It was at thistimethathibutsu became a cultural thousands phenomenon combiningformsof sacrednesswith secularizedways of securingecoof hibutsu nomic and symboliccapital.In modern often Japan,therecognition of a within the academic and art estabimpliesrecognition temple'sstatus history More recently, have servedas occasions to draw lishment. displaysof hibutsu In this section,I people to templesand acquire new donorsand parishioners. shall addressthemajor stepsin thegenealogyof ideas and practicesrelatedto contemporary Japanesesecretbuddhas. Fh "E,a text Koryiji raiyuki l compiledbySaisho Ai( (1442-after1499) in 1499, suggeststhatthepracticeto hide buddhaimages from sightoriginated in a curtain ofa statue Kannonthat in 616 from ofNyoirin arrived placed in front Silla.17The same textclaims thatthemainicon of thetemple,a secretYakushi since thereignof EmperorSeiwa MOP igs, had been hiddenbehinda curtain The of indicate thatthe statueof Kannon was (850-880).18 gazetteers Sensoji in theseventh made secretseveralyearsafter itsoriginalenshrinement century. the Such sourcesare notveryreliable,but a seriesof documents concerning if not definGuze Kannonat theYumedonochapelin H6ryujioffers suggestive, A late text, as a hibutsu. aboutitshistory itive,information Ikaruga koji benran written , 0A4tC]i Kakugen t in 1838, states:"The mainicon by thepriest Kannon.Since ancient timesthishas of theYumedonohall is an eleven-headed been a secretbuddha (hibutsu);a whitecloth shroudsits venerablebody."19 to ofhidingtheYumedono Kannonbegan is difficult thepractice When,in fact, of the statue,Horyuji Toin The earliestdescription establishwith certainty.
halfof theeighth in Aichi prefecture, said to dateto thefirst headed Kannonof Jimokuji century. mentions the Shukonin Nihon ryoikiH *i~ZA2, datingfromthe late eighthcentury, A story as that thisis thesame statuetreated itis notforcertain goshinof Todaiji's Sangatsudo,although a secretimage today. See Heibonsha daihyakka jiten, s.v. "Ishiyamadera"and "Ishiyamadera 2:21; p. 94. engi,"vol. 1, p. 918; Kuno 1978, pp. 8-9, 64; Nihon ryoiki 16 See Bukkyo daijiten,s.v. "Kaicho," vol. 1, p. 394. 17 Koryaji raiyaki, p. 79b. 18 pp. 80a-81 a. Koryaji raiyuki, 19 Ikaruga koji benran,p. 101b.
in 1517).16
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shizaicho?il MtMR & of 761, says simply: "One gildedstatue of Guze a life-size ofJoguo Kannon, _tE [Shotoku image Taishi]."20 Shichidaijijunrei shiki-tQt'j(LL/ E of 1140,by Oe no Chikamichici~ZfA,offers a more detailed description:
Itis nota Buddha buta life-size Itwears a crown; initsleft hand image, layfigure. itholdsa jewel,andtheright handis placedon the and covers it. jewel partially Theshapeoftheimage is that ofa layperson; itsmudra, is that ofGuze however, In other Kannon. itis an image ofShotoku Taishi .^j.21 words,
or a two-armed Kenshin'sdescription was notinaccurate at all. As Nyoirin."23 Ernest Fenollosa andOkakuraTenshin I, cen)Li (Kakuzo t ) "discovered" turies Kannon without the usual bodlater,thestatuewas a two-armed Nyoirin hisattva attributes oflatersculptures, a lack that makesitappear,in comparison, tobe a "secular"subject.As Shotoku Taishi was regarded inthemedievalperiod as a manifestation of Kannon,the statuecould be interpreted as representing eithersubject, or, more accurately, both. Nevertheless, the tentativeness of Kenshin's remarks indicates that he himself had notseenthestatue-or, at least, he did notwanthisreaders that toknowitsexactappearance-whichwouldconfirm thatthe Yumedono Kannon was subjectto some form of secrecyalready the first half of the thirteenth by century.24 The medievaloriginof a moreor less systematic set of discursive and ritual of secrecyis consistent with practiceson buddhaimages subjectto some form
HoryujiToin shizaicho,p. 510. The same passage is quotedin Ikaruga koji benran,p. 54a. thattheCircularHall (Endo F9t) containsan image of Guze HoryujiToin engi of 747 reports Kannon portraying ShotokuTaishi thatwas made whentheprincewas stillalive; thecitation is on p. 27a. 21 Shichidaijijunrei shiki, p. 61. See also Tanabe 1989,p. 125. The same passage is also quoted in Nanto shichidaiji ki,a texteditedin 1452, as an "old saying"(p. 41b). junrei 22 Horyiji Toin engi,p. 30b. 23 ShotokuTaishi den in Japanaroundthe shiki,p. 85a. The cult of NyoirinKannon started about one hundred thestatuewas made. On thisbasis, Kuno Takeshi eighth century, yearsafter IA~I thatthe statuehad been secretsince theeighth or ninth argues,unconvincingly, century. See Kuno 1978, p. 20. 24 Okakurawrote, on thebasis of whatevidencewe do notknow,that "untila hundred and fifty or so yearsbefore, thisstatue was probably nota hiddenbuddha";he also mentions theYumedono Kannon's resemblanceto the description thatappears in Shichidaijijunrei shiki; see Okakura 1980, p. 37. 20
Whilethese details a tradition basedonactual observation ofthe suggest image, an early modem of Toin contains a document WC4* gR/O copy Horyuji engi dated1186indicating that itwas strictly forbidden tosee theimage ofShotoku Taishi.22 It is notforcertain whether theauthor referred to theGuze Kannon, butShotoku Taishidenshiki #i{TLS=E (first written in 1238by fascicle), theH6ryuji Kenshin indicates that the from viewwas Wg, priest imagekept indeed the GuzeKannon: "Inside the Yumedono there is a life-size chapel gilded as wellas antiquity, do notknowits imageof Guze Kannon. Peopleoftoday Itis saidtobe either a secular a sword, appearance. image (zokugyo carrying fi)ff)
RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas
277
itself theterm hibutsu thefactthat beginsto appearin medievalsourcessuch as Genpei josuiki iTSB1E, composed perhaps in the late Kamakura period. MizuharaHajime 7J<-- glosses thiswordas "buddhaimages keptin thesecret As suchitwas probably related to terms ofpastmasters."25 initially repositories in theesotericBuddhistvocabulary such as hizo %?, (secretrepository, i.e., the esotericBuddhistcanon,butalso a master'ssacredpossessions) and hisho Aft and ritual The intellectual (secretplace, i.e., an esotericBuddhisttemple).26 Buddhism reacheditsapex inthemedievalperiod,andpracinfluence ofesoteric thiscontext. secretbuddhasmostplausiblydevelopedwithin tices surrounding icons toJapan oftheesoteric canonintroduced earlyon theidea that Scriptures in a text known ho shouldbe kepthiddenforritual V4BNiA, purposes.Gumonji for that the second half of the statue since the century, example,says Japan eighth shouldbe placed in describedin thetext, of Kokuzo, themainicon of theritual a clean hall or pagoda and wrappedwithclean cloth-which makes it de facto into Chinese by Amoinvisible.27 Jundeidarani kyo ?ftlP6gSJL, translated to Japanby Kukai (774-835) in 805, statesthat ghavajha(705-774) and brought theicon shouldbe keptin a clean roomand coveredwitha clothto hide it from theclothshouldbe removedduring worship(nenju Af), butit sight(himitsu); shouldbe putin place again attheend oftheservice;"theicon shouldabsolutely offers an notbe displayedto people."28The alreadymentioned Koryujiraiyuki hide certain of the to images: explanation practice notbe soiled[byeasy contact]. and should Buddhas[icons]havea spirit, They in an uncontrolled notbe worshiped should be placedin a cleanhallandshould todivine touches theiconhe willbe subjected punlayperson way.Ifan ignorant
ishment.29
is a way to controldevotionalinteraction withthe In these cases, invisibility sacredimage. The buddhaimage shouldbe activated(made visible and accesandto designated ritual situations sible) onlyin specific people. Random,unconfor in for the statue and divinepunishment result access would trolled pollution the"ignorant lay person." anotherpossible source of In additionto the Buddhistesoteric tradition, hibutsupracticesis perhapsto be foundin kami images (goshintaiiW21).30 of the BuddhisticonoKami images were first producedunderthe influence but theywere also kepthiddenfromview, perhapsas a way graphictradition, howof kami. It shouldbe remembered, theoriginalformlessness to represent comin of the context that kami tA *t ever, honjisuijaku images developed
ShinteiGenpeijosuiki,vol. 3, p. 187. to The termhizo is commonin esotericBuddhisttexts(see, forinstance, Hizoki, attributed hisho appears,forexample,in Ben'itsu hiki(1353), p. 26a. Kukai); theterm 27 Gumonji ho, p. 602a. 28 Jundei darani kyo,pp. 184c-85a. 29 p. 3 lb. Koryaji raiyaki, p. 79b. The same passage occursalso in ShotokuTaishi denryaku, 30 See, forexample,Yamaori 1987.
25 26
278
which kami as localmanifestations oforiginally binatory religiosity, interpreted a Indian Buddhist deities. Hibutsu have evolved as side ofhonji thus product may aroundkami.But such a hypothesis suijakuideas and practices centering further investigation.31 requires as private icons(jibutsu Somehibutsu of 4INL) mayhaveoriginated tutelary The owner's someimportant death left suchiconsin a state oflimbo, person. oftheir thesupernatural with function, original yetstill charged deprived power ofthe This seems to the deceased be case with one famous secret buddha, figure. theIchijiKinrin Butcho Nyorai ~rgV (Hiraizumi -M--h I4,at atChusonji Iwateprefecture), which of TfV4, mayhavebeentheprivate objectofworship no As Mimi Hidehira FIRiAI (1122?-1187).32 Yiengpruksawan Fujiwara sugthat Hidehira was interred in "Itis conceivable after when 1187,perhaps gests, icon the monks locked his as and its existence 6i, well, Chusonji up Konjikido as that ofthemummies becameas secret [ofthenorthern leaders]."33 Fujiwara To summarize inthe thediscussion so far, we canperhaps sometime identify, a in middle the Kamakura bifurcation the attitude ages,possibly during period, Buddhist Whilemost becamemore towards andvisiimages. open,available, ble (leading to theimageson display at today'smuseum-temples), eventually somebecamemore secret invisible-hibutsu. The and,in somecases,de facto reasons forsuchsecrecy andinvisibility varied to the and according origin initialfunction oftheimages(specialassociations, former icons, private tutelary and cultural transformations esoteric etc.),butalso to intellectual (medieval modern ofdisplay, Buddhist andpractices etc.). early religious liturgy, economy In modern ofhibutsu thestatus hasbeenshaped historical times, bythegeneral Buddhist andtheir iconsandtreasures. developments affecting temples We can identify in several modern ofhibutsu. the the phases history During in anti-Buddhist 1868-1872 known as haibutsu kishaku persecutions Af{LIR or
31 ChristineGuth goshintai(the "bodies" of the kami) are often suggeststhatpresent-day Buddhistimages turned into Shintogods to save themfromdestruction duringthe Meiji antiBuddhist 20 May 2000). This seemstobe particularly true persecutions (personalcommunication, in southern oflocal shrines a formerly claimas their Buddhist Hokkaido,wherea number goshintai image sculptedby thefamedEnkiu [H (1632-1695). Another hibutsu possible sourceof ideas and practices concerning maybe theChineseidea of "secretBuddhas" (mifo that werethought toprotect thedaysofthemonth. thirty ,AL, Jp.hibutsu) The set includedpopularbuddhas,bodhisattvas, and heavenlydeities.See Bukkyo daijiten,vol. 2, p. 1560. This belief,foundin China alreadyin thefourth century, spreadin themedievalperiod to Japan, where the thirty deities were incorporated into a cult of thirty guardian deities one foreach day of themonth, that was particularly in thepre(sanjabanjin Et':-), important modern NichirenH A sect (on thesanjabanjin,see Dolce forthcoming). It is conceivablethat the of theChinese secretbuddhaswithspecificdays could have influenced connection periodicdisin particular As a further indication of a posplays in Japanof hibutsu years,days,and months. sibleChineseorigin someJapanese Buddhists hibutsu (or,atleast,ofthefactthat thought practices had a Chinese origin),a mid-Edotext,Shinzokubutsujihen ~AfA6L , arguesthatdisplaysof hiddenimages at thirty-year intervals were alreadyoccurring theTang dynasty (thetext during mentions a displayin 818); see Shinzoku specifically butsujihen,p. 23. 32 See Yiengpruksawan 1991, p. 336. 33 Yiengpruksawan 1991, p. 346.
279
and "places ofmemory" thantocult monuments, manywayscloserto museums, sites.The ongoingtendency to turn Buddhisticons intoartobjects is reflected in the countlesspublications thattreatbuddha images (butsuzo MaI1) as mere X(chokoku iWJ). measured, "sculptures" They are accordingly photographed, Even Buddhist rayed,and dissected in ways thatcan be almost voyeuristic. now tendto present icons not as real presencesbut as "symbols,""reppriests resentations" of thebuddhas,thusfollowingthe secularizedand desacralizing logic of modernity. In the course of thesedevelopments have come to be considmanyhibutsu ered important "artobjects" exemplifying the traditional artistic of sensibility theJapanese, and thisnewlyacquiredstatus has undoubtedly to the contributed fameand prosperity oftemples them. thedisenshrining Templesthusadvertise withthehope of drawingattention and receiving morevisitors. play of hibutsu Yet herewe see a paradox.While theadvertisement of a hibutsu as an arttreasureparticipates on theone hand in its desacralization, on theothertherecognition ofan icon as an artobjectmayactuallyserveto strengthen itssacredvalue and contribute to the"prosperity of Buddhism."36
34 Both treated centuries-old as superstitions and obstacles againstthe distempletraditions covery of "art objects." Fenollosa, for example, wrote concerninghis "discovery" of the Yumedono Kannon: "On fire withtheprospect of such a uniquetreasure, we urgedthepriests to at our command.They resistedlong,allegingthatin punishment for open it by everyargument well destroy thetemple.Finallywe prevailed..." Fenollosa 1911, sacrilegean earthquake might vol. 1, p. 50. Okakurawrote:"Around 1884, duringan arthistory [I carriedout] investigation withFenollosa and Kano Tetsuya,I approachedthepriests[ofHoryuji]askingto see the together secret buddha[oftheYumedonohall]. The priests ifthey in which repliedthat opened[theferetory itwas hidden], thunder strike would certainly thatwe would [thetemple].... But after promising take care of thethunder, thepriestsagreedto open the door of thehall; theyran away in fear." Okakura 1980, p. 36. 35 I owe thisobservation to TsubouchiYOuzo 6t[11_. 36 A in this respect,is the proliferation of Web sites interesting phenomenon, particularly
shinbutsu bunri former in actsofdesacralization *WAL#i, worshipers engaged ofBuddhist and or sold them. This an opportunity for images destroyed proved Western individuals andinstitutions, toacquire the collectors, dislocated mainly inthe1880s,scholars andgovernment under Later, Western images. agencies, to search for Buddhist icons and reevaluate them for their influence, artisbegan ticvalue.Ernest Fenollosaand Okakura in thisprocess, Tenshin, keyfigures ordismissed thesacred valueoftheiconsthey instead clearly ignored studied, them as anembodiment ofaesthetic ideals.34 Stilllater, inthe treating beginning first decadesofthetwentieth themselves to officentury, temples began request cialevaluations oftheir that someobject wouldreceive officollections, hoping cial recognition as an "important cultural (juyo bunkazai _-S0LOt) property" oreven"national treasure" Sucha process started with thede(kokuho). already of the so-called "New Buddhism" movement in velopment iJFALt) (Shinbukkyo the lateMeijiperiod inanattempt touseBuddhist as mediating elements images in theongoing between Buddhist institutions andthe reapprochment religious newimperial state.35 the most famous Buddhist in arein Today, temples Japan
280
arenotonly ofan ongoing ofcommodification of thus, Hibutsu, process part an in a of resacralizaalso role thesacred; process play important parallel they further as relics the ofthe stand tion. Buddha, they mysterious power Embodying as can the"authentic" tradition. And thepast,from from such, they Japanese new It would seem to the tourists and (danka tWh). temple potential patrons bring was notcompletely successful. After tosee ofsacred all,itis notunusual icons, a their hands and to famous buddha bowing particularly image peoplejoining between artobjects at a museum theboundary andcult on display exhibition; as many ofus wouldliketothink. one Perhaps, objects maynotbe as clear-cut what has been at is a counter of resacralization work process might argue, really as state-icons, of theimagesas embodiments of thenational spirit, through ofwhat Michael callsthe"magic ofthestate."37 Thisis the exploitation Taussig I wouldliketoexplore intheremaining that ofthis section. hypothesis part Stefan Tanakahas emphasized theconnection between artobjectsand the nation-state. modern to him, Okakura's of a secret According reinterpretation interms theYumedono oftransnational art buddha, Kannon, history "suggests a shift from theimportance of local places filled withlore,superstition, and the in to artifacts as moments the historical magic important evolution/progress
thatwhichproduced"artobjects"out thatthedesacralizing logic of modernity,
of thenationand stateof Japan."38 The "magic of the state,"it would seem,is incomplexandinseparable alwaysrelated waysto "religious magic."The "soul" (tamashii4) of a buddha,takenaway froman image through desacralization, is replacedbythe"spirit" of another the nation(kokoro JL') magicentity: modern state-a "spirit" defined as national aesthetic etc. character, variously sensibility, The spirit of thebuddhainherent in sacredimages,we shouldremember, howthe spirit of powerharnessed to sustainpolitical ever,was neverseparatefrom formations and thestatein itsvariousincarnations. Buddha imageshave traditionally been employedfortheprotection of a specifictempleand,by extension, thestate.The typical case is theGreatBuddha of of the Todaiji, at thesame timethesymbolof imperial powerand theprotector state.This function of Buddhistimagesis directly relatedto thetraditional role of Buddhist institutions as protectors of the state (chingo kokka $gi.l*). A mid-Edotext, Hibutsuareno exception. hen~Af{A*W,writShinzoku butsuji tenbythepriest Shicho-fM in 1726, states that of hibutsu (kaicho)bendisplays efit thestate,since theyprotect itfrom natural and foreign disasters, epidemics, Several contemporary hibutsu were similarly linkedin thepastto aggression.39
dedicatedto temples'hibutsu and their URLs: bunkaken display.See, forexample,thefollowing .html offers a useful listofthemost hibutsu (this .hoops.ne.jp/index.files/arakuroto/hibutu important and theirmost recentand next displays); www.pref.nara.jp/nara/koukai.htm; www.mainichi.co. www.kamitv.ne. asahi.wai2-kansai.com/leisure/hananotera.html; jp/eye/strange/sensouji/04.html; jp/-kanakura/yakushi.html; www.nara-shimbun.com/n_arc/arc0064.html; www.cosmo.ne.jp/ -daizenji/kito.htm. 37 Taussig 1997.
38 Tanaka 1994, p. 40. 39 See Shinzoku
butsujihen,p. 23.
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in Shiga prefecstatecultsand policies. The NyoirinKannon of Ishiyamadera ofthe in aidingthecompletion forexample,is said to have been influential ture, contriGreatBuddha of Todaiji; the account of its assistance simultaneously of Buddhistpolitical ideology in the premedieval buted to the establishment theZenkoji Amida buddhaimage said to have reachedJapan, The first period.40 and cultural of Japan'shistorical in theformation element is an important triad, Yamato of in the extension Kannon The poweroverthe figured identity. Sensoji the the ninth and seventh Kanto regionbetweenthe centuries;41 Meguro Fudo no Mikoto HB *A#, thelegendary is held to be an image ofYamatotakeru paciThe Ichiji KinrinButcho Nyorai at Chusonji was fierof the easternregion.42 ofthenorthern oftherulers theprotection for used inrituals provinces. originally to the Yumedono Guze Kannon,medieval documentsemphasize To return the connectionbetweenthatstatueand ShotokuTaishi, the "founder"of the of as a reproduction was presented Japanesestate.As we have seen,thehibutsu that beliefs medieval thus Taishi's bodyqua Guze Kannon, ShOtoku reinforcing Shotoku ofKannon.More thanthat: a manifestation Taishiwas actually Shotoku withKannon,the"savwas identified of theJapanesestate, Taishi,thefounder ior of the world" (thisis themeaningof Guze). Throughthe statuetheregent invisiblebutpowerful, to act as a panopticpresence, continued good protecting theenemiesof Buddhismand thestate.43 doersand punishing of the Yumedono The paradoxes generatedby premodern interpretations male deity,conan Indian a statue Kannon are striking: Korean representing of Shotoku ceived of in Japanas female,is said to be thelife-sizereproduction scene rulerof a Japanesestateactivelyopen to theinternational Taishi,thefirst In the Yumedono cultural and oftheJapanese and thesymbol identity. imperium ofthe"magicofthestate" thevariouselements hibutsu and itsparadoxeswe find an irrational belief a form of Michael as described fetishism, Taussig: strong by a and in something higher,all-integrating all-encompassing, meaning-giving unitthatis nevertheless deeplyrelatedto thebasestfactsof materiality.44
the Accordingto the legends associated withthisimage, when the lack of gold threatened Roben At (689-773) to Shomu Em asked thepriest plan to gild theTodaiji Daibutsu,Emperor to go to the prayto Zao GongenMiTtW3 of Mt. Kinpusen+fLI in Yoshino; Zao toldthepriest froman old man; upon Roben's doing so, the old man top of Mt. Ishiyamato hear instructions When Roben Kannonon therockat thetop of themountain. toldhimto place a statueof Nyoirin provinceof Mutsu, and the Great prayedto the icon, gold was soon discoveredin the distant and "Ishiyamadera Heibonsha daihyakka Buddha could be completed. jiten,s.v. "Ishiyamadera" engi,"vol. 1, p. 918. 41 See Heibonsha s.v. "Sensoji," vol. 8, pp. 766-67. daihyakkajiten, 42 The main image of MeguroFudo templeis said to have been builtby Ennin H t{ in 808 after s.v. "Meguro Fudo," vol. 14, Fudo appearedto him in a dream;see Heibonsha daihyakkajiten, in ShinpenMusashifudokiko r-SitSIA is recorded p. 773. The associationwithYamatotakeru combinin thequitecommonlate medievalShinto-Buddhist 1?Eg (1830). It perhapsoriginated and Fudo Myoo. associationsbetweentheswordsof Yamatotakeru atory 43 In the medieval period,ShotokuTaishi was envisionedin manydocumentsas one of the agencies involved in such activities.See for instance,doc. 29002 in vol. 37 of supernatural Kamakura ibun. 44 thislast point,see below, pp. 294-95. Regarding 40
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As we haveseenin thissection, thehistory ofhibutsu went several through distinct tradition andtheabsenceof theterm in phases.The lack of a unified sources should not be obstacles tothe of modern and modearly placement early ern hibutsu within thelarger context ofBuddhist discourses andtechnologies of representation. TheOntology ofBuddhist Representations As mediators between thevisible andthe hibutsu arenot unlike ordininvisible, Buddhist andcannot beunderstood from the that contains ary images apart system that and Buddhist sacred in To them, is,buddha images objects general. clarify theparticularities oftheir intheremaining this ofthis placewithin system, part I shall first address the Buddhist ofrepresentation, inparticular as article, theory inmedieval andearly times modern and g tradition, developed bythe Shingon then thespecificities ofhibutsu-those consider features andelements particular makepeopleassume that that these have sacred special objects powers. In ThePowerofImages,David Freedberg all modern showsthat theories which to the status from of of Frazer's laws and try explain images, similarity to notions of "a radical between contagion symbolism, disjunction presuppose the oftheart andreality itself"-between thesymbol andthesymreality object andreality, thestatue andthe and,we mayadd,between bolized, representation "The of the not as we buddha. does it, lie, But,as Freedberg image puts reality in the it it lies in like to associations calls more think, forth; something might more more andverifiable than associaauthentic, real,andinfinitely graspable Faure suggests thatto understand theontological status of tion."45 Bernard the with we must "free ourselves from obsession buddha meaning (symimages inthePanofskian inorder toretrieve bolism, sense)andform iconology (style) theaffect, andfunction oftheicon."46 Thissuggestion seemspareffectivity, in the case of We hibutsu. should overemnot, however, ticularly appropriate the role of and as from and somehow phasize affectivity efficacy independent to signification in a broad sense.Premodern texts Buddhist do,infact, superior discuss but take and symbolism, frequently iconography, style, they up these on the of that were issuesas something icons considered real worship bearing of deities-not mere doctrinal ritual or presences symbols, supports, copies, representations ofthem. It is this dimension that we should be ableto ontological andunderstand. retrieve, discuss, Whilea Buddhist be usedindexically toexpress suchas image may meanings
"theBuddha,""a buddha,""BuddhaAmida,"thisis notitsprimary function. Its status is rather like that of Buddhist relics as described ontological by Robert as presence are "treated Sharf; they pureand simple."A buddhaimagedoes "not or denotea transcendent numinous absence,or represent, symbolize, presence,
45 Freedberg1989, pp. 436, 439.
46 Faure 1998, p. 787.
RAMBELLI:
SecretBuddhas
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in between."47 A buddhaimage is an icon, "a specificsortof religious anything or participate in thesubstanceof thatwhichit image thatis believedto partake In other an icon does not bearthelikenessofthedivine, words, represents. merely but sharesin its verynature."48 This explainswhymostBuddhistsin Asia do notmake a clear distinction, in practicalterms, betweentheicon and thedeity it embodies/represents. We shouldbe carefulnotto overemphasize thispoint,however:doctrinally there is an important distinction betweentheBuddha and itsimage; whereasthe former is unconditioned, thelatter is conditioned by itsplace, shape,and mateto the Indian studied riality.Analogously gods by Richard Davis, Japanese Buddhist icons also have "twoprimary modesofbeing... : undifferentiated and formless and corporeal, unmanifest and manifest, without attribdifferentiated, utes and withattributes, supremeand accessible, and so on."49Kukai, among made a similarpointin his Shoji jisso gi lf$HA when,after distinothers, between the conditioned of the guishing aspect Dharmakaya(its materialand and itsunconditioned the figurative representations) aspect,he emphasizedthat two are notessentially distinct.5A striking feature of Buddhistimages,therebetweenthesetwo fore,is thefactthattheyare ideallylocated at theboundary is even more prominent in the case of ontologicalmodalities.This liminality hibutsu. cannotserveeffectively as an Being hiddenmostof thetime,a hibutsu andinvisible becomes index,excepttopointto a numinous presence;invisibility a way to transcend its differentiated, and conditioned corporeal, aspect. TheMateriality have alwaysbeen aware ofthe Buddhists oftheUnconditioned. intrinsic to form to the formless. Even thoughbuddhas and paradoxes giving bodhisattvas are originally formless can be experi?ef),theirvirtues (mugyo,t enced through "visualization"(kan i), a complexterm ritualaction, connoting and so forth.51 visualization, devotion, imagining, dreaming, Employedas an aid to visualization, theicon appearstobe a support or simulacrum oftheBuddha.52 Some texts, in contrast, ofan icon (whether orpainted) say that worship sculpted is identicalto worshiping the livingBuddha. The above-mentioned Shinzoku for writes: "To a wooden or butsujihen, example, worship printed image of a buddhais exactlythe same as worshiping theTathagatawhenhe was livingin this world."53 Worship was not given to a mere inanimateobject since the
47 Sharf 1999, p. 78. Italicsin theoriginal.Sharfadds as an explanation: "(We do nottypically think of President thePresident-he simplyis thePresident.)" Clintonas representing 48 Sharf1999, p. 81. On icons, see Barasch 1992; Belting1994; Freedberg1989. 49 Davis 1997, p. 27. 50 See Shojijisso gi, p. 404a-b; Englishtranslation in Hakeda 1972, pp. 245-46. 51 For an analysisof the conceptof kan,see Sharf2001. 52 In Shiojiri fTi, a monumental collectionof miscellaneouswritings composed in the midthat Buddhist Edo period, theKokugakusha[] g Amano Sadakage fX t I (1661-1733) states formless statuesrepresent virtues; worshipof a Buddhisticon is thusan expressionof gratitude towardtheholybeingit represents. See Shiojiri,vol. 15, p. 92. 53 Shinzoku butsujihen,p. 159.
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Buddha was heldtoreside initinsomeform. A sort ofpolar a dialecdynamic, ticbetween andmatter, sacred andprofane is thus atwork in anyinteracspirit tion with a buddha Buddha arerelated inthis sensetothecentral image. images features offetishism as described with therealpresbyMarcAuge:endowed enceofan actual which is irreducible to its manifest the being, appearance, they residue ofthe Herewe seethe ofsomething unthought/unthinkable.54 ambiguity that is sacred, butalso atthesametime conunconditioned, absolute, "made," buddhas and inanimate ditioned, profane-real objects. The animated nature ofBuddhist iconsis attested stories about bycountless buddha Inacting andflying.55 as mediimages crying, talking, sweating, moving, ators between the invisible andthe between the cosmos andsociety, budvisible, dhaimagesalso aredescribed as issuing alterations in their messages through ownmateriality: andso forth.56 As ifinaneffort to color, changing emitting light, overcome the hiatus inert and but at the same time life, separating materiality pointofwhich aremade, sources alsoemphasize the coningtothe materiality images between Stories aretoldofmiraculous trees, wood,andbuddha tinuity images. with adrift onthe oceanandreaching the shores trees, incense, perfumed floating ofJapan; their nature to use them as materials for extraordinary prompts people a buddha icon.57 Buddhists werepainfully awareof thebareandinescapable oftheir towhich iconscouldbe reduced materiality icons-materiality anytime causes(fires, and intentional acts of suchas destruction, bynatural earthquakes) of theTokugawa in 1662ordered theKyotoDaibutsu ~{A to be government, melted downtomakecoins, orwhen Nariaki JUl113b (1800-1860), Tokugawa headofthe Mito*t<P confiscated all bronze Buddhist statues within the domain, domain andmelted them downtomakecannon.58 Awareness ofthe intrinsic distinction between the unconditioned nature ofthe Buddha andtheconditioned nature oftheartifacts inwhich theBuddha is made toreside is evident inthe rituals ofconsecration ofboth the materials from which theicons are madeand theiconsthemselves after Theserituals completion. amount to veritable ofanimation.59 As they areperformed technologies today, consist ofa number ofritual care is to the selecFirst, they steps. particular given tionofmaterials from which thebuddha will be made. Not image anylog will the chosen wood must atleast from a tree endowed with some do; come, ideally,
54 Aug6 1988, p. 33. 55 For an overviewof some famouscases, see Tanaka 2000.
56 57
whenMatsudaira Nobutsuna councillor ti~'I' M (1596-1662), senior (roju
rP)
On thecommunicative function of buddhaimages,see Sasamoto 1996, esp. pp. 66-70. On thissubject,see also Grapard1992, esp. pp. 152-55. 58 See "Butsuzo,"pp. 138,208. The destruction oftheKyotoDaibutsu,erected bytheToyotomi as intended to eradicatea symbolof that regime,can also be understood regime.Nariaki's measurewas moreexplicitly anti-Buddhist in nature. 59 On icon animation, Faure 1991, esp. pp. 148-78; Faure 1996, pp. 237-63; see, forinstance, Strickmann "The notion ofanimated Buddhist iconshas been 1996,pp. 165-211. As Faurewrites, and repressedas a resultof themodernand Westernvalues of aestheticization, desacralization, secularization." Faure 1998, p. 769.
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feature the residenceof a supernatural (reiboku t, spiritual marking entity or shinboku old age, particular tree," Wt, "sacredtree"):60 "spiritual shape,havand so forth. An empowerment rite(kaji kitoMinr ing been struck by lightning, is performed on the selected wood, and its impurities are eliminatedto fiWi) sacralize theraw materials and make themworthy of being turned intoa buddha image. At thatpoint,in a ritualknownas nomi-ire shiki NiatA (ritefor insertion of thechisel),thepriest of thelog and hits places a chiselon thecenter itwitha sledgehammer this After the fi). (genno (busshifAfii) sculptor begins to chisel thewood.61When the image is completed, the "openingof theeyes" takesplace, to infuse ceremony (kaigenhoyo IARKx or kaigenkuyyo ARUMY) theimage withthe"spirit" (tamashii)of a Buddha.62 Only at thispointdoes the become a buddha. image living A reverse is employed before orrestoration work. procedure beginning repairs A special ritual called hakkenshiki ct is performed to takeoutthespirit from thestatue(mitamao nukuS 1 < ) and turn itintoan inanimate so At object that the sculptors can workon it.63 At theend of therestoration work,a new "eyeis heldto bring the"spirit" back intotheicon. In thecase of openingceremony" a hibutsu, similar are followedeven to study it: forexample,one has procedures to cleanse one's bodyand wear a maskof whitepaper.Such rituals indicatethat even theexperts with the "artistic value" of a Buddhisticon charged assessing also its "cultvalue" as a sacredicon. recognize,at least formally, The production of buddha-bodiesout of raw materialsvia multipleritual actionsand empowerment relatesto whatis perhapsone of themostproblemin atic issues the studyof religion,namely,the transformation of the profane intothesacred(a buddhaicon), or,in other (raw materials) words,thecreation of thesacredoutof nothing. Buddhist exegetes,however, rarely puttheprocess of production of a buddhain theseterms. to theraw materials According them, are alreadysacred.Doctrines on thebuddhahood ofnonsentients, usuallyknown in Japanas "plantsand treesbecome buddhas" (somoku jobutsu -t:RLA) are to the intrinsic oficons-which buddha-nature strategically deployed emphasize therefore are buddhasnotjust because theyare theinanimate containers of the "spirit"of a buddha,but because theirown materialis imbued withbuddhaof "carvingout the buddha image essence; this is expressedby the rhetoric in the wood."64 This to alreadypresent perspective perhapspointsto an attempt
60 Nishimura1990, 30. p. 61 Nishimura1990, 27. p. 62 On see note59 above,especiallyStrickmann 1996,pp. 165-211. kaigenhoyo(or kaigenkuyo), it would be wrongto considersuch ritualsa timeless, we set of practices, Although unchanging can find records in earlier worksof similar rites.The imperial Shukaku itE) prelate(hosshinno theproduction of a buddha ~T (1150-1202), forexample,describedtheritualsaccompanying f? in Hisho sahoshu, 1[l image out of a sacredtree;see the section"Misogi kaji sah6" WPA*M pp. 128-29; see also thesection"Misogi kaji" WiA*ML1 in Sahosha, p. 455. 63 Nishimura1990, 87. p. 64 On thedoctrines accordingto which"plantsand treesbecome buddhas,"see Rambelli2001.
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thepolardynamics between and matter I mentioned that at the bridge spirit of this section. beginning TheOntology Theontological status ofreligious has ofBuddha Images. images beenthesubject ofongoing and Doctrinal philosophical theological speculation. debates within theShingon oneoftheschools ofJapanese Buddhism tradition, more attentive tophilosophical ofrepresentation andimageworship, problems haveconcerned thequestion oftheabsolute andunconditioned nature precisely ofpaintings andsculptures in issues as known, Shingon doctrine, (philosophical their onthe basisoftwomain theabsolute andunconditioned arguments points: nature ofbuddha as a their oftheuniverand, images; consequence, being part sal mandala. As such, aretobe found inthe Dharmadhatu they palace(hokkaiga unconditioned with the realm ofessence &it)), the (Dharmaspacecoextensive in which Mahavairocana Because of their uncondhatu) enjoys enlightenment. ditioned an and Itwas nature, images acquire ontological soteriologic primacy. for that tohuman the"real"Buddha is notSakyamuni, argued, example, beings butan image ofSakyamuni; the historical Buddha is thus reduced toa mere conabstraction the direct of a An statue. excursus ceptual produced by experience esoteric Buddhism's theories ofrepresentation is therefore inorder, as through an important in whichto locatethediscursive intellectual context practices tohibutsu. related Themost treatment oftheissueis that E[ig (1435-1519). systematic byIn'yfiu He begins hisdiscussion the commonsensical that bypresenting position images areartifacts thetrue buttai made for LJ{AJt), imitating (shinjitsu buddha-body sentient in the world of the end of the Dharma who, beings living corrupt (jokuse tosee it.As conditioned andvisible mappoifftti), areunable (zuien objects buttai as skillful means Nfg~{tA$) produced kengon (upaya)togivereligious to practitioners hobenffi lA;{), imagestherefore guidance (gyojainnya should haveno function intheDharmadhatu is Mahavairocana's palace,which
absoluteand unconditioned (jisho honenshindo ',:1 body-territory emoku honenM-f~M andsale gyozoIfifft).65 Most Shingonauthors develop
of thedoctrine are theabsolute(sokuji accordingto whichtheveryphenomena 67 In fact, nishin pHffi))."6 he adds,there areno ontological distinctions between the six greatelements(rokudaiA7t, thefivematerial elements and consciousoutof whichthecosmos is made),and thefour kindsofmanness,i.e., thestuff
On emokuhonen,a conceptusuallyemployedby theShingiShingon fi: see A tradition, term in Kogi Shingon kAAd doctrinal Mikkyo daijiten,p. 154c; on thecorresponding debates, see in thesame work,"Saie gyozo,"p. 745b. 66 I am summarizing herethearguments proposedin Kohitsushasha sho, fasc. 4, p. 361; and fasc. 4, p. 244. Senpo intonsho, 67 Kohitsushashu sho, p. 361.
65
to thiscommonsensical that "themeaning ofpainted In'yureplies position andsculpted buddha is to be in found the of the secrets (butsuzo) images depths
I?).66
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thetwotypes ofentity transform doctrine:68 into dala ofShingon continuously His position on thispoint is similar to that of ShokenBIE (1307each other. entities arenot the that 1392),whohadmadeclear produced bycononly images in the universe is the result of causation. The causation: ten ditioned everything Dharmadhatu mandala manworlds (hokkai (jikkai+-) as sucharethe perfect mandala from the is no Dharmadhatu dara iffXS): "There deceptive apart TheDharmadhatu oftheninelowerworlds. manviewsofthedeluded beings dala is thedharmas produced bydiscrimination."69 interms ofdelusion andenlightItis possible tomakea distinction, however, as outAs In'yuexplains, thedeluded onessee buddha situated enment. images see as sidetheir the ones unconditioned (honen minds; enlightened images MM,) insidetheir minds.70 and as existing theissue in thefolShokensummarizes in theDharmadhatu that thedharmas mandala lowing among way.He argues there aretheabsolute and the conditioned The condi(honiAi) (zuien _i). tioned dharmas aresubject tothefour alteraphases(shisoPfIt:birth, abiding, anddeath); these four immutable tion, however, phasesareinthemselves (joji There thus no is absolute outside transient The Dharmadhatu VI{E). entity beings. allbeings andentities; since the true anditsimages palacecontains Buddha-body aredifferent should all be present inthepalace.It is similar tothe entities, they case ofwriting. The written in used the secular world are not signs essentially different from theabsolute characters Maha(hossho iftlLZ;) expressing monji
vairocana's enlightenment.71 In other Shokensuggests, sacredimagescirculating inthisworld, made words, out of conditioned materials are not from different by sculptors, ontologically the trueand unconditioned in the same way as secular written Buddha-body, characters are not essentiallydifferent fromthe unconditioned graphsof the absolutelanguageof mantras. and characters are both of manifestations Images thesame entity, the true and the true respectively, buddha-body writing system. also is thefactthat, forShoken,theDharmadhatu Significant palace is thecollectionof all entitiesin the Buddhistuniverse-therefore, it is not a separate certain but is coextensive with theentire universe. space containing only objects, His perspective is grounded in theattempt of Shingontheologyand epistemola systematic ogy to overcomedistinctions through applicationof the logic of nondualism >f). (funi The idea that sacredimagesarestored intheDharmadhatu palace can be traced
68 The four kindsof mandala(shishumandara REOjI ) are,respectively, great(dai A.) mandala, Dharma (ho t) mandala,symbol(sanmaya E5V*) mandala,and action(karma,Jp.katsuma Iff) mandala.The greatmandalapresents theimagesofthedeitiesdepictedin thefivecolors. The Dharmamandalacontainsthewritten of thedeities.The symbolmandalarepreseed letters sentsthedeitiesby objects and ritualimplements such as sword,thunderbolt (vajra), lotus,and wheel (cakra). The actionmandalais a three-dimensional, sculptural representation. 69 Daisho hyakujodaisanju, fasc. 4, p. 652c. 70 Kohitsushasha sho, fasc. 3, p. 345. 71 For theentire see Daisho hyakujodaisanja, fasc. 4, pp. 652a-53a. argument,
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back at least to the earlyKamakura period.In'yd quotesa passage from Hisodensho Dohan makesthisassertion.72 fitfi ti iMl (1178-1252)that by from suchpremises, Raiho MST a generation or (1279-1330?), Drawing living so after for the existence of in Dohan, provided philosophical arguments images theDharmadhatu he the Dharmadhatu is the palace. Firstly, wrote, body/ substance sentient andnonsentient. Painted andsculpted (tai {A)ofall beings, arethus inthe established Dharmadhatu the realm ofMahavairoimages palace, cana's enlightenment. the ritual of esoteric Buddhism are Secondly, implements thebody/substance oftheenlightenment ofall buddhas, be therefore must they in thepalace.Thirdly, dharmas ho NO (innensho produced present karmically theresult oftheunconditioned (honi), (honi Ii) areunconditioned principle in eachsingle an artist is made fact the dori FGS.). As such, image by very oftheDharmadhatu; therefore those must be inthepalace.73 substance images of theinterrelation therealBuddhaandhis images, between The problem of in case of the is also addressed variant the mandala, bythefifth especially attributed a medieval to Kukai.74 Sokushin jobutsugi Jft'WLX{, apocryphon ofthe inIndra's is described themetaphor Thisinterrelation net, through pearls inanapotheosis To allothers ofpure the inwhich eachjewelreflects light. objecofeachindiin this is reflected, thesubstance tionthat metaphor onlythelight all theothers, theanonymous author with vidualpearldoes notmerge replies inthecase oftheBuddha, that (shichi A) mutually image(ei W)andsubstance different andsepaso that eachbuddha imageis notessentially interpenetrate, We have here a case of and from the real Buddha. all rated from other images and samples, usedto of ostension thesemiotics doubles, examples, involving an unconditioned status.75 buddha images give onthestatus ofimages from suchpremises, elaborates In'yufurther Drawing of vision ofthe Dharmadhatu an astonishing palaceas a collection byproposing of which external Mahavairocana's are nevertheless buddha projections images, he states, Thewallsandpillars ofthe Dharmadhatu are palace, enlightenment.76 of with and all decorated (shogonAtd) painted sculpted images buddhas, of totheindications andcelestial madeaccording deities, bodhisattvas, beings Theseimagesarenotmadebydeities orhuman but are thescriptures. beings, of Buddha'sempowerment theresult (kaji). Theyare therefore by produced
Mahavairocana'senlightenment.77 T3,)i) color (fushigi In'yuadds,"thesublime
ofthe Dharmadhatu the five TheDharmadhatu doesnot exceed colors."78 palace ofmandala, contains theoriginals ofthe four kinds which must therefore appear andsculpted as painted images.79
72
73 Shingonhonmoshi,fasc. 29, pp. 773-75. 74 Sokushin jobutsugi, ihon5, p. 397a. 75 On thesesemioticcategories, see Eco 1976, esp. pp. 217-61. See also below,p. 301.
76 78
Kohitsushashu sho, fasc. 3, p. 345.
77 Kohitsushasha sho, pp. 361-62. 79 Kohitsushashu sho, p. 246.
Kohitsushashi sho, fasc. 4, pp. 361-62; Senpo intonsho fasc.4, pp. 244-47. Kohitsushasha sho, p. 246.
289
bodies ofbuddhas,bodbetweenthetrue, original In'yu explainstherelation the and celestialbeingsand their hisattvas, imagesthrough paintedand sculpted The moonis like thetruebodyof thebuddhas;thelight of moonlight. metaphor it emitsis like theunconditioned palace; the images storedin theDharmadhatu in we is like conditioned that reaches the earth the images worship temples.80 light in thisway one of thefundamental according Shingondoctrines, By explaining and conis no essentialdifference betweenunconditioned to whichthere reality and their the of the is to save both able ditioned entities, images externality In'yu of are thus in the economy of enlightenment. function Temples samples the Dharmadhatu absoluteand unconditioned palace of Mahavairocana.The budmade by conditioned dha images we all see are not mere artifacts, arbitrarily of his externalizations Mahavairocana's of but empowerment, beings, samples in described the models based on unmediated innerenlightenment, scriptures. ofsacredobjectsandimagesas "doubles,"samplesoftheabsolThe definition of phenomena to developShingon'saffirmation variouspossibilities ute,offered made clear that Yukai their 'i9 (1345-1416) principles. metaphysical against the real buddha and his images pervadethe entirespace of the Dharmadhatu identical(doto M1) to (henmankoka hokkai Jii$Y1) and are essentially ofimages The from each other. andinseparable ) all-pervasiveness (fusoriTfHMi the absolute are that is a consequenceoftheprinciple (sokujinishin). phenomena mustbe preand therefore withtheDharmadhatu, As such,they are coextensive used offer Buddha to sentin theDharmadhatu religious guidance images palace. are made on the basis of models existingin the to the deluded,furthermore, Dharmadhatu palace. Since all dharmasarise out of innateand unconditioned matter (honnu th), theremustexistinnateand unconditioned images-those in are the resultof the storedin the palace. The unconditioned palace images and the the five colors Mahavairocana's enlightenment (naisho NrE). After all, elementsfive material thanthefivewisdomsandthe fiveshapesarenoneother Mahavairocana's enlightenment.81 all arisingfrom of the issue of representation treatment Another highlyoriginalsystematic thestatusof imageson Goho Goho was offered MS (1306-1362). interprets by thebasis of thefoursemantic isotopiesof esotericBuddhism(shija hishakuEl level (senryakushaku ABMt), images play the role ?,f8).82 On a superficial at to themin Kukai's Shorai mokuroku a1 Hfi as "fingers attributed pointing tranDharmaessentially theBuddhist meansused toindicate themoon,"skillful Goho Another passage in Kukai' s text, scendinglanguageand representation.83 holds,alludes to thesecondlevel (jinpishakuMU'IR)wherein images,as copies oftheDharmaessence (hosshoit ), contribute ofthetrue Buddhaandfunctions level of the to body.On thethird process becominga buddhain thisvery directly
80
81 sha, fasc. 1, pp. 19-20. Shagi ketchaku 82 Goho shisho,fasc. 7, 102-105.

83
fasc. 4, p. 246. Senpo intonsho,
pp. in Hakeda 1972, p. 145. Shorai mokuroku, p. 25a; Englishtranslation
290
from thetrue P, '), imagesappearas non-different (hichajinpishaku ,r of Buddha's become identical tothe as a result Buddha; empowerment, images theDharma and realsoteriologic realBuddhaandacquire preach powers: they fourth and last level to all On the benefits ft, (hihichaujinpishaku beings. bring havethestatus ofnirmnauakdya, condiandsculpted [P? ,'g~), images painted in our and world atthe ofbuddhas bodhisattvas tioned manifestations polluted whilethetrue abidesin hispureandundefiled endof theDharma, Tathagata andhisimage now Their relation is like the world. living Sakyamuni respective in the real for us our In other are buddhas enshrined at Seiryoji. words, images absolute ofexistence from aredifferent the (the modality Dharmakaya age.They for us havedirect salvific butnotontologically. oftheBuddha), efficacy Images In his this had for sentient of Goho as the way, beings age. just Sakyamuni ofimages andrepresenabout thestatus all thevarious interpretations explains for andprovides a forceful athistime tations theological explanation circulating of the nature of Buddhist ideas abouttheanimated imagesas realpresences deities. in a vera stepfurther hisphilosophical carries Goho,however, speculation in four As a consequence of thefourth esoteric stages. development tiginous thatphenomena are the of imagesand theprinciple level of understanding of are in the substance the Dharma fact he states that, absolute, images firstly, andactivities ofsuch absolute are realBuddhas the (hottai{A2S); justappearances hewrites, the Dharmaandimage-like substance. exist; "Therefore," "only images effect of does not exist." an the nature doctrines, (hossho), being operational as Buddha enter the of Dharmathe true when images only stage Secondly, become the ofdoctrinal that is when nature, speculation, they they object acquire for the then manifests himself the unenlightened; Tathagata soteriologic power form of salvific as a provisional (keya yffl). activity Thirdly, imagesthrough with become the trueBuddha(shinbutsu AMh), (kaji) equal empowerment initsabsolute thehonjishin *tth' (theDharmakaya modality). Finally, namely this oftheDharmakaya as unconditioned absolute musa (honi modality appears If its we and however, painted sculptural images HAiP,,SfE). investigate substance, In thisway,transient are theroots, and therealBuddhais thebranches. and destructible with theunconditioned butitis imagesareidentical Dharmakaya, theformer an that possess ontological primacy.84 Thetheoretical ofShingon todeny efforts theconditioned of nature exegetes buddha and turn them into the "real can be illuminated images thing" perhaps notion offraming, Bateson's which Robert Sharf hasusedtoexplain byGregory theambiguous ofBuddhist status ofthe iconsas both andsigns buddhas buddha. Bateson wrote: Inthe dim where and and meet human art, region magic, religion overlap, beings haveevolved the that is the which will men dietosave, "metaphor meant," flag
84
Goho shisho,fasc. 7, pp. 104-105.
RAMBELLI:SecretBuddhas
291
andthesacrament that is felt tobe more than "an outward andvisiblesign, given unto us." Herewe canrecognize an attempt todeny thedifference between map and territory, and to getback to theabsolute innocence of communication by meansofpuremood-signs.85 The Shingoneffort "to denythedifference betweenmap and territory" focused on buddhaimagesin generalrather thanthespecificities of hibutsu. But,as sugGoho's reference above to the between the living gested by relationship of hibutsu took on an Sakyamuniand the Seiryojiimage,thehiddencharacter enhanced meaningwithinthe contextof thateffort. In thathibutsuare not their material instead of visible, directly shape, standingbeforethe viewer/ in remainspregnant withpotential, the worshiper physicalform, heightening theinvisibleultimate. Variouspractices surroundimage's capacityto represent thisdimension, ing secretbuddhasreinforced makinghibutsu perhapsthemost instance of the Buddhist discourse on if also a limited case. representative images, The InvisiblePresence In thissectionwe shall discuss hibutsu'sspecificities threedifby addressing ferent butrelated thematic issues.The first is theparticular ritual in which context hibutsu areplaced andworshiped. The secondis their paratext-thedescriptions, to the images, and information generallyavailable about themthatcontribute formation of an imageof a givensecret buddhaon thepartoftheworshiper who does not actuallysee it. The third issue concernsthe semiotictechnologiesat of an ordinary buddhaimage intoa hibutsu. play in thetransformation In theEdo period,worshipof hibutsu Ritual Contexts. became a mass phenomenon; festivedisplays (kaicho) of secretbuddhas developed into carnivalistic eventsthatattracted thousands of people and generated income for significant thetemplesorganizing them.Particularly were the itinerant impressive displays its secretbuddha (or a copy (degaicho) organizedby Zenkoji, whichbrought to manyplaces in Honshu in a tourne thatlastedforseveralmonths. thereof) Kaicho even constituted a threat to publicorder, to thepointthat theTokugawa issued rules and them.86 government regulations concerning It shouldbe emphasized,however,thateven todaypublic displaysoftendo notmakethehibutsu faraway, really"visible,"sinceitcan onlybe viewed from at the end of a dark and crowdedtemplehall. What matters here is not clear whenthehibutsu vision,a focusedgaze, buta proofofpresence-presencethat, is noton display, is proven ritual attention and worship. On theother by constant can be "seen" accordingto other modalitiesof vision such as the hand,hibutsu and "recollection" of"visualization" described techniques (Jp.nen ;, Sk. smrti) in various scriptures, as well as through and imagining, makinginferences,
85 Bateson 1972, 180. See also Sharf1999, p. pp. 89-90. 86 On these theEdo periodwere subjects,see McCallum 1994. The mostpopularkaichoduring and NaritasanFitiE Fudo. thoseof theZenkoji Amida, Seiry6jiSakyamuni,
292
visions.87 As long as offerings and prayers are givento it, receivingparticular thehibutsu is thusa realandeffective a devicethrough whichtheinvispresence, ible realmof thebuddhasis made "present"-if notfully"visible"-to human world. beingsin theprofane The two poles of the dialecticsof sacred and profane, and matter are spirit in a moreradicalfashion. in hibutsu in their The status of hibutsu ritual present contextsseems to involve two main issues. One concernsvisibility-mostly indirect-and especiallytheapparent of hibutsu; theother replicability pertains to their often due to their extracanonical Let heterodoxical, secrecy, appearance. us discuss thesetwo issues in greater depth. As is clearfrom ourpreviousdiscussionof Shingondoctrines on theabsolute natureof religiousimages,Buddhisticons can be defined as "doubles" of the deities thattheyembodyand withwhom theystandin multiple relations-as in this world,copies, diagrams, traces,samples-in a comseparatepresences mobilization of numerous modesof semiotic As described in plex production.88 narratives of origin(engimonoRcAi and honjimono*tt$), an icon is freheld to represent theway in whicha specific in a itself quently deitymanifested locale a historical time. As such it constitutes a specific during specific "separatebody" (bunshinf4') of thedeity, withwhomit is in a relation of tokento as tracesof a past presenceof a deityin a type.Othericons may be identified certain To this of theBuddha. Still others place. category belongthefootprints are held to be replicasof theappearanceof a deity;even iftheyare notperfect in the"spirit" oftheoriginal. This is thecase of "copies" of copies,they partake famoushibutsu such as theSeiryojiSakyamuni, as a "living explicitly regarded Buddha" (shojin no hotoke a ()AL), and theZenkoji Amida triad.More than three hundred andthey areworshiped buddhas, "copies" existofthesetwosecret in templesall over Japan.89 Many of thesecopies do notresembleeach other, andtherefore areobviously notexactly liketheoriginal-whatever that they may look like (supposedly, no one has everseen theZenkoji Amida). Theyare considerednevertheless to be "filiations," "separatebodies"-separate manifestationsof theoriginal"livingBuddha." As such,their statusas copies is notthat of a replicaof theoriginalbuta "sample" of it. This circumstance illustrates whatMichael Taussig calls the"magicpowerof The copy is no less powerful thantheoriginal(a case in pointis replication."90 theIshiyamadera made in the NyoirinKannon,whichis in facta replacement Heian periodofthedestroyed At the same the time, original). presenceofcopies does notdiminish theprivileged status oftheoriginal. This is evident in thecase of the ZenkOjiAmida: not only do replicasexist throughout Japan,the secret
87 On the of techniques of visualization and recollection, see Ujike originand thesignificance 1984. See also Sharf2001. 88 On the see Eco 1976. See also below,p. 301. conceptof semioticmodes of production, 89 and some 247 copies oftheZenkojiAmidamay Ninety-one copies oftheSeiryojiSakyamuni be foundin templesfrom southern Tohoku. Kyushuto northern 90 Taussig 1993, p. 2.
293
"buddha buddhais doubledby copies knownas maedachibutsu i<{fLA (literally, theshrine that in front [ofthehibutsu]"), is, iconsplaced before imagesstanding main altar of the on the and visible secret buddha the temple. containing and inescapable nature reducesitsprofane Perhaps,thehibutsu'shiddenness at the of buddha other and the temple,including images visibility materiality, In a sense,photographs maedachibutsu "copies,"mayevenenhanceitssacrality. This reproas maedachibutsu. invisiblehibutsualso function of an otherwise contradict Walter seems to of endless, Benjamin's virtually ducibility hibutsu, the "aura" of a unique object by introducthatreproduction assertion destroys reIn thecase of hibutsu, equalityof all things."91 ing a "sense of theuniversal and of buddhas their the invisible the presence actually emphasizes producibility of a certain a sense of thespecificity power,while at thesame timepreserving betweenthe culticsite. Servingas intermediaries image located at a particular and the substitute and the visible the the invisible, sacred, imagesexpand profane Theirpresthesevariousontologicaldimensions. the stages separating/uniting and sacred/profane ence indicatesthatthedistinction betweenvisible/invisible is actuallymorenuancedthanmostaccountssuggest. The intermediary role of thesubstitute image is reinforced by theconcentric in whichone moves from of a temple'ssacrality, structure themostpollutedto themostpure,from themostprofane to themostsacred,from theouterringof thesecularspace outside,to thetemple'ssacredland,temple'scompounds, the main gate,theinnergate,theentrance of thehall, theinnersectionof thehall (naijin Fr) wherethemainiconsarelocated,theplace wherethemaedachibutsu are enshrined, and finally thehibutsu. The mainhall (hondo *t) of Kiyomizudera a typical templein Kyotooffers of this The main visible from the viewaltar, barely example spatialorganization. veranda,is crowdedwiththirty-four ing pointtowardthe spectacular images. The mainicon (honzon)of thetempleis Senju Kannon,a famedhibutsu on disno once and of which there are official everythirty-three play only years, picin front of which tures.The secretbuddha is placed in a closed zushi shrine, standsa "copy,"themaedachibutsu. FlankingthesecretKannonare two attenboth dants(wakiji lS%), Jizoto herleftand Bishamonten PI$PrI7 to herright; The remainarealso hibutsu and areusuallykeptclosed intheir zushi. respective deities(nijahachibushau ing space of thealtaris occupiedby thetwenty-eight and and thegods ofwind(Fujin J/W) tA-gi) forming Senju Kannon's retinue was a March and 3 December 2000 there disBetween 3 thunder 'It). (Raijin thealtarwas moved to thedark,back play of thesecretbuddhas.Interestingly, a The sacredspace of area ofthemainhall, accessible through special corridor. one of theushirodo intosomething was thusturned thehibutsu else, reminding "back door"), the darkspace behindthe main icon occupied by tFf (literally, of the temple,such as an ambiguousand terrifying deity,the actual protector
91 Benjamin 1985, p. 223.
294
Matarajin )iYg1t at Toji in Kyotoand Jogyodo *?ff of MotsujitmS in or Shinra at The Hiraizumi, ifi~5ft OnjojiBi[J (Shigaprefecture).92 Myojin combination of maedachibutsu, and ushirodo an interesting hibutsu, suggests ofgrades structure that ofinvisibility callsfor further study.93 The specific features ofmany toanother hidden dimension images kept point of the dialecticof visible/invisible and sacred/profane hibutsu. surrounding thesancta sanctorum, wereat timesdisturbing, Hibutsu, obscene,sexually "desecrated" as in thecase ofthenaked Benzaiten orKangiten icons, charged, at the Otama Jizo mentioned of this article is another couples(the beginning that Buddhist doctrines not but example). emphasized justthetemple grounds also "plants, andtheterritory" kokudo -ith?)-that is,every(somoku trees, andendowed with Buddhahood. where, including profane By space-is sacred in one sensemaydesecrate and sexuality, elements that the extension, nudity orbehavior inthe orheretical iconandprovoke heterodoxical viewers, thoughts that must be conit a alsoconfer sacredness, higher spiritual power upon greater tenets of esoteric thisis in factone of thefundamental andcontrolled; tained ofsecret buddhas.94 andoneofthemainfeatures Buddhism, features ofhibutsu is their that oneofthemain Guth has suggested Christine or extracanonical icons. that are noncanonical fact Many heterodoxy-the they ofthe ofdirect revelations deities were as a result secret private images produced Guth writes: monks.95 (kantoku YA) tofamous
to In theBuddhist world, image-making normally requires preciseadherence models. those sanctioned Visions, however, especially expeofficially pictorial monks at a moment of physical or spiritual rienced crisis, danger by eminent ofnoncanonical as an authoritative basisfor therepresentation wererecognized the ofimages visions were alsousedtoexplain deities. origins Bythesametoken, their creation.96 sometimes with unorthodox features, longafter iconographic
Guth also suggests that images

whoseoriginal basedon,oradapted Chinese models from, significonographic inJapan orill-understood werecommon ofsuchex icancewas forgotten objects
This paragraph is based on a personalvisitto thetemple.For a morecompletedescription, see Gohonzongokaicho, a pamphletproducedby Kiyomizuderaon occasion of the displayin 2000 of the hibutsu.Motsuji's Matarajin,located in the ushirodobehindAmida's image in the and 15 November 2000. In thiscase, hall,was on special displaybetween15 September Jogyodo visitors a sort ofamulet, insteadofa ticket, a short received, beautifully designed, including explanationof thedeityand its Siddhammantric seed. To thisMatarajinis dedicatedtheEnnen-mai LI of theyear.See Motsiji no ennen-mai. qt ("long-life dance") at thebeginning 93 On thedeitiesenshrined in theushirodoand therituals dedicatedto them, see Oda 1992. 94 In thisregard itmaybe notedthat theMochizukiBuddhist adduces two differencyclopedia entreasonsforthesecrecyof hibutsu: thefirst is thespecial powerof theicon, and thesecondis theparticular Tantricform of theimage,whichis regarded as bestkepthidden.The secondreason appearsto be a subcase ofthefirst: thespecial poweroftheseimagesis related to their capacor even un-Buddhist ityto arouse heterodoxical feelings.See Bukkyo daijiten,p. 4326a. 95 Christine 20 May 2000. Guth,personalcommunication,
96 Guth 1999, p. 113.
92
295
for ritual or sectarian So, too,wereimagesadopted postfacto explanation. purother than those for which were intended.97 poses they originally In some cases, the image may have suffered a disfiguring trauma.Kuno Takeshi B{~freports in small village templethat, a hibutsu when opened for turned out to be a burnedstatuein extremely bad condition, inspection, probatheHeian period.Kuno suggests made during thatafter thestatue blyoriginally was burned it was notreplacedbutwas insteadworshiped as a hibutsu.98 In this the in most the was a of an kind case, detritus, preciousreligiousobject village abjectpiece of burnedmatter. the Yumedono Guze Kannon,accordingto the accountsof its Interestingly, two modern"discoverers," also underwent a stateof "abjection."99 According to OkakuraTenshin'sdescription of their of theimage, "recovery" overa thousand ournosesand was The bad smellaccumulated yearsattacked When we cleared the webs we sawa ritual almost unbearable. away spider implefrom the and there was an object, 7 ment it, Higashiyama dating period; beyond or 8 feet with tallandwrapped cloth and of sutras. When endlessly paperstrips startled snakesandratssuddenly we begantoremove them, appeared.100 ErnestFenollosa similarly that"our eyes and nostrils were in dangerof reports dust."101 beingchokedwiththepungent This linkto "abjection,"extracanonicity, and mystical potential heterodoxy, seems to the In fundamental ambivalent of hibutsu. thecase of power dynamics at the most is also most sacred the some, least, polluted and vice versa. As Michael Taussig writes, "This is the'law ofthebase' at theheart ofreligionand In sacred.' other the where a hibutsu is a peris located "102 words, things space fectexampleof Michel Foucault's "heterotopia"-a place whereutopiais realized: in thiscase, themanifestations of the sacred in all its contradictions and extremism. conceptual is nevercomplete, Paratext.As we have alreadyseen,thesecrecyofhibutsu but is employedto increasethe sense of presenceand effectiveness of the secret in achieving. thatdirectvisibilitymay be less effective buddha, something thandiminishes Hiddennessenhancesrather the sacrednessof hibutsu;at the is notdecreasedbyperiodicdisplay.Public displays their sacredness same time, a and "copies" all serveto reinforce (kaicho or museumexhibitions), pictures, in A of the statue. related sense of thenuminous buddha the residing presence a hibutsuis its to the aura of sacrednesssurrounding contributing component all kindsof accessory textual parergon,whatGerardGenettecalls "paratext":
97 Guth 1999, p. 114.
100 Okakura
102
99 On theabject,see Kristeva1982.
1980, pp. 36-37. Taussig 1999, p. 21.
98 Kuno 1978, p. 13.
101Fenollosa 1911, vol. 1, pp. 50-51. Also citedin Tanaka 1994, p. 24.
296
that constitute a sort ofcommentary toa text andan aidtoitsinterinformation The of a hibutsu narratives of theorigin of the contains pretation.103 paratext talesofmiracles itperformed, icon(engimono andhonjimono), descriptionsitsappearance, moreor less imaginary, moreor less accurate-of information and onritual anddevotional so forth. practices, narratives sometimes that iconsenshrined as hibutsu in were, Origin report "normal" topublic that hadsubsequently times, icons, previous exposed worship, beensubjected toactsoficonoclasm: abandoned. Thisis the defaced, destroyed, case withthefamous the Amida to be thefirst triad, Zenkojiicon, supposed in 552 andsaidtohavebecomealmost Buddhist icontoreachJapan immedithe of anti-Buddhist it was later at enshrined Rescued, ately object persecutions.
thattheimage of Kannonwas iniZenkoji.104 Originstoriesof Sensoji report
in 628 from retrieved theSumidariver thebrothers tially by twofishermen, Hinokuma Hamanari H^ufifi) In 645,when andTakenari the Shokai ftTi. priest theeastern and built a Kannon him in a to hall, gTjvisited regions appeared andaskedhimtoturn dream theimage into a hibutsu. Itis saidthat when in857 EnninHFt{visited thespot, he built a newhall andmadea copyofthesecret buddha.105 Theseaccounts lackhistorical their foundations; primary goal is to s stress the of their hibutsu and the latter' antiquity supernatural respective power ofthepast. andconnections with orhistorical events important priests remind areconnected in various Suchaccounts hibutsu us,too,that waysto relations associated with the where the power among people temple imageis for andmanagement locatedandresponsible control ofthehibutsu's powerful force. Narratives abouthibutsu also bearon thelegitimacy and supernatural ofthetemple in theworld The paratext function at large. hibutsu surrounding make what Pomian calls"semiophores," thus them signifying objects, Krzysztof in thefullsenseoftheterm, becausethey andmakevisiblea social represent around thetemple, theworshipers), whileestablishing group(thecommunity differences andsocialhierarchies (worshipers/nonworshipers, priests/laypeople, with accessto thehibutsu/without is particuaccess).Thislatter priests aspect
larlyevidentin whatwe could call "sacerdotalhibutsu"(images thatare only visibleto and worshiped abbot by priests)and secret objectshandeddownfrom to abbot. A recentinstance, thatof theIchiji KinrinButchoNyoraiof Chusonji,indicates thatthe creationof paratext hibutsuis an ongoingprocess. surrounding This particular manifestation of Mahavairocana,datingback to the late Heian of Fujiwara no Hidehira,the third period,is said to have been the protector of rulers in Hiraizumi. the generation During Tokugawa period,theimage was
On theconceptofparergonin painting, see Derrida 1987,pp. 54ff;on paratext, see Genette 1982, p. 9. 104 On the of thishibutsu, see McCallum 1994. originnarratives 105 See Heibonsha s.v. "Sensoji," vol. 8, pp. 766-67. For a detailedaccount,see daihyakkajiten, Sensoji engi (1692), esp. pp. 408-409.
103
297
consideredto be thehonjibutsu *tg(A1 (the originalbuddha) of Sanno Gongen oftheChusonjicompoundthe Tendai 7&E tutelary deity combinatory lf tSf, an icon of honji suijaku combinatory In moderntimes,probably religiosity.106 after theMeiji persecutions, theimagelostitsritual and was placed in functions thetemplemuseum(HomotsukanSAfg) together withotherstatuesno longer in activeservice.Valorized as an artistic itwas recognizedby thestate treasure, In 1979, however,the templewithdrew as an important cultural the property. it a In the circumfrom and resacralized as hibutsu.107 image regulardisplay stances the illustrated art books, museum catalogues,magazines, and tourist to offer aboutit serve,like theengimono information guidebooksthatcontinue whichto see the image. of earliertimes,as a kindof textualwindow through thiskindofliterature treat the as an artobject, Even though hibutsu may primarily of theno longer itin effect to the of the aura contributes mysterious preservation whatWalterBenjamindescribedas its"cultvalue." Far visibleicon,enhancing intellectual from to their and/or hibutsu value, paratexreducing iconographic tual formations are thusessentialto establishthemas sacred,livingpresences, in thelife(intellectual, and ritual)of political,symbolic, important components thecommunity. How is a hibutsu SemioticTechnologies. words,how is inanproduced?In other turned intoa livingpresenceof theBuddha thatis to remaininvisimatematter Pomian's ible? To answerthisquestion,I findheuristically helpfulKrzysztof ofobjects,andMichael Thompson's and thetypology discussionson collections semioticanalysisof "durableobjects." function: a classification ofobjectson thebasis oftheir Pomianhas attempted into"bodies" (corps),"waste"(dechets), them he differentiates (choses), "things" I proposetoreformulate Pomian's Forclarity, and"semiophores" (semiophores). "waste," "tools," and "repreas, respectively, "physicalentities," terminology are the raw entities sentational objects foundby humansin objects." Physical to objects thathumansabandon,evacuate, or waste refers theirenvironment; The third use and functionality. because theyhave lost their category, destroy thevis"tools,"includestheobjectsused to changeother objects-to "transform thelocalizationof or again to modify ible appearanceor observableproperties, otherobjects." Finally,to the categoryof representational objects, or semiowhichare desphores,belong all "visible objects investedwithsignification," their theexchangeofwordsortopreserve orprolong to "replace,complete, tined remain otherwise would that which and stable visible traces,by rendering evanescentand accessible uniquelyto hearing."Accordingto Pomian, "each twoormorepartners andbetween in an exchangebetween is inserted semiophore
See Sasaki 1999, pp. 168-69. thattheimage mayhave been secretformostof themedieval writes Mimi Yiengpruksawan see on thishibutsu, information and earlymodern 1991). For additional periods(Yiengpruksawan 1998,pp. 179-84 passim, 193-98passim; see also Sasaki 1999,esp. pp. 162-71. Yiengpruksawan
106 107
298
for "substitutes a semiophore As such, andtheinvisible." thevisible something It is its traces. and one of invisible" it, it,reminding bypreserving byshowing madetobe observed.108 therefore that notes Pomian anddiverse cantake andthe invisible the visible between the many opposition distant....In is spatially distant....Itis alsotemporally Theinvisible forms. differall physical itis beyond totally addition, space... ina spacestructured oftime, ineteroroutside ofitsown, ina time Itis situated any passing ently. of that other than ormateriality havea corporeity Itcansometimes itself. nity antimaterialofpure be a sort andsometimes ofthe visible the elements world,
ity.109
tothe sacrificial rituals objects bydisplaying semiophores produce Religious ofthe therealm from andgodsand/or objects bytransferring gaze ofhumans a sacrificial when for visibleto thatof theinvisible instance, (as, objectis the "in involved to the to be sent off in order exchange Being gods).110 destroyed invisible visible andthe the worlds,"'11 religious [taking] placebetween process function and objects images at andthe while sacred the andthe for this world as intermediaries secular, next, ofthe secular heart ofthe atthe the same time world, symbols very constituting, between asgo-betweens acted Inother the absent. the words, hidden, distant, they came. whence from invisible andthe them those whogazedupon they on the invisible ... normally Icons,in particular, living personages, "represent Thisfrom the secular."112 the sacred other side of theboundary separating felt wehave itspresence andcorporeal-as the invisible visible, making making that We havealsoseen, icons. functions ofBuddhist is oneofthe however, seen, as real areenvisioned iconsaremorethan Buddhist they justrepresentations: and other sacred on at of the invisible places.The put display temples presences in the case of hibutsu. more becomes complicated picture aresetapart, kind. albeit ofa special areobviously Hibutsu They semiophores, of the realm ofthebudto the invisible of the time, (most only gaze displayed the visible serve as between and and mediators in a sacred dhas) place, special, thepsychology of realm ofthebuddhas, oftheinvisible-the different orders theories ofrepreintheritual, ideasabout theindividuals objects, participating hibutsu about culture andtradition. Moreradically, andconceptions sentations, ofthedeity inthis in ofthenuminous andrealpresence world: aresemiophores In tobeing itself. this we addition realpresences they display presence respect, should thefundamental semiotic law enunciated remember Barthes, byRoland
108
109 Pomian
Pomian 1997, esp. pp. 80-83.

1994, pp. 172-73.
112 Pomian 1994, p. 171.
110Pomian 1987, esp. pp. 30-37. 11 Pomian 1994, 172. p.
299
but also a sign of thatfuncnamely,an object is notjust use-value,function, tion.ll3In thecase of hibutsu, are not mere just they presence,but also a powerful has further arguedthat objectshave signofthat presence.JeanBaudrillard an additional, metasemiotic value, whathe calls "symbolicvalue." In his definition,thesymbolicis "theu-topiathat puts an end to thetopologiesofthesoul and thebody,man and nature, thereal and thenon-real, birth and death." 14It is precisely thissymbolicinvestment in transcending dualismsand limitations, I would like to suggest, thatendows hibutsu withtheir "aura" as livingentities. Michael Thompson'sstudy ofsemiotic transformations ofcultural objectscan hintson how to understand the production of semiogive us some important between two stable catphoressuchas hibutsu. Thompsondistinguishes general in which can be the transient and the durable.115 As classified, egories objects Jonathan Cullerexplains,"Objectsplaced in thetransient class are thought of as and as decreasing in value overtime.Objects viewed as havingfinite life-spans durableare endowed with,ideally,infinite and retaintheirvalue or life-spans even increasein value over time."116 Transient objects are typically everyday of (clothes,tools,food,etc.),whereasworksof artbelongto thecategory things durables.As a norm,when notconsumedentirely or destroyed withuse, transientobjectsturn intorubbish orjunk, a third cultural of objects.It is category also possible fordurablesto become transients in of (such as thecase of statues Lenin in theformer SovietUnion) and vice versa(as in thecase of antiques)via their transformation first intojunk. Thompsonuses "junk"or "rubbish" to refer to thosethings that in accumulate their but is attics, "dispensable" probpeople and less confusing term.The phase in which an object becomes ably a better collocationand can subsequently be "dispensable,"thatis, has no clear cultural either elevatedas a durableor demotedas waste,to some extent would seem to correspondto what Victor Turnerhas definedas a state of "liminality."117 Liminal entities standoutsideestablishedstructures of meaning,accumulating at randomin theattic,as it were. For objects,theliminalphase, whichis often theresultof some form of social transformation, meansreturn to a tabula rasa, in whichtheirpreviousvalue and statusis denied and annulled.It is a tempoit can last indefinitely. rarystage,even though hibutsu Many contemporary experienceda stage of dispensability, broadly defined. As we have seen, theyoften have a noncanonicalform based on individual and heterodoxical visions (alreadya markof liminality and a potential cause fordisposal); theyare perpetually storedaway in a sortof "sacred attic" thatmakes theminvisible(at least ideally) and thatat timesreducesthemto a stateof decay (occasionallybeyondrepair).118 Hibutsuthusfallat leastpartially
113 114 115 116 118
117 On
see Turner1995. liminality, Hibutsuare particularly feretories and subjectto decay because theyare keptclosed in their
Barthes 1973, pp. 41-42. Baudrillard 1993, p. 133. Thompson 1994. Culler 1988, p. 171.
300
outsidethe two majorcultural of objects(the transient and the categories as a meansto denytheir own durable). Theyseemto revelin their liminality their and,at thesametime, materiality emphasize powerful presence. Dispenin liminality, that results itmight be argued, constitutes one condition sability for thecreation ofa secret buddha. On thebasisoftheexamples I havediscussed thus onemight summarize far, thegeneral of formation of hibutsu as in the While process following diagram. hibutsu not have each and the anygiven may experienced every stage, diagram the various elements that contribute tothe transformation ofanobject encapsulates into a secret buddha: theBuddhist ofimages, the various ofthe ontology phases formation ofbuddha as in told traditional historical narratives, images processes of anti-Buddhist of religious thetransformation artifacts intoart persecution, with that occurred andthesubsequent of re-sacralization modernization, objects treasures as secret national buddhas.
invisible state1 stageone (mostdurable): in buddha is already nonsentients present visiblestate1 stagetwo(transient): rawmaterials 2 visiblestate (durable): stagethree buddha image visiblestate 3 stagefour (dispensable): statues abandoned 4 visiblestate stagefive(durable): buddha recovered statue 2 invisible state stagesix (mostdurable): hibutsu invisible state 3 stageseven(dispensable): of hibutsu to various forms subject abjection visiblestate 5 (durable): stageeight artobject 4 invisible state stagenine(mostdurable): hibutsu as national treasure
attracts and thesein combination insects, damage cannotbe easily assessed orrepaired. Humidity cause fractures in the wood, inviting rats to nest in it; thencome snakes to eat the rats. See Nishimura1990, pp. 9-12.
301
A hibutsu'sphase of durability, we mightsay, was precededby a stage in whichthe statuewas dispensable-it had been desecratedand thrown away; it was in an abject state;it was de factowithout value. Beforethat, however,we can envisionotherstages,in whichthe statuewas simplya piece of inanimate materialwaitingforits "buddhawithin"to be revealed,and laterwas an icon But evenin itsmaterial stateas an uncarved open to view andreceiving worship. It appearsthat thesacred log, as we have seen,thebuddhawas invisibly present. value of theicon neverdisappears,itjust retreats to potentiality, waitingto be recovered. Thereis always a hidden,secretstatethat into precedesdevelopment a hibutsu. Conclusion The signification of buddha images is based on the semioticphenomenon of which "occurs when a given object or eventproducedby natureor ostension, humanaction(intentionally or unintentionally and existingin a worldof facts as a factamongfacts)is 'picked up' by someone and shownas theexpression oftheclass ofwhichitis a member."119 A buddhaimagecan thusbe understood as a double,as when"a cigarette is shown'in orderto describetheproperties of a cigarette"';120 itcan be used to showtheproperties ofa realBuddha as a "real" buddha itself(as the Shingon theory of representation maintains).A buddha image can also be an example,an object that"is selectedas a whole to express itsclass,"121 in thiscase an exampleof whatit meansto be a buddha.Finally,a buddha image can be a sample, as "when only partof an object is selectedto its class)";122as such it is an indication expresstheentire object (and therefore ofthetotality oftheDharmakayaand theDharmadhatu. A buddhaimageis thus an ostensivesignof thereal Buddha. This logic of ostensionexplainsthecomplex statusof buddhaimages as bothan object and a livingpresence. can a hibutsu, as an invisibleimage (whichis in How, however, specifically, an oxymoron), itself be an ostensivesign?Buddhaimagesareperhapsmorereal thanreality itselfas something connectedto its perceivedontological, directly core. Buddha an inaccessible,mysterious, and metaphysical images underline otherdimensionof thereal,while at thesame timeconstituting fundamentally bet(being) thesymbolic, bodily,and material aspectsofthedeities.123 Nothing terthanan invisibleimage,then, to secretly this inaccessible funand "display" other dimension ofreality. It is within thediscursive context outlined damentally above thatwe have to understand the status and the significance of secret buddhas. Ontologicallyand semiotically, hibutsuare no different fromother buddhaimages.Like them, are embodiments of the unconditioned Buddha they of tokens Where hibutsu from theradicallyother. differ body, ordinary images
119 Eco 1976, 120 Eco 1976, 121 Eco 1976, 122 Eco 1976,
123
On theseaspects,see Auge 1988, pp. 13-14.
pp. 224-25. p. 226. p. 226. p. 226.
302
is in their tofunction as an ostensive a paradoxically heightened capacity sign, function linked to their ritual thekindofaccessory information availcontext, able about andtheir modesofproduction. them, Becauseoftheir invisible andsecret hibutsu canbeconsidered status, "degreezerobuddhas," buddha We couldevensaythat Buddha-ness, pure potentiality. withtheir of Buddha-hoodhibutsu, invisibility, displaytheveryconcept butoutof sight. In a sense, thehibutsu is thereturn to and then, omnipresent of that state of and The hibutsu embodperfecting previous latency invisibility. ies andreproduces with itsowninvisibility the concealed buddha-nature hidden, without itspresence andefficacy. The hibutsu's makesit reducing materiality transient-at times in as the of case transient, intrinsically dramatically precious iconsdestroyed Butevenin thiscase a hibutsu does notlose itsontoby fire. values. toBuddhism, is transient, Since, logicalandsacred according everything thetransformations ofhibutsu serve todisplay themain transiency, ontological ofBuddhist feature andatthesametime theconstant needtoengage in reality, devotional actstopreserve theBuddhist Law.
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Secret Buddhas: The Limits of Buddhist Representation Author(s): Fabio Rambelli Reviewed work(s): Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol.

numerous thecenturies haveaccumulated throughout BUDDHISTtemples

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

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8 I owe thisinformation to theabbotof Kannonji,Rev. Maekawa Kyoto HiJfJI[A. 9 Nishimura1990, 88. p.

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RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas

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46 Faure 1998, p. 787.

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

whenMatsudaira Nobutsuna councillor ti~'I' M (1596-1662), senior (roju

RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas

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Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

Kohitsushashu sho, fasc. 3, p. 345.

77 Kohitsushasha sho, pp. 361-62. 79 Kohitsushashu sho, p. 246.

81 sha, fasc. 1, pp. 19-20. Shagi ketchaku 82 Goho shisho,fasc. 7, 102-105.

fasc. 4, p. 246. Senpo intonsho,

pp. in Hakeda 1972, p. 145. Shorai mokuroku, p. 25a; Englishtranslation

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

Goho shisho,fasc. 7, pp. 104-105.

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RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

Guth also suggests that images

98 Kuno 1978, p. 13.

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

Pomian 1997, esp. pp. 80-83.

112 Pomian 1994, p. 171.

110Pomian 1987, esp. pp. 30-37. 11 Pomian 1994, 172. p.

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On theseaspects,see Auge 1988, pp. 13-14.

pp. 224-25. p. 226. p. 226. p. 226.

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Monumenta Nipponica 57:3

RAMBELLI: Secret Buddhas

Tanabe 1989 TanabeSaburosuke "'Taishimiei'nohibutsu" [l-_22EIR)j. rIF?tp Tanaka1993

j O{UA. Invol. Nihon H6so Shuppan Kyokai, 1989.

Asia Center, 1998. Twelfth-Century Japan.Harvard University

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