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Encyclopaedia of Ancient, Obscure and Esoteric East Asian Religious Practices

Sannō Mandala and Honji-Suijaku Ritual Vision

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Canonical entry drawn from a single source layer in 11_ILLUSTRATED_MIKKYO_ASTRAL_FUNERARY_v1_9.md.

Research layers

Section titled “Research layers”

Layer 1: Sannō Mandala and Honji-Suijaku Ritual Vision

Section titled “Layer 1: Sannō Mandala and Honji-Suijaku Ritual Vision”

Source file: 11_ILLUSTRATED_MIKKYO_ASTRAL_FUNERARY_v1_9.md

Type: Buddhist-Shintō syncretic iconography
Visual evidence: Met object 45631.

Meaning

Section titled “Meaning”

The Sannō mandala gives visual form to honji-suijaku, in which kami are interpreted as local manifestations/traces of Buddhist originals.

Practice interface

Section titled “Practice interface”
  1. Identify the shrine-temple complex and its honji-suijaku correspondences.
  2. Install/contemplate the mandala in the ritual context.
  3. Address the kami in the form appropriate to the shrine tradition.
  4. Simultaneously understand their Buddhist “original ground” identities.
  5. Perform the temple/shrine liturgy without collapsing kami and Buddha into a simplistic one-to-one equivalence beyond the actual local doctrine.
  6. Dedicate/close according to the rite.

Research importance

Section titled “Research importance”

This is an excellent visual bridge between the Buddhist, Shintō and syncretic volumes.

v1.9 VISUAL RETROFIT ADDITIONS

Section titled “v1.9 VISUAL RETROFIT ADDITIONS”

The following existing subjects now have strong institutional image matches and should be illustrated in the eventual fully rendered edition:

  • Fudō Myōō — Met 53176 / 44842.
  • Five Wisdom Kings iconographic manual — Met 44911.
  • Seed-syllable Fudō — Met 670899.
  • Gorinkan / five-syllable Sanskrit mandala — Met 912998.
  • Two-World Mandalas — Met Japanese Mandalas gallery.
  • Mudrā instruction — Met Scroll of Mudras.
  • Star rites — Met 78283.
  • Monju Eight-Syllable rite — Met 40137.
  • Ichiji Kinrin — Met 44886.
  • Thirteen Buddhas — Met 853237.
  • Sannō / honji-suijaku — Met 45631.
  • Esoteric kesa — Met 68412.
  • Prajñāpāramitā ritual mandala — Met 53205.

Visual completeness rule

Section titled “Visual completeness rule”

Where a historical diagram is necessary to perform or understand a rite, the encyclopedia’s eventual “complete” status requires the diagram as well as prose transcription. A ritual whose critical mudrā, maṇḍala, talisman, star chart or footwork diagram is absent cannot score above Completeness C merely because its prose is lengthy.