- Translation
- Regretting and rescinding a sale, the violation of an agreement (samaya), disputes over the union of man and woman, theft, the division of inheritance, gambling: these are headings of litigation.
- Original text
krayavikrayānuśayaḥ samayātikramas tathā / strīpuṃsayogaḥ steyaṃ ca dāyabhāgo 'kṣadevanam //
- Source
- The Bṛhaspatismṛti (Law Code of Bṛhaspati), chapter on litigation
Reading
What Is Samayātikrama?
The pledge of consecration and the rite of repentance
Samayātikrama (otsu-sanmaya) means that a practitioner who has received consecration (kanjō) or the samaya precepts turns against the pledge bound on that occasion. The sutras warn against it sternly, likening it to hell and to death, and they also teach the rites of repentance by which one recovers. If something troubles you, do not decide on your own that you have committed a grave sin; consult your teacher.
Whom It Concerns
Whom Does Samayātikrama Concern?
What samayātikrama concerns is the pledge bound at consecration or in the samaya precepts.
Otsu (越) means stepping across. Samaya is the pledge with the Buddha received at consecration.
Samayātikrama means turning against what one took on through consecration and the receiving of the precepts: the teaching, the aspiration for awakening (bodhicitta, the mind that seeks awakening and seeks to save others), and the order of transmission.
What samayātikrama asks is from whom you received what, and which pledge you bound.
補助典拠を見る：Originally a Secular "Breach of Contract"
Read the stern admonition of the consecration in the original
- Translation
- By transgression of the samaya, it would swiftly reduce the lineages to ashes.
- Original text
samayavyatikramāt kṣipraṃ bhasmīkuryat kulāni tu //
- Commentary
- These words of admonition, from the consecration scene of the Vajraśekhara Sūtra, show the weight of the pledge. Just before, gods and goddesses have been given vajra names and have received the samaya. They are ritual words that urge those receiving the precepts to resolve themselves.
- Source
- The Vajraśekhara Sūtra (Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha, the True Gathering of All Tathāgatas)
Binding the Pledge
Taking Water into the Mouth and Vowing Not to Turn Back
The stern words quoted here are admonitions that urge resolve at the giving of the precepts.
Consecration manuals (kanjō shidai, texts of the consecration procedure) include a scene in which the disciple takes empowered perfumed water (kōzui) into the mouth. This water is called the pledge water (seisui).
The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra likens this act to a worldly oath of alliance. Before the assembly of holy ones, the disciple takes the perfumed water into the mouth and vows never to turn back from the aspiration for great awakening.
Another ritual manual, transmitted in Sanskrit, says that the same water is nectar for one who keeps the pledge and water that burns the body for one who transgresses it.
Making the Disciple Drink the Pledge Water
- Translation
- Having empowered the pledge water once, he makes the disciple drink the pledge water.
- Original text
加持誓水一遍、令弟子飲誓水。
- Source
- Translated by Amoghavajra, the Sūtra of the Great King of Teachings, the True Gathering of All Tathāgatas, Realizing the Mahāyāna (Jin'gangding yiqie rulai zhenshi she dasheng xianzheng dajiaowang jing), final fascicle (Taishō canon T18n0865)
The Pledge Water: An Oath Never to Turn Back from the Aspiration for Great Awakening
- Translation
- This is called the pledge water. In accord with worldly convention, like the rite of an oath of alliance, one takes this perfumed water into the mouth before all the noble ones and makes one's own heart swear, resolving never to turn back from the aspiration for great awakening.
- Original text
此即名爲誓水、亦順世諦猶如盟誓之法、令於一切衆聖前噬此香水自誓其心、要令不退大菩提願也。
- Source
- Expounded by Śubhakarasiṃha and recorded by Yixing, the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu) (Taishō canon T39n1796)
Read the stern ritual admonition in the original
- Translation
- This, for you, is the water of hell: if you transgress the samaya, it will burn you. If you guard the samaya, there is accomplishment. Drink now the vajra water of nectar.
- Original text
idaṃ te nārakaṃ vāri samayātikramād dahet | samayarakṣaṇāt siddhiḥ piba vajrāmṛtodakam ||
- Commentary
- Transgression (samayātikrama) and observance (samayarakṣaṇa) stand side by side in a single verse. This is the Sanskrit attestation behind the Chinese renderings "transgressing the samaya" (越三摩耶) and "guarding the samaya" (守三摩耶).
- Source
- Dīpaṃkarabhadra, the Ritual Manual of the Vajra Samaya Maṇḍala (Guhyasamāja-maṇḍalavidhi), verse 295
What Was Bound
The Four Meanings of Samaya
The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra explains the samaya through four functions.
Expounding the Four Meanings of the Samaya
- Translation
- The samaya is the meaning of equality, the meaning of the original vow, the meaning of removing the obstruction, and the meaning of awakening and alerting.
- Original text
三昧耶是平等義、是本誓義、是除障義、是驚覺義。
- Source
- Expounded by Śubhakarasiṃha and recorded by Yixing, the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu), fascicle 9, "Chapter on the Mantras of the Requisites for Entering the Maṇḍala" (Taishō canon T39n1796)
補助典拠を見る：A Parallel Commentary Transmits the Same Four Meanings
- Translation
- Explaining the samaya that upholds the mantra-knowledge. The samaya is the meaning of equality, of the original vow, of removing the obstruction, and of awakening and alerting.
- Original text
說三昧耶持明。三昧耶者、是平等義、是本誓義、是除障義、是警覺義。
- Commentary
- This way of explaining the four meanings is also handed down in the commentary on the offering sequence and in the ritual manuals of the flaming-mouth rite.
- Source
- Recorded by Yixing, the Commentary on the Method of the Order of Offerings to the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Dapiluzhena jing gongyang cidi fa shu), final fascicle (Taishō canon T39n1797)
One
Equality
The Tathāgata sees that all living beings, in body, speech, and mind, are entirely equal to the Buddha.
Two
The Original Vow
Seeing that all beings have the capacity for buddhahood, the Tathāgata made a great vow to use every means and bring them all, without fail, to awakening.
Three
Removing the Obstruction
We are endowed from the outset with the buddha-mind, but a little delusion covers it, and we fail to notice it. This is the vow to remove that covering.
Four
Awakening and Alerting
The working that rouses us from the sleep of delusion with words of truth and wakes us.
What Counts as Turning Away
Hearts and Acts Regarded as Samayātikrama
What the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra warns against first is a heart turning away from the pledge.
Four are named: viewing people and teachings as better or worse; narrowing, for one's own convenience, the range of those one will save; putting fame and profit first and losing sight of the aim of saving all living beings; and sinking into negligence without rousing one's own heart. Each is a heart drifting away from the Buddha's equality and original vow.
Whether any of these applies is judged in light of one's intention at the time, whether it continues, and which precepts one received. Do not decide on your own; ask your teacher.
越三摩耶の三つのかたち
心の越
人や物事を分けへだてて見ること、平等の誓いに限りを設ける心、名利に従うこと、放逸懈怠。
平等の義に背く『大日経疏』巻九
作法の越
印・真言・曼荼羅の軌則を誤り、菩提心に住さずに修法する。諸仏菩薩を謗るに同じとされる。
本誓の義に背く『大日経疏』『蓮華胎蔵瑜伽』
秘密の越
灌頂を受けた者が、まだ資格のない人へ秘法を漏らす。師と弟子が結んだ誓いを破る。
師資の誓いに背く『現証三昧大教王経』
The Transgression of the Heart: Four Marks
- Translation
- If a bodhisattva forms various views of inequality toward sentient beings and all dharmas, he transgresses the samaya. If within this vow of equality he forms thoughts of various limitations, he likewise transgresses the samaya. If whatever he does follows worldly fame and profit and is not for the great cause of saving sentient beings, he likewise transgresses the samaya. If he is idle and negligent, unable to alert and awaken his own heart, he likewise transgresses the samaya.
- Original text
若菩薩於衆生諸法中作種種不平等見、則越三昧耶法。若於此平等誓中作種種限量之心、亦越三昧耶法。諸有所作隨順世間名利、不爲大事因縁、亦越三昧耶法。放逸懈怠不能警悟其心、亦越三昧耶法。
- Source
- The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu), fascicle 9 (Taishō canon T39n1796)
補助典拠を見る：The Transgression in Practice: Equal to Slandering All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
- Translation
- A bodhisattva cultivating the bodhisattva practice in the mantra gate who has already aroused the aspiration for awakening should dwell in the station of the Tathāgata and draw the maṇḍala. If one acts otherwise, it is the same as slandering all buddhas and bodhisattvas: one transgresses the samaya and will certainly fall into the evil destinies.
- Original text
真言門修菩薩行諸菩薩已發菩提心、應當住如來地、畫漫荼羅。若異此者、同謗諸佛菩薩、越三昧耶、決定墮於惡趣。
- Source
- Translated by Śubhakarasiṃha and Yixing, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Daibirushana-jōbutsu-shinpen-kaji-kyō), fascicle 4, "Chapter on the Secret Mudras" (Taishō canon T18n0848)
補助典拠を見る：The Transgression of Secrecy: If It Is Revealed to the Unqualified
- Translation
- To one who has not yet seen the great maṇḍala, you must not expound this Dharma of the samaya. If you expound it, you violate and transgress the samaya.
- Original text
若有不見大曼拏羅者、汝不應爲說此三昧法。若爲說者違越三昧。
- Commentary
- The Chinese translation writes 三昧 (sanmei), but the same passage in the Sanskrit text of the Vajraśekhara Sūtra reads samaya. It refers to the samaya bound at consecration.
- Source
- Translated by Dānapāla, the Sūtra of the Great King of the Teaching of the Realization of the Samaya of the Great Vehicle, Spoken by the Buddha as the True Gathering of All Tathāgatas (Taishō canon T18n0882)
The Four Foundations
The Four Grave Precepts, Guarded Like One's Life
The four grave precepts (shijūkin) of the samaya precepts are four foundations the practitioner must never let go.
The Mahāvairocana Sūtra teaches that these are to be guarded like one's own life. The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra calls the four grave precepts "the life-root of the mantra vehicle" and explains why with a simile. When a person's head is cut off, life does not continue; the hands and feet can no longer do anything, and before long the body decays. In the same way, it says, one who breaks the four grave precepts decays before long, however many other meritorious practices he may cultivate. The strong simile "like a corpse" is likewise meant to show those receiving the precepts the weight of these foundations.
The Foundational Verse of the Four Grave Precepts
- Translation
- Child of the Buddha, from this day forth, because you do not grudge even your body and life: you must never abandon the Dharma, never part from the aspiration for awakening, never begrudge any teaching, and never do what does not benefit sentient beings. The Buddha expounds the samaya. You who dwell well in the precepts: guard them just as you guard your own life.
- Original text
佛子汝從今、不惜身命故、常不應捨法、捨離菩提心、慳悋一切法、不利衆生行。佛說三昧耶、汝善住戒者、如護自身命、護戒亦如是。
- Source
- Translated by Śubhakarasiṃha and Yixing, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Daibirushana-jōbutsu-shinpen-kaji-kyō), fascicle 2, "Chapter on the Mantras of the Requisites for Entering the Maṇḍala" (Taishō canon T18n0848)
Confirm the Commentary's powerful simile
- Translation
- These four grave precepts are the life-root of the mantra vehicle, and the life-root of the true Dharma as well. One who breaks them is like a corpse within the secret treasury: however many meritorious practices he may cultivate, before long they rot and collapse.
- Original text
今此四夷戒是真言乘命根、亦是正法命根。若破壞者、於祕密藏中猶如死尸、雖具修種種功德行、不久敗壞也。
- Source
- The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu), fascicle 9 (Taishō canon T39n1796)
- Never abandon the true Dharma. Receive the Buddha's teaching, and do not let it go.
- Never abandon the aspiration for awakening. Do not part from the heart that seeks awakening and works to save sentient beings.
- Never begrudge the Dharma. Watching the other person's capacity and the order of transmission, do not begrudge the teaching that suits that person.
- Never abandon the practice that benefits sentient beings. Do not stop working for the good of others.
Reading and Practicing
Where Reading Ends and Practice Received from a Teacher Begins
Hearing the words of a sutra, reciting the services a temple presents, and practicing mudrās, mantras, and contemplations after consecration are each different acts.
What the ritual manuals sternly warn against is practicing particular mudrās, mantras, contemplations, or altar rites that one has assembled in one's own way, without receiving transmission. The scriptures, manuals, and commentaries call this the sin of stealing the Dharma (tōhō) or of transgressing the Dharma (oppō).
The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra teaches that a practice must always be received from a teacher, because without a true teacher, the Dharma that is transmitted loses its ground. Transmission from a teacher is the order by which the teaching, the practitioner, and the lineage are handed on without harm. When you recite sutras or perform daily services on your own today, please follow the order of service indicated by the temple to which you belong.
補助典拠を見る：Without Consecration and a Master's Transmission, the Sin of Stealing the Dharma
- Translation
- Should you nevertheless cultivate the practice, you invite misfortune upon yourself, commit the sin of stealing the Dharma, and in the end gain no effect whatsoever.
- Original text
設爾修行、自招殃咎、成盜法罪、終無功効。
- Commentary
- "Nevertheless" takes up the condition stated just before. The text says that one should learn the aspiration for awakening and the samaya precepts from a yoga ācārya, enter the maṇḍala, and receive consecration; it then admonishes the case of cultivating the practice in question without doing so.
- Source
- Translated by Amoghavajra, the Account of the Occasion of Ānanda's Teaching of the Essentials of Yoga Gathered for Bestowing Food on the Flaming Mouth (Yuqie jiyao yankou shishi qijiao Anantuo yuanyou) (Taishō canon T21n1318)
補助典拠を見る：The Sin of Transgressing the Dharma Means Violating the Samaya
- Translation
- If you violate and transgress the secret rules of the buddhas of the three ages, you incur the sin of transgressing the Dharma. The sin of transgressing the Dharma here means violating the samaya (samayātikrama), and corresponds to the third precept among the four pārājikas of esoteric Buddhism.
- Original text
違越三世諸佛祕密法則、得越法罪。越法罪者、此中所謂犯三昧耶、四波羅夷中第三戒也。
- Commentary
- The commentary treats as the sin of transgressing the Dharma the case in which the one transmitting misjudges the recipient's capacity, giving a profound teaching to an immature person or a shallow teaching to a person of sharp faculties. The Vinaya also has a "sin of transgressing the Dharma" (duṣkṛta) written with the same characters, but in the Vinaya it is a light offense, while in esoteric Buddhism it is a grave one.
- Source
- Jueyuan, the Extensive Secret Notes on the Meaning of the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing yishi yanmi chao) (Xuzangjing (X) X23n0439)
Receive It without Fail from a Teacher
- Translation
- The Buddha taught that this sutra must without fail be received from a teacher; one must not cultivate it rashly and on one's own authority. If there is no true teacher, it is because that which is to be transmitted would have no ground to rest upon.
- Original text
佛說此經要從師受、不得輒爾修行。若無明師、則所傳無寄故也。
- Source
- The Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu), fascicle 3 (Taishō canon T39n1796)
補助典拠を見る：A Teaching for Laypeople in the Edo Period: Mantras Not Conferred Are Not Recited, but Anyone May Recite the Mantra of Light
- Translation
- If one chants a mantra or dhāraṇī without having been conferred it, this is samayātikrama, and there is the sin of violating the precepts laid down by the Buddha. That everyone may chant the Mantra of Light even without its being conferred is because the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara) received it from all the Tathāgatas on behalf of us sentient beings. All other mantras and dhāraṇīs must by no means be chanted unless they have been conferred.
- Original text
真言陀羅尼を授からずして誦ふれば、越三昧耶とて仏の制戒に違がふ罪あり。光明真言は、授からざる人も皆 誦ふる事は、是 観世音菩薩 我人衆生に代りて一切如来より御授かり置給りし真言なるが故なり。余の真言陀羅尼は、授からざれば決して誦ふべからず。
- Commentary
- A teaching for laypeople found in a book published in 1811 (Bunka 8). Today, please follow the daily services and guidance indicated by the temple to which you belong.
- Source
- Kaien, A Small Mirror of Peace of Mind in the Mantra (Shingon anjin shōkyō), "Questions," scroll 10 (published 1811; blocks held by Enmyōin, Miyajimasan, Awa)
Recovery
The Rites of Repentance and Recovery
The Buddha never breaks the original vow. That is why someone who has turned against the pledge can remember it and return.
The scriptures and manuals of esoteric Buddhism warn against transgression, and they also teach the rites of repentance by which one recovers.
One manual hands down a verse of repentance confessing in the first person, "I have turned against and transgressed the samaya." Another teaches a rite by which a practitioner who has broken the precepts forms a mudrā and recites a mantra, removes the fault, and returns to the original state of wholeness.
If you have received the precepts or consecration and something troubles you, do not decide the name of the offense on your own; first ask the ācārya who conferred them. If you cannot reach him, please consult the temple to which you belong, an ācārya of the same Dharma lineage, or your school's office for doctrine and temple affairs. Your teacher will guide any repentance or re-receiving of the precepts that is needed, according to the Dharma you received and your circumstances.
Repentance practices such as the hundred-syllable mantra are also received from the teacher with whom you bound the pledge. If you cannot reach anyone right away, at night for instance, please ask on another day.
A Repentance in the First Person
- Translation
- Because wrong views covered my heart, I have violated and transgressed the samaya. Now, before the great noble one, I repent with all my heart. As the buddhas of old repented, so do I repent now. May we ride upon the power of this empowerment, and may all sentient beings be purified.
- Original text
邪見覆心故、違越三昧耶。今對大聖尊、盡心而懺悔、如先佛所懺、我今亦如是。願乘加持力、衆生悉清淨。
- Source
- The Method of Cultivation, Accomplishment of Siddhi, and Offering of the Great Wheel Vajra (Dalun jin'gang xiuxing xidi chengjiu ji gongyang fa) (Taishō canon T21n1231)
補助典拠を見る：Restoring the Broken Samaya Precepts with Mudra and Mantra
- Translation
- Should a practitioner transgress the Dharma, err in the three activities, and break the samaya precepts, then because he forms this mudra and chants the mantra in empowerment, he is able to remove all faults and attain wholeness in everything.
- Original text
修行者設有越法誤失三業破三摩耶戒、由結此印、誦真言加持故、能除諸過、皆得圓滿。
- Source
- Translated by Amoghavajra, the Ritual Manual Sūtra for the Cultivation of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara in the Vajraśekhara Yoga (Taishō canon T20n1056)
補助典拠を見る：Even a Lost Ācārya's Station Is Restored by Building the Altar
- Translation
- Should a yogin break the samaya, or an ācārya lose the station of master through what is contrary to the Dharma, by establishing this wheel altar he is restored to his original ācārya station, and cultivating all samādhis and mantras he swiftly attains accomplishment.
- Original text
瑜伽者破三昧耶、或阿闍梨非法失師位、由建立此輪壇、則復本阿闍梨位、修一切三摩地真言速得成就。
- Source
- Translated by Amoghavajra, the Commentary on the Principle of the Prajñāpāramitā of the Samaya Sūtra of the True and Unfailing Vajra of Great Bliss (Taishō canon T19n1003)
Read the appendix: where the phrase "the head splits into seven pieces" comes from
On a Stern Phrase
The Phrase "The Head Splits into Seven Pieces"
The scriptural phrase "the head splits into seven pieces" is aimed at different people in different texts.
In the Middle Length Āgama (Madhyama Āgama), it appears in a scene where the Tathāgata would recite the precepts in a sangha that includes an impure monk. In the Fundamental Ritual Manual of Mañjuśrī, it is a phrase of subjugation aimed at obstructing beings who do not obey the command of the wrathful deity. The Sanskrit text describes such a being as one who would samayam atikramet (transgress the samaya), but that samaya is the pledge the obstructing being made on submitting to the wrathful deity. Neither text speaks of the karmic result of samayātikrama by a practitioner who has received consecration.
What should be confirmed about samayātikrama is from which pledge one has parted, whom one has harmed, and how one returns.
The Prototype Seen in an Old Sutra
- Translation
- (If the Tathāgata were to recite the precepts in an impure sangha,) that person's head would at once split into seven pieces.
- Original text
彼人則便頭破七分。
- Commentary
- A warning stated in the setting of the uposatha (fusatsu, the assembly for confirming the precepts), under the condition that the Tathāgata would recite the precepts (the prātimokṣa) in a sangha that includes an impure monk.
- Source
- Translated by Gautama Saṃghadeva, the Middle Length Āgama (Zhong ahan jing) (Taishō canon T01n0026)
In Esoteric Buddhism, as the Reward of Those Who Disobey the Command
- Translation
- If the obstruction-maker does not obey his command, his head will split into seven pieces, like the branches of the arjaka tree.
- Original text
彼障難者若不順其命、頭破七分如阿梨樹枝。
- Source
- Translated by Tianxizai, the Extensive Fundamental Ritual Manual Sūtra of Mañjuśrī, Bodhisattva Treasury (Taishō canon T20n1191)
The Sanskrit Image: Like the Flower Cluster of the Arjaka
- Translation
- His head will split into seven, like the flower cluster of the arjaka.
- Original text
saptadhāsya sphuṭen mūrdhā arjakasyeva mañjarī |
- Commentary
- The same phrase appears widely in scriptures where a spell is protected, such as the Dhāraṇī chapter of the Lotus Sūtra and the Peacock Wisdom King Sūtra. Here too it is a phrase that speaks of the power of the spell.
- Source
- The Fundamental Ritual Manual of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa)
The Wrathful Mudra That Makes One Receive the Samaya Anew
- Translation
- If there is one who has transgressed the samaya, use the "wrathful mudra of receiving the samaya" to subdue him.
- Original text
若有越三摩耶者、當用受三摩耶忿怒印而作調伏。
- Source
- Translated by Amoghavajra, the Susiddhikara Sūtra (Taishō canon T18n0897)
Read the appendix: how the Preface to the Samaya Precepts explains the precepts
Kūkai and the Samaya Precepts
The Substance of the Precepts in the Preface to the Samaya Precepts
The Preface to the Samaya Precepts (Sanmaya-kai jo), composed by Kōbō Daishi Kūkai, has shaped the Shingon school's understanding of the samaya precepts.
The Preface to the Samaya Precepts teaches that the samaya buddha-precepts are the precepts of the teaching of the mantra maṇḍala, preached by the self-natured Dharma-body of Mahāvairocana (Dainichi Nyorai). The Shingon school has understood the substance of these precepts (kaitai) as the pure aspiration for awakening that all beings possess from the outset, equal to the Buddha. The samaya precepts are the pledge by which one receives this original equality and does not forget it.
Manifesting this inherent equality in this very body, now, through contemplation, mantra, and the practice of the three secrets (the workings of body, speech, and mind), is called attaining buddhahood in this very body. The samaya precepts are the precepts that guard its entrance.
The Samaya Buddha-Precepts Are the Precepts of Dharma-Body Mahāvairocana
- Translation
- These samaya buddha-precepts now being conferred are the precepts of the teaching of the mantra maṇḍala preached by the self-natured Dharma-body of Mahāvairocana himself.
- Original text
今所授三昧耶佛戒者、則是大毘盧遮那自性法身之所説眞言曼荼羅教之戒也。
- Source
- Henjō Kongō (Kūkai), The Preface to the Samaya Precepts (Sanmaya-kai jo) (Taishō canon T78n2462)
The Substance of the Precepts: The Aspiration for Awakening in Which All Beings Are Originally Equal
- Translation
- The four kinds of Dharma-body and the four kinds of maṇḍala of Mahāvairocana are what all sentient beings originally, equally, possess in common.
- Original text
大毘盧遮那四種法身四種曼荼羅、此是一切衆生本來平等共有。
- Source
- The Preface to the Samaya Precepts (Sanmaya-kai jo) (Taishō canon T78n2462)
Read the appendix: when the pledge becomes visible as a buddha's attribute
Another Samaya
Are Samaya and the Samaya-Form the Same?
The word samaya is also often heard in the term samaya-form (sanmaya-gyō), which refers to the attribute a buddha holds.
Kannon's lotus, Fudō's sword, and Vajrasattva's five-pronged vajra are called samaya-forms. The Dharma of Perfuming Suchness That Benefits Beings throughout the Dharma Realm, of the Great Compassionate Wisdom Seal of Avalokiteśvara, translated by the Tripiṭaka master Amoghavajra, says: "Samaya is the form of the original vow." The lotus and the sword show that buddha's vow and working in a visible form.
In esoteric Buddhism, a single buddha is represented in three ways: the seed syllable (shuji, a Siddhaṃ letter), the samaya-form (the attribute), and the honored form (the figure). The Mahāvairocana Sūtra teaches that the honored ones have three kinds of body: letter, sign, and image. Kōbō Daishi, too, in The Meaning of Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Body (Sokushin jōbutsu gi), called this "sign," that is, attributes such as swords and lotuses, the samaya maṇḍala.
Samaya (pledge) and samādhi (sanmai, settling the mind on one point) are different words.
The Honored Ones Have Three Kinds of Bodies: Letter, Sign, and Image
- Translation
- Lord of Secrets, the honored ones have three kinds of bodies: what are called letter (seed syllable), sign, and image.
- Original text
祕密主、諸尊有三種身、所謂字印形像。
- Source
- Translated by Śubhakarasiṃha and Yixing, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Daibirushana-jōbutsu-shinpen-kaji-kyō), fascicle 6, "Chapter on the Secret Maṇḍala" (Taishō canon T18n0848)
Kūkai, Too, Calls the Attributes the Samaya Maṇḍala
- Translation
- The sign means the various emblems, that is, the samaya maṇḍala.
- Original text
印謂種種幖幟、卽三昧耶曼荼羅。
- Source
- Kūkai, The Meaning of Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Body (Sokushin jōbutsu gi) (Taishō canon T77n2428)
Frequently Asked Questions
References
References and Sources
This article was written by Taniguchi Shinryō, head priest of Byōdōji, a temple of the Kōyasan Shingon school, on the basis of the scriptures of Shingon esoteric Buddhism and scholarly research. The Chinese originals are quoted from the text of the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō (Taishō canon), and sources are indicated by volume, text number (Tnnnn), and page and register. The Sanskrit follows the editions held by GRETIL and MUKTABODHA.
Foundational Scriptures (CBETA; Indian compositions)
Translated by Śubhakarasiṃha and Yixing, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Daibirushana-jōbutsu-shinpen-kaji-kyō) (Taishō canon vol. 18, T18n0848). Fascicle 2, "Chapter on the Mantras of the Requisites for Entering the Maṇḍala" (the verse of the four grave precepts, p.12b) / fascicle 4, "Chapter on the Secret Mudras" (transgressing the samaya and the certain fall into the evil destinies, p.30a) / fascicle 6, "Chapter on the Secret Maṇḍala" (letter, sign, and image, p.44a)
Commentaries (CBETA)
Expounded by Śubhakarasiṃha and recorded by Yixing, the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Darijing shu) (Taishō canon vol. 39, T39n1796). Fascicle 3 (that it must be received from a teacher, p.611c) / fascicle 5 (the pledge water, p.630a) / fascicle 7 (the letter-explanation of the mantra, p.649c) / fascicle 9 (the four meanings of the samaya, p.674c; the four marks of samayātikrama, p.675a; the four grave precepts as the life-root, p.671a) / fascicle 14 (the sin of samayātikrama as the self-vow, p.722c)
Recorded by Yixing, the Commentary on the Method of the Order of Offerings to the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Taishō canon vol. 39, T39n1797, p.794c). A parallel transmission of the four meanings
Jueyuan, the Extensive Secret Notes on the Meaning of the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Xuzangjing (X) vol. 23, X23n0439, p.658c). The sin of transgressing the Dharma = violating the samaya = the third of the four pārājikas
Consecration and Ritual Manuals (CBETA)
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Sūtra of the Great King of Teachings, the True Gathering of All Tathāgatas, Realizing the Mahāyāna (Taishō canon vol. 18, T18n0865, p.218a). The act of drinking the pledge water
Translated by Dānapāla, the Sūtra of the Great King of the Teaching of the Realization of the Samaya of the Great Vehicle, Spoken by the Buddha as the True Gathering of All Tathāgatas (Taishō canon vol. 18, T18n0882, p.353c). Disclosure to the unqualified = violating and transgressing the samaya
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Susiddhikara Sūtra (Taishō canon vol. 18, T18n0897, p.769b). Subjugation by the wrathful mudra of receiving the samaya
The Method of Cultivation, Accomplishment of Siddhi, and Offering of the Great Wheel Vajra (Taishō canon vol. 21, T21n1231, p.166c). A verse of repentance in the first person
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Ritual Manual Sūtra for the Cultivation of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara in the Vajraśekhara Yoga (Taishō canon vol. 20, T20n1056, pp.75b and 80b). Recovery through the mudra and the hundred-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva; the extinction of the five uninterrupted sins
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Commentary on the Principle of the Prajñāpāramitā of the Samaya Sūtra of the True and Unfailing Vajra of Great Bliss (Taishō canon vol. 19, T19n1003, p.614a). Restoration of the ācārya station through the wheel altar
Transmission and Vinaya (Stealing the Dharma and the Sin of Transgressing the Dharma)
Translated by Atikūṭa, the Dhāraṇī Collection Sūtra (Tuoluoni ji jing) (654, the fifth year of Yonghui; Taishō canon vol. 18, T18n0901, p.803b). Forming mudrās without consecration is stealing the Dharma. The same passage then adds an exception: one who recites and keeps this dhāraṇī is treated as having entered the altar, and using the mudrās is not stealing the Dharma.
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Account of the Occasion of Ānanda's Teaching of the Essentials of Yoga Gathered for Bestowing Food on the Flaming Mouth (Taishō canon vol. 21, T21n1318, p.469c). Without consecration and a master's transmission, the sin of stealing the Dharma
Translated by Yijing, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (Taishō canon vol. 23, T23n1442, p.641c). The vinaya's sin of transgressing the Dharma = duṣkṛta. A separate lineage sharing its written form with, but different in meaning from, the esoteric sin of transgressing the Dharma.
The Sifenlü mingyi biaoshi (Glossary of Names and Meanings of the Four-Part Vinaya) (Xuzangjing (X) X44n0744). Philological notes on the vinaya's sin of transgressing the Dharma (duṣkṛta).
The Pini zhenjing lu (Xuzangjing (X) X39n0708). Philological notes on the vinaya's sin of transgressing the Dharma (duṣkṛta).
Karmic Rewards and Early Layers (CBETA)
Translated by Gautama Saṃghadeva, the Middle Length Āgama (Taishō canon vol. 1, T01n0026, p.478c). The prototype of the head splitting into seven pieces (a warning set in the uposatha, for the case in which the precepts are recited in an impure sangha)
Translated by Tianxizai, the Extensive Fundamental Ritual Manual Sūtra of Mañjuśrī, Bodhisattva Treasury (the Chinese Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa) (Taishō canon vol. 20, T20n1191, p.880b). The head splits into seven pieces, like the branches of the arjaka tree
Works of Kūkai and the Samaya-Form (CBETA / SAT)
Henjō Kongō (Kūkai), The Preface to the Samaya Precepts (Sanmaya-kai jo) (Taishō canon vol. 78, T78n2462, pp.5a and 5c). The samaya buddha-precepts = the precepts of Dharma-body Mahāvairocana; the substance of the precepts = the pure aspiration for awakening in which sentient beings are originally equal
Kūkai, The Meaning of Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Body (Sokushin jōbutsu gi) (Taishō canon vol. 77, T77n2428, p.381b). The various emblems = the samaya maṇḍala
Translated by Amoghavajra, the Dharma of Perfuming Suchness That Benefits Sentient Beings throughout the Dharma Realm, of the Great Compassionate Wisdom Seal of Avalokiteśvara (Taishō canon vol. 20, T20n1042, p.33c). The samaya-form = the form of the original vow
Sanskrit Texts (GRETIL / MUKTABODHA)
Dīpaṃkarabhadra, Guhyasamājamaṇḍalavidhi, v.295 (GRETIL). The verse of the pledge water (accomplishment if kept, hell if transgressed)
Bṛhaspatismṛti, vyavahārakāṇḍa (GRETIL; the reconstruction edited by K. V. Rangaswami Aiyangar). samayātikrama = secular breach of contract
Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (the Vajraśekhara Sūtra; GRETIL). samayavyatikrama = transgression that turns a lineage to ashes
(Ārya)mañjuśrīmūlakalpa (GRETIL / MUKTABODHA). The Sanskrit image of the head splitting into seven (saptadhāsya sphuṭen mūrdhā arjakasyeva mañjarī)
Dictionaries and Studies
The Shinsenban Nihon kokugo daijiten (Shōgakukan), entry "越三昧耶." The sin of transgressing the Dharma = among the sins of samayātikrama, the grave sin of violating the order of transmission
Teramoto Ryōshin, "On Samayātikrama" (Indogaku Bukkyōgaku kenkyū (Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies) vol. 63, no. 1, 2014, pp.86–91)
Yamao Yūshō, "An Essay on the Theory of the Precept-Substance of the Samaya Precepts: What Qualifies a Shingon Practitioner?" (Chizan gakuhō no. 71, 2022, pp.195–213). The precept-substance of the samaya precepts, the four grave precepts, and the Essentials of Dhyāna of Tripiṭaka Master Śubhakarasiṃha (Mui sanzō zen'yō)
Research Infrastructure
Primary-source searches and text collation were carried out with the buddha CLI (eight corpora: CBETA, SAT, Tipitaka, GRETIL, SARIT, MUKTABODHA, the Complete Works of the Jōdo School, and Adarsha/BUDA); the main quotations were collated against the texts of CBETA, SAT, and GRETIL
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