Jizo Bodhisattva Page 6

  Several stone, wood, and earthen Jizo statues are said to have been carved by Gyōgi Bosatsu. One was credited with saving the life of a priest. The priest had been attacked by robbers wielding swords. A blade descended on his neck and as he collapsed, he prayed to Jizo for help. When he awoke the robbers were gone and his body was miraculously unharmed. The next day the priest went to give thanks to Jizo. He found the head of the statue lying on the ground with blood flowing from its neck. This Jizo was named the “Jizo whose head was cut off.”

  While on a Jizo pilgrimage in Japan, I asked Shodo Harada Roshi about Jizo Bodhisattva. He elaborated on the connection between Gyōgi Bosatsu and Jizo, saying that Gyōgi Bosatsu was a great philanthropist who raised money for the casting of the great Buddha statue in Nara, an effort that gave employment to poor people at a time when economic and social conditions were very difficult. The building of a huge Buddha helped them find both financial security and also increased faith and hope. Thus Gyōgi Bosatsu himself became worshiped during his lifetime as a “living bodhisattva” who had rescued many people from the hell realms of starvation and disease. Because he was a special protector of the weak, particularly children, the poor, and slaves, he was linked with Jizo Bodhisattva. Jizo Bodhisattva had become popular among the poor and powerless because they were better able to relate to a simple and homey Jizo in a weathered wayside shrine than to a huge golden image of an enlightened Buddha on the high altar of a fancy temple, a temple they might not even be allowed to enter.

  Jizo Bodhisattva in Tendai and Shingon Buddhism

  The founders of two schools of esoteric Buddhism that remain important in Japan today, the Shingon and Tendai sects, both venerate Jizo Bodhisattva. Shingon practice emphasized recitation of dharanis and the representation of the truths of the universe as man-dalas. The two basic mandala forms, the vajradhatu (diamond realm) and the garbhadhatu (womb), both contain Kshitigarbha (Jizo) as one of the great Bodhisattvas. Shingon believers can select one bodhisattva to practice with, the choice being made by casting a flower on a mandala while blindfolded. If the flower lands upon Jizo (Kshitigarbha), then special practices related to Jizo are undertaken for a period of time.

  The Six Jizos

  Statues of six Jizos (Japanese: Roku Jizo) are often found at the entrance to cemeteries in Japan. The Six Jizos likely came from China, as the Sutra of the Ten Kings describes six figures of Ti-tsang. The Six Jizos may also come from the division of Jizo into six bodies, one to take care of suffering living beings in each of the six realms (see chapter ten). The Six Jizos became very popular and were worshiped even by non-Buddhist Shinto priests, as documented in this story.

  Koretaka was a priest at a tenth-century shrine. Although he was Shinto, he also believed in Jizo and constantly recited the bodhisattva’s name. One day he was taken ill and quickly died. Three days later he suddenly came back to life. He related that after death he found himself alone and lost in a desolate wasteland. As he cried out for help, he saw six handsome boys coming toward him, each carrying a different object: an incense burner, a rosary, a pearl, a six ringed staff a flower basket, and a jeweled banner. They said to Koretaka, “Don’t you know us? You worshiped us when you were alive. Because beings who dwell in the six realms are affected by different causes and conditions and each suffers differently, we manifest a hundred thousand forms, each to benefit a specific being according to his suffering. Please return home and make six statues of Jizo.” Koretaka later erected a Buddhist temple with six statues of Jizo as he had seen them in the afterworld. He lived past age seventy, dying with the name of Jizo on his lips.

  Because of Jizo’s vow to protect travelers, images of the Roku Jizo were placed on the six entrance roads to Kyoto in the twelfth century. In the seventeenth century similar statues were erected around Tokyo. People began to undertake a pilgrimage in late August to worship each of the Jizos, a custom that has continued for many centuries. It was said that those who completed a pilgrimage to a series of temples devoted to a bodhisattva like Kannon or Jizo would have feet that “shone with sanctity.” Thus their merit then would be recognized when they arrived in the dark judgment halls of hell.

  Shogun Jizo

  About three centuries after Jizo Bodhisattva entered Japan, the cult of the Shogun Jizo arose among the warrior class. It was a mystic cult based upon secret practices, with elements of Shingon Buddhism as well as Taoism. The Shogun Jizo was worshiped as a special protector of the military class, helped by a Sanskrit reading of the term “shogun” as prasenajit, or “conqueror of armies.”

  The cult of Shogun Jizo originated with the priest Enchin, who in 798 built a beautiful Temple, Kiyomizu-dera (Clear Spring) on a hill overlooking Kyoto. Construction of the temple was funded by General Sakanoue Tamuramaro. The emperor had ordered the general to lead troops to quell a rebellion in the north. Before embarking on his journey, he visited Enchin and asked the priest to assist him through the power of the Buddha Dharma. Enchin promised to do this. The general was confident of victory, but in the first battle the enemy overwhelmed his troops and he was forced to flee. In a second encounter, when another defeat seemed inevitable, suddenly a little Buddhist priest appeared on the battlefield accompanied by a small boy. They picked up the many spent arrows lying on the ground and gave them to Tamuramaro. With these gleaned arrows, the general killed the enemy leader and quelled the rebellion. Returning in triumph, he hastened to Kiy-omizu-dera where he asked Enchin how the miracle had occurred. The priest replied, “Among my practices there is one devoted to Shogun Jizo (Army Conquering Jizo) and to Shoteki Bishamon (Enemy Conquering Vaisramana). I made images of these two deities and made offerings and prayed to them.” The general realized who the priest and boy had been. As he entered the temple to give thanks, he found that both images had wounds apparently inflicted by swords and arrows, and their feet were covered with mud! Struck with wonder, Tamuramaro reported this miracle to the emperor, who was deeply impressed.

  The Shogun Jizo is portrayed as a soldier monk, riding on horseback, wearing armor and a warrior’s helmet. He carries Jizo’s staff and jewel or pearl in his hands, with his armor covered by a priest’s robe! His face is gentle, not fierce. The Chinese had sometimes shown Ti-tsang Bodhisattva riding or leading a horse in hell but not in armor. The Chinese saw Jizo more as a public defender than a soldier. During five hundred years of warfare, the Japanese adapted the gentle Jizo to their needs. He literally became a god of battle. The Japanese strategically placed him at the gates of castles and erected his image in their battle camps to support their cause. Warriors must have taken solace in the belief that, although killing was forbidden by the Buddhist precepts, Jizo would accept sincere atonement and help save those condemned to hell for their sins.

  A document from the seventeenth century praises the Shogun Jizo:

  Shogun Jizo . . . resides on Mount Atago in the west of the capital and is the tutelary god of the gentry. Going to the battlefields he kills the wicked and gives peace to the world. Moreover he removes calamities and fires, and gives many generations and felicity to families and he bestows easy birth upon women. Oh! Who would not praise the blessed power of this Bodhisattva!

  Shogun Jizo in armor, with two swords and a banner.

  Sometimes Jizo led people to abandon a life dedicated to war. In 1340 a rebellion was led by Nitta Yoshisuke. One of the rebels, fleeing from soldiers, took refuge in a temple where he prayed for help. A priest approached him and quickly gave him a rosary in trade for his sword. When the soldiers arrived they found an innocent-looking man with a rosary reading a sutra. Searching outside they found the priest holding a bloody sword. The bound him with thick ropes and cast him into prison. The next morning they were astonished to find that although the cell was still locked, the priest had vanished. A lovely fragrance, called a “divine odor” in Japanese, permeated the empty cell. The soldiers, angry that the priest had escaped, ran back to the temple. When they threw open the shrine they found a Jizo statue that
was bound with their very ropes. A brilliant light emanated from the statue. Filled with awe they all knelt before Jizo. Overcome with repentance for their many acts of killing, they cut off their hair with their swords, took vows, and entered the monastic life. The Jizo statue still retains the marks of the bonds of rope.

  Jizo Legends

  There are many folk legends of Jizo helping poor or desperate people with simple tasks. One of the Six Jizos on Mount Koya was called the Kotsumi no Jizo, or “Jizo who piled up wood.” In 1270 the chief of a village at the foot of Mount Katsuragi ordered his people to cut wood to be burned in the making of salt. One old woman was ill and unable to do the work. On the altar in her small hut was a simple wooden Jizo. No matter how little food she had, every morning and evening she had made offerings to this Jizo. That night the old woman complained to Jizo asking why, if she had been so devoted to him, he did not help her with the work she had to do. In her dreams that night she saw a small priest leaving her house. When he returned he said, “Old mother, I have done the work for you.” The next morning she went outside to find freshly split firewood piled as high as the roof eaves. She ran to make an offering to the Jizo and saw that the feet of the statue were covered with mud. She realized that he had cut and piled the wood for her during the night.

  Another of the Mount Koya Roku Jizo performed a miracle for an elderly caretaker. Each winter the abbot of Jurin ordered the temple servants to rake the snow from the garden paths in front of the Jizo shrine. He told them that Jizo might need to rise early to go about helping living beings. One serving man did this work faithfully, year after year. One winter evening as he was working in a heavy snowfall, sweeping the walk in front of the hall where the statue stood, the old man grumbled, “You go out every night to help people who are suffering. Raking snow is hard work for an old man. Why don’t you take a turn?” At daybreak when the servant arose, he was astonished to see that the night’s snowfall had already been cleared from the garden. Snowy footprints led to the porch of the hall where the Jizo image stood. This Jizo became known as Yuki-kaki Jizo, or “Snow Raking Jizo.”

  A letter-delivering Jizo is mentioned in the history of the largest wooden building in the world, Todai-ji Temple in Nara. The temple was rebuilt after a fire in 1195 by Yukitaka, a devoted believer in Jizo Bodhsattva, who died while his daughter was still young. The grieving girl wrote a letter to her father and tied it to the hand of the Jizo statue in the main shrine. She wept night and day before the image praying, “Jizo-sama, you save those in the six realms and are sure to know where my father is now. Please give him this letter and bring me his answer.” On the morning of the seventh day her letter had disappeared from Jizo’s hand and in its place she found a response from her father. Historical records showed that in 1675 the letter was still preserved at the temple.

  The Many Forms of Jizo

  As these legends illustrate, Jizo is a very adaptable bodhisattva. He is able to fly, speak, to do chores, exchange his body for those in danger, and to cure illnesses. Here is a partial list of the many forms of Jizo found in Japan:

  Aburakake Jizo—Jizo that worshipers paint with oil

  Amagoi Jizo—asks the sky for rain

  Ashi-arai Jizo—washes his feet after helping peasants in the rice paddies

  Atago Jizo—a warrior Jizo on horseback who rescues warriors in difficulty and puts enemies to flight

  Doro-ashi Jizo—Jizo who gets his feet muddy helping in the fields

  Emmei or Enmei Jizo—the Jizo who prolongs life and provides many benefits including watching over children, curing illness, preventing accidents, and granting success in business and school

  Hanatori Jizo—leads horses and cattle

  Hara obi Jizo—stomach-wrapper Jizo who protects women during pregnancy

  Hikeshi Jizo—protects houses and harvests from fire

  Hoshu Jizo—jewel-holding Jizo

  Hoshu shakujo Jizo—jewel- and staff-holding Jizo

  Hoyake Jizo-Jizo who burned his cheeks rescuing someone in hell

  Indo Jizo—saves humans after death and leads them to enlightenment

  Kara te Jizo —empty-handed Jizo

  Kosazuke Jizo —child-granting Jizo

  Kosodate Jizo —Jizo who helps with successful rearing of children

  Koyasu Jizo —easy-childbirth Jizo

  Kugi nuki Jizo —Jizo who pulls out pain

  Meyame Jizo —restores eyesight

  Migawari Jizo —surrogate or body-exchange Jizo who helps peasants in their work and substitutes for someone in danger

  Miwari Jizo —protects villages

  Mizuhiki Jizo-brings water to the rice paddies

  Mizuko Jizo —water-child Jizo who protects aborted and miscarried fetuses

  Neko Jizo —cat Jizo

  Nuri kobe Jizo —Jizo who cures dental problems

  Omukai Jizo —Jizo who comes to greet you when you die and leads you to Amida’s heaven

  Otsukiyare Jizo —“inspired” oracle Jizo to whom questions are posed

  Roku Jizo —six Jizos, one for each realm of existence, usually shown in a group with different objects in the hands of each

  Sentai Jizo —one thousand bodies of Jizo, sometimes represented as one thousand statues of Jizo

  TachiyamaJizo—a Jizo who takes the place of a woman devotee so she can rest once a month

  Tagenuki Jizo —removes splinters and thorns

  Tai-san Jizo —prosperous-birth Jizo

  Taue Jizo —helps farmers plant rice

  Toge nuki Jizo —pulls thorns out

  Tsunbo Jizo —deaf Jizo to whom letters must be written

  Yume Jizo —dream or sleep Jizo

  There are many unusual Jizos and customs surrounding these Jizos in Japan. The “Oil Painted Jizo” got its name when an oil merchant stumbled and spilled almost all the oil he was carrying. What little oil remained he gave to Jizo by pouring it over his statue. The man’s business grew and he became very prosperous and for the last five hundred years worshipers have anointed this statue with oil. An “Asekaki Jizo” sweats white sweat during times of good fortune and black sweat in times of calamity when he is bearing the pain of the people. Devotees believe that if they wipe the white beads of moisture that form on his stone body with special paper and carry this home they will have good fortune. There is a Jizo named Gacha Gacha after the sound he made when people removed him from his mountain home and placed him in the middle of their village. He began to rattle (“gacha gacha”) to let them know that he was homesick and wanted to be returned. There is a “Threaded Stone” Jizo who heard the prayers of a poor couple and cured their infant daughter of deafness. The parents were overjoyed when the child was awakened by the sound of a rooster crowing. They could not afford the usual offerings to Jizo and gave instead an odd stone with a hole in it that they had found and threaded with string. Now the statue is surrounded by piles of threaded stones.

  To retain its vitality a religion has to adapt to the needs of the people. These adaptations are mirrored in the changes that have occurred to Jizo Bodhisattva over the past one and a half millennia in Japan. Once a religion becomes well established and interwoven with bureaucracy, it begins to serve the fears of those who cling to power. Empty pomp and ceremony becomes a substitute for an experience of the deep Mystery. A few moments of silent prayer are mistaken for the deep inner silence in which the voice of that Mystery can be heard. As the religion loses its connection with the source of spiritual life and the needs of the common folk, it begins to die. Then it is the “heathen” and the “barbarians” who can see it with fresh eyes, ask and discover how this religion can help this very day, and thus bring it back to life. A religion that allows this to occur will survive.

  Compared to our pubescent American society, the Japanese culture seems ancient, subtle, and refined. It is a surprise to discover that when Buddhism entered from China, it was the Japanese who were the “eastern barbarians.” Now it is the Americans and Europeans to whom
the beauty and benefits of Buddhism have appeared. We are the new eastern barbarians. Jizo Bodhisattva has been transported to America by priests bearing the gift of the pain-relieving truths discovered by the Buddha. Jizo has come as a quiet stowaway. In twenty years of practice with Maezumi Roshi, the only contacts we had with Jizo Bodhisattva were the two statues in the garden and clinic at the Los Angeles Zen Center and a service for the center children held on Jizo Bodhisattva Day each August. We were not taught anything directly about Jizo. We had to discover him for ourselves when the need arose.

  For twentieth-first-century Americans, the notion of enlightenment introduced by our Japanese teachers may seem as distant and unimaginable as the notion of the Chinese Buddhist heaven once was to the fifth-century Japanese. We, like the early Japanese, want a religion that can help with the problems, fears, and sadness of our daily life. The goal of rebirth in heaven or enlightenment seems far away when we are suffering now. The early Japanese wanted a Jizo who could avert floods, help crops grow, ease the pain of childbirth, and cure eye disease. Now we have huge dams engineered to control floods and medical technology to ease birth pangs and prevent blindness. Some forms of suffering have been softened over the last fourteen hundred years, but what has not changed is the fact that whether we are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or American, we are still humans, and thus can never escape the fundamental suffering that the Buddha described. We and those we love will inevitably become ill, grow old, and die. Having found their natal religions somehow opaque and inaccessible, many have turned to Buddhism for answers.