A rare and precious connection
The Eight Patriarchs are the masters through whom esoteric Buddhism passed from India to Tang China and then to Japan. Of the eight statues kept at Byodoji, two have already been restored and one awaits work. We now seek one donor each for the remaining five: one patron guards a single image in full and leaves their name within it for the ages, taking a place before the patriarchs.
A project for the 1,200th-anniversary memorial of Kobo Daishi
In 2034 Byodoji will mark the 1,200th-anniversary memorial of Kobo Daishi’s entering meditation. As one project for that occasion, we are carrying out the restoration of the Eight Patriarch statues.
The temple record shows that this is no sudden idea. The Byodoji Yuraiki tells how, over five days from the fourth day of the third month of 1792, the fifth-generation restorer Keiban revived the long-lapsed opening of Yakushi Nyorai, and that an Eight Patriarch eye-opening rite was held on its middle day.
Its first day was a Great Mandala rite for the Mieido, the middle day was the Eight Patriarch eye-opening rite, and the closing day was a water-kanjo rite for all beings.
Set between the Great Mandala rite of the opening day and the water-kanjo for all beings on the last, the Eight Patriarch rite stood at the very centre of those days that rekindled the temple’s light.
In keeping with this history, on 22 April 2034 Byodoji will hold an Eight Patriarch eye-opening rite within the great goma of the 1,200th-anniversary memorial, returning the memory of 1792 to the future once more.
That all eight statues had suffered with the years is a sorrow to us. Two are now restored and one awaits work; for the remaining five we await donors. To halt the damage, restore each form, and place a name and wish within is to carry prayer itself into the future.
The Eight Patriarchs
In Shingon Buddhism, the Eight Patriarchs are the masters of transmission through whom esoteric teaching passed from India to Tang China and was brought to Japan by Kobo Daishi. They are Nāgārjuna, Nāgabodhi, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Śubhakarasiṃha, Yixing, Huiguo, and Kobo Daishi.
They are not simply eight great monks set side by side. The one who opened the teaching, those who received it, those who translated the scriptures, the one who made it clear, the one who ordered the forms of prayer, and the master who conferred it directly on Kobo Daishi are revered together as a single line of transmission.
The teaching begins with the Indian masters Nāgārjuna and Nāgabodhi. Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra carried the Diamond Realm to Tang China, while Śubhakarasiṃha brought the Womb Realm with the Mahāvairocana Sūtra and Yixing set it down in writing. These two streams were joined in the single person of Huiguo at Qinglong Temple, and conferred upon Kobo Daishi.
The two mandala teachings of the Diamond and Womb Realms reached us across seas and ages through the labour of many masters. The Eight Patriarch statues keep that road of the Dharma at the temple in visible form. To place a name within a restored statue is to praise the patriarchs and to be bound oneself into that current.
The way the Eight Patriarchs received the teaching is called shahei-sōjō in Buddhism: as water is poured from one vessel into another without losing a drop, so the depths of the Dharma are conferred from master to disciple.
The phrase comes from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, where the disciple Ānanda, who held every teaching he heard but once, was praised as one pouring water from vessel to vessel.
持我所說十二部經、一經於耳、曾不再問、如寫瓶水、置之一瓶、唯除一問。
Of the twelve divisions of scripture I taught, Ānanda, hearing them once, never asked again, as water is poured from one vessel into another, save for a single question.
The sutra then reveals that one question. When the Śākya clan was destroyed and Kapilavastu razed, Ānanda, in his grief, asked why the Buddha’s countenance remained as serene as ever while he himself was worn with sorrow. The Buddha answered that it was because he abided in the samādhi of emptiness, and three years later Ānanda came once more to confirm it. This was the single matter that he, who never asked twice, asked a second time.
Shingon later used these words for the way Huiguo conferred the two realms upon Kobo Daishi.
兩部祕奧、漢梵無差、悉受於心、猶如寫瓶。
He received the depths of both realms into his heart, with no difference between Chinese and Sanskrit, just as water is poured from vessel to vessel.
What matters in esoteric Buddhism is not knowing by books alone, but that the living Dharma passes whole from master to disciple. The Eight Patriarch statues keep the certainty of that handing-on in visible form.
The Eight Patriarch images trace back to portraits Kobo Daishi brought from Tang China. The five of Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Śubhakarasiṃha, Yixing, and Huiguo, said to be by Tang court painters, survive today at Tōji as the national-treasure “Seven Patriarch Portraits.” As there were none of Nāgārjuna and Nāgabodhi in Tang, two more were painted in Japan after his return; the inscriptions are in Kobo Daishi’s own hand, and the names of Nāgārjuna and Nāgabodhi are traditionally ascribed to Emperor Saga.
The portraits shown here follow the “Eight Patriarch Portraits” held by the Nara National Museum. The Eight Patriarch statues long kept at Byodoji likewise carry on these forms of the masters.
NāgārjunaDates unknown
Revered as the first of the patriarchs, a great Indian master who opened the depths of the esoteric teaching. He is said to have received the Dharma from Vajrasattva and passed it to Nāgabodhi. An old tradition holds this patriarch to be the same person as the great Madhyamaka master Nāgārjuna, though others regard them as distinct figures.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
NāgabodhiDates unknown
He received the Dharma from Nāgārjuna and transmitted it to Vajrabodhi, carrying an unseen current of teaching safely into the next age.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Vajrabodhi671–741
He travelled from India to Tang China and transmitted the esoteric teaching of the Diamond Realm, raising altars of consecration across the land. His lineage continues to Amoghavajra.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Amoghavajra705–774
Receiving the Dharma from Vajrabodhi, he spread esoteric Buddhism widely in Tang China, translating many scriptures and rites and ordering the forms of prayer. He was the master of Huiguo.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Śubhakarasiṃha637–735
He came from India to Tang China and transmitted the profound teaching of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra. With Yixing he rendered it into Chinese, laying the ground for the Womb Realm teaching to spread through East Asia.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Yixing683–727
He assisted Śubhakarasiṃha’s translation of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra and recorded its exposition in the great commentary, setting out the path by which the teaching could be learned. He was also versed in astronomy and the calendar.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Huiguo746–805
At Qinglong Temple in Chang’an he conferred the essential esoteric teaching upon Kobo Daishi. Having inherited both the Diamond and Womb Realms, he transmitted the two realms together to Kobo Daishi.
画像: ColBase（国立文化財機構所蔵品統合検索システム）収録、奈良国立博物館蔵「真言八祖像」 / CC BY 4.0
Kūkai774–835
Receiving the esoteric teaching of both realms from Huiguo, he brought the great mandalas and scriptures home to Japan and founded Byodoji. He is the eighth of the patriarchs.
画像: 平等寺
One Statue, One Name and Wish
Your offering halts the damage, restores the patriarchs to a form fit for worship, and carries a name and wish into the future. An offering at a temple is not merely the mending of a form. As a votive lamp or stone pagoda lights the path on, so the restored statues will adorn the light of the Dharma at Byodoji for years to come.
Soiling is cleaned, cracks and lifting are checked, and repair, repainting, and re-gilding are done as needed. Each statue is treated according to its condition, with care not to lose its old form or the air of devotion it has carried.
The donor’s name and wish are enshrined within the statue and engraved on its base. Placing a prayer inside an image is an old way of entrusting a sign of faith to later ages; the weight of this offering lies in setting the wish not on paper alone, but within the patriarch’s form.
Once restored, the statue returns to the place of prayer at Byodoji as one of the Eight Patriarchs. The name does not end as a single memorial, but is placed within the daily reverence offered to the masters.
The enshrinement within and the engraving on the base quietly tell later ages by whose wish the statue was protected. The donor’s wish is placed before the patriarchs and inherited together with the light of the Dharma at Byodoji.
Restoration examples
These before-and-after examples show the already restored statues of Nāgārjuna and Kobo Daishi. The work stops further damage, restores the form for worship, and returns the statues to the prayer space.
The damaged surface and form were stabilized and restored so the statue could once again be revered with clarity.
The restored statue shows how the patriarchs return from a damaged condition to a dignified form for daily worship.
Awaiting support
For each of the five statues below, we seek one donor. Each statue receives a single restoration offering, and once fulfilled, its acceptance closes. We ask, with your understanding, that you rejoice in this fortunate bond.
For an offering of 3,000,000 yen, the donor’s name and wish are enshrined within the statue and engraved on its base, to remain for years to come. This is no momentary memorial, but a rare and precious bond placed before the patriarchs in daily worship and carried into the future.
Accepting
VajrabodhiDiamond Realm
Vajrabodhi crossed from India to Tang China and transmitted the Diamond Realm. To join in restoring his statue is to add your name to the long road by which esoteric Buddhism was carried across the sea.
Accepting
AmoghavajraDiamond Realm
Amoghavajra received the Dharma from Vajrabodhi and spread it widely in Tang China, ordering the forms of prayer for the peace of the land and its people. To place your name and wish within his statue is to rejoice in that work of prayer.
Accepting
ŚubhakarasiṃhaWomb Realm
Śubhakarasiṃha brought the Mahāvairocana Sūtra and the Womb Realm teaching to Tang China. Your offering toward this statue helps keep the compassionate teaching of Mahāvairocana at Byodoji for generations.
Accepting
YixingWomb Realm
Yixing recorded the exposition of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra and set out the path by which the teaching could be learned. Restoring his statue is an offering to the wisdom that receives and transmits the teaching faithfully.
Accepting
HuiguoBoth realms
At Qinglong Temple, Huiguo entrusted the two-realm teaching to Kobo Daishi. To restore his statue is to be bound, here and now, to that precious moment when the Dharma was handed on toward Japan.
For overseas donors
Donors outside Japan can give by international bank transfer as well. After you apply, we will send you the remittance details.
As part of the same memorial, a fund to restore the Daishido’s Kobo Daishi statue is also underway. From 500 yen per share, anyone may form a bond.
They are the eight masters through whom esoteric Buddhism was handed down from India to Tang China and then to Japan. Byodoji enshrines Nāgārjuna, Nāgabodhi, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Śubhakarasiṃha, Yixing, Huiguo, and Kobo Daishi, called the “transmitting” Eight Patriarchs.
It is a figure for conferring the Dharma from master to disciple without losing a drop, as water is poured from one vessel into another. The phrase comes from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, in praise of Ānanda, and was later used for Huiguo’s transmission of both realms to Kobo Daishi.
They are the two mandala teachings of esoteric Buddhism. The Diamond Realm was brought to Tang China by Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra and the Womb Realm by Śubhakarasiṃha; they were joined in the single person of Huiguo at Qinglong Temple and conferred on Kobo Daishi, reaching Japan.
The bestowing eight are counted from the Dharma-body Mahāvairocana: Mahāvairocana, Vajrasattva, Nāgārjuna, Nāgabodhi, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Huiguo, and Kūkai. The transmitting eight are the historical masters who spread the teaching: Nāgārjuna, Nāgabodhi, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra, Śubhakarasiṃha, Yixing, Huiguo, and Kūkai. Temple statues usually depict the transmitting eight.
An old tradition holds them to be the same, and Shingon reveres him as such; some scholars see them as different figures. We follow the tradition without insisting on the point.
For 3,000,000 yen per statue, your name and wish are enshrined within the statue and engraved on its base. You may proceed from each statue’s card below to its own offering page. Each statue receives one offering, and once fulfilled, its acceptance closes.
The restored Eight Patriarch statues will be consecrated on 22 April 2034, in time for the 1,200th-anniversary memorial of Kobo Daishi, at the Eight Patriarchs eye-opening rite. Each patron is sent an invitation to this rite.
As an offering to a religious corporation, it is not tax-deductible. We will send you a confirmation of receipt after you apply.
Dāna
Five statues await support. Each receives a single restoration offering, and once fulfilled, its acceptance closes. We invite you to form this fortunate bond.