Acala (Fudō Myōō) is a manifestation in which Mahāvairocana (Vairocana) appears in wrathful form to guide sentient beings. He ever abides within flames, and with that fire he burns away defilements and every hindrance.

With the sharp sword in his right hand he severs delusion; with the lasso (kenjaku, a rope) in his left he draws in those who are lost and leads them toward awakening. Seated unmoved upon the great rock, his figure expresses the still concentration (samādhi) that nothing can shake.

In Sanskrit, Acalanātha. The name means "the Immovable One." He is also called Shō Mudō-son, the Sacred Immovable One.

Fudō is a manifestation (the wrathful expedient body) in which Mahāvairocana appears in wrathful form.

The ritual manual of Acala, the Ritual Manual for the Secret Attainment of the Forty-Eight Messengers of the Victorious Acala (Shōgun Fudō Myōō Shijūhachi Shisha Himitsu Jōju Giki), teaches that Fudō is a manifestation of Mahāvairocana and that he guards those who uphold his mantra in life after life.

The same ritual manual teaches Fudō's four vows: "Whoever sees my body gives rise to the aspiration for awakening; whoever hears my name cuts off evil and cultivates good; whoever hears my teaching gains great wisdom; whoever knows my mind attains buddhahood in this very body." Beneath the wrathful form lies the great compassion that seeks to lead people to buddhahood.

Fudō's form is described in detail in the ritual manuals. A single braid of hair hangs down on the left, one eye is narrowed, the right hand grasps a sharp sword, the left holds a lasso, he is seated upon a great rock, and his body is dark blue-black in color.

The fine conventions such as the braided hair, the heaven-and-earth eyes (eyes that look up and down on either side), and the fangs, along with the ways of viewing his form collected as the "Nineteen Contemplations of Fudō," were arranged in Japan on the basis of the ritual manuals. The Fudō triad, with the two attendant boys, the obedient Kongara and the fierce Seitaka, flanking him as attendants, was also widely made.

The conception of Fudō's wisdom-fire is rooted in the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, which Kōbō Daishi Kūkai transmitted. That sūtra likens the wisdom of Mahāvairocana to fire.

The fire kindled in the goma hearth is taken as an image of this wisdom-fire. Fudō's wisdom-fire burns away the firewood of defilements and calamities. This is the basis of the Fudō goma.

Fudō is the central deity of the Five Great Wisdom Kings (Fudō, Trailokyavijaya, Kuṇḍali, Yamāntaka, and Vajrayakṣa). A Wisdom King (Myōō) is a deity who, with wrathful power, teaches and guides those who do not follow the Buddha's teaching, and is positioned as the "wrathful expedient body" (kyōryōrinjin) who appears at the command of Mahāvairocana.

A place for Fudō is also fixed within the maṇḍala of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, and as the principal deity of the rites for averting calamity (sokusai), he has long been placed at the center of the esoteric system of ritual practice.

Fudō's wisdom-fire burns away calamities and hindrances, guards the practitioner day and night, and leads their wishes to fulfillment.

Fudō's severe wrathful expression is not anger itself but the strength of the great compassion that seeks to save. He severs with severity the delusions that gentleness alone cannot cut off. That is Fudō's compassion.

Fudō is the Wisdom King most beloved in Japan, the principal deity of prayers for worldly benefit.

• The Three Fudō. The Yellow Fudō (Mii-dera), Blue Fudō (Shōren-in), and Red Fudō (Myōō-in on Mount Kōya), associated with Chishō Daishi, are known as masterpieces of painting.
• Beginning with the Kinki Thirty-Six Fudō Pilgrimage, there are sacred sites and pilgrimage stations of Fudō throughout the land.
• "Fudō's Day." The 28th is held to be Fudō's ennichi (feast day) because, in the thirty-day rotation of hidden buddhas, the 28th corresponds to Mahāvairocana, whose manifestation is Fudō.

Byōdōji, the twenty-second station of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Sacred Sites and a temple of the Kōyasan Shingon school, holds deep devotion to Fudō and performs the Fudō goma on the night of the 28th of every month. The 28th is Fudō's ennichi.

The Acala enshrined at Byōdōji is a seated image in joined-woodblock construction (yosegi-zukuri), held to date from the Edo period. He grasps an upright sword in his right hand and a lasso in his left, with the heaven-and-earth eyes and bared fangs of a wrathful form.

At Byōdōji, the Shōhassenmai-ku (offering of eight thousand burnt sticks) and the Two-Hundred-Twenty-Thousand-Stick goma held each year are also performed as great rites with Fudō as the principal deity. The monthly Fudō goma is the everyday heart of this devotion.

Prayers that cut off calamity and guard the body, such as warding off misfortune, averting calamity, and lengthening life through the dispelling of harm, are carried upon the wisdom-fire of the goma and delivered to you.

About the Statue

• The Acala of Byōdōji (introduction)
• The Fudō goma on the 28th of every month (explanation and application)