Byodoji Temple Origin Record

Byodoji is a temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage, temple number twenty-two, founded by Kobo Daishi, the root patriarch of the Shingon school. Its formal name is Hakusuizan Nikkō-in.

As for its origins: in the middle of the third month of the fifth year of Kōnin (814), in the reign of Emperor Saga, Kobo Daishi came to this land on his travels and looked for a site suited to building temple halls.

He climbed the mountain of Aratano to the north and said, "If this is a land where the esoteric teaching will spread and the buddhas will respond, let a fitting sign appear." He then cast a lotus of Jambūnada gold to test it, and it caught on a branch of a great old pine and shone in all eight directions.

The record says that the sight was as if all the buddhas had come down at once, each sending forth the light of the white curl between the brows.

Moved by this sign, Kobo Daishi entered a state of samādhi, as if between dream and waking.

After a while a round halo of light, like a canopy, appeared in the sky. Within that light the syllable vaṃ appeared in lapis-lazuli color and soon became the form of Yakushi Nyorai, who said, "I will remove the suffering of all beings equally, without distinction," and sent forth light of five colors that shone upon the Daishi. This is what the Daishi saw.

Then, with deep sincerity, Kobo Daishi carved images of Yakushi Nyorai, Nikkō Bosatsu, Gakkō Bosatsu, and the Twelve Divine Generals, bowing three times with every stroke of the chisel, and built the temple halls.

He then declared, "The lotus on the pine that shone in all eight directions is the sign of the great vow to give benefit equally. Therefore the temple should be called Byodoji."

This was the beginning of the temple, and it is said that the pine on which the lotus caught was the forerunner of the Lotus Pine now on the mountain.

The temple precinct of old had the main residence a little east of the present temple, and next to it a place called Hasuike (Lotus Pond).

From there, in the mountains to the west, are places called Kyōzuka and Gomadani, which are said to be the old sites where Kobo Daishi performed goma practice.

Further west is Tōgahara, and about ten chō (just over a kilometer) beyond it is the old site of the Niō Gate, still called Dōdoko today. The valley there is called Niōgatani.

About eight chō to the east is the site where the guardian shrine, Gion Jūnisha Gongen, once stood. Oral tradition holds that this was the original site of the principal image, and it gave rise to the place name Byodoji used widely in the area.

Judging from these place names, one can well imagine that Byodoji at the time of Kobo Daishi's founding was a vast and solemn mountain temple.

Later the temple moved to its present site and took the form of a garden temple, but the Yakushi Nyorai made by Kobo Daishi remains the principal image of the main hall and is held to heal the many sufferings of the human and heavenly realms.

Its benefits and unseen protection have not changed in the least, then or now. The record says that this is why rites for overcoming all illness and for protection from misfortune have been handed down at this temple.

It is also said that in the time of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba, having heard of this miraculous power, he sent imperial envoys to this temple and to Yakuōji in Hiwasa to pray for protection from misfortune.

At the beginning of the founding, Kobo Daishi, wishing to obtain water for kaji, struck open the rock face of the mountain with his tokko (single-pointed vajra). A sacred spring gushed out, and its water was white like milk.

This was the origin of the mountain name Hakusuizan (White Water Mountain). In later ages the water was called kajisui, blessed water, and was held to be effective against insects and fire.

The record says that this water neither increases nor decreases, which is also a sign of equality, and that it is a wondrous sacred spring in which the syllable vaṃ on the ceiling is reflected on the water as in a mirror.

One morning, as Kobo Daishi stood by the spring to scoop up the water for kaji, brilliant sunlight was reflected on the water, and its great light shone throughout the temple.

This is the origin of the cloister name Nikkō-in (Cloister of Sunlight), and that great light shining everywhere is held to be the form of the Eleven-Faced Kannon (Jūichimen Kanzeon Bosatsu).

The record says that for this reason the Eleven-Faced Kannon was made the principal image of the hōjō.

The principal image handed down today is said to have appeared long ago from the sea, sending forth a great light.

The record explains that "sending forth a great light and appearing from the great ocean" means that this image illuminates all of heaven and earth, and, just as the great ocean receives all things without distinction, saves all beings widely and leaves none out.

Of this image, the three faces in front show compassion, the three on the left show wrath, and the three on the right show fangs turned upward, a look that rejoices on seeing good and laughs in scorn on seeing evil. The central face of the body itself neither laughs nor shows anger, showing that good and evil are fundamentally not two.

The single buddha at the top is the Tathāgata Shōbōmyō of the past; this is called "the form of the fruit facing the cause" (taika gyōin).

Through these causes and conditions, this Kannon is said to have vowed to keep people from disasters of water and fire, to remove misfortune as the principal image protecting childbirth, and to grant happiness and long life. The record says that its virtues and its benefit to beings, together with those of Yakushi Nyorai, will remain unchanged for all ages.

In the fifth month of the seventeenth year of Kyōhō (1732), To Ta Fukei (杜多普謃), a renowned scholar of Awa, also took Byodoji of Hakusuizan, temple twenty-two of the pilgrimage, as his subject in his own Shito Zuihō Roku, and wove the name Nikkō-in into the third line of a poem.

There he praises the temple: "The power of the compassionate vow saves people equally; at the ford of delusion it does not ask who is near or far. Within Nikkō-in lies the purity of moonlight, illuminating the wondrous truth upon the lapis lazuli."

This was in the time of Kaiō Hōin, the second restorer.

The record says that the image of Kobo Daishi, the principal image of the Mie-dō, also has remarkable miraculous power and should be handed down for ages together with the secret rite of the Star Offering (hoshiku) transmitted especially at this temple.

The secret rite of the Star Offering at this temple is said to have begun when Kobo Daishi, still the great monk Kūkai holding the rank of Dentō Dai-ajari, performed a seven-day great goma beneath a great rock cave in Hoshidani in Katsuura District.

At that time evil stars appeared in three directions. When the Daishi prayed with all his Dharma power, one fell on that spot and gave rise to the name Hoshi no Iwaya (Cave of the Star); one flew southeast to Iwawaki village and left its trace in the name of Shushōji temple; and the last flew southwest and fell at this temple, Byodoji.

From this the secret rite of the Star Offering began. It is said that when Emperor Go-Komatsu fell ill, this rite was performed by imperial command, its efficacy appeared at once, and the emperor was deeply moved.

The star mentioned above gradually grew smaller over many years until it could be held in the palm of the hand, and long remained a treasure of the temple. Old documents record that its loss at some unknown time is a regret that a thousand years will not wear away.

In this way the secret rite of the Star Offering had almost been forgotten by the world. The record says that in the twelfth year of Taishō (1923), when the old records and treasures of the temple were being examined for the compilation of the Aratano-chō shi (Gazetteer of Aratano Town), the star was found buried in the earth beneath the floor.

The author says that his joy at this discovery could not be put into words.

The record says that this is truly an auspicious sign of the temple's flourishing, and that through it the secret rite of the Star Offering can now be handed down in complete form for ages to come.

It then says that the benefit this rite gives to believers is equal for all, and that this should be understood together with Kobo Daishi's goeika (pilgrim hymn).

The goeika means: "When I hear that there is no distinction and all are equal, what a precious and trustworthy Buddha this is."

From its founding by Kobo Daishi, this temple has belonged to Kōyasan, the head temple at the root of the school.

In the time of Emperors Shirakawa and Horikawa, Kakuban founded the Shingi (New Doctrine) school at Negoro, and in the Ōei era there were conflicts between schools of learning even among the sub-temples of Kōyasan. The record says that this temple was not disturbed by these troubles and has handed down the Kogi (Old Doctrine) Shingon lineage single-mindedly.

In the Tenshō era, however, Oda Nobunaga turned against Kōyasan. Many monks were seized, the temple lands were confiscated, and even a great army was sent to destroy Kōyasan, so the monks and ascetics of the mountain were drawn into the fighting.

Amid this, in the fifth month of the tenth year of Tenshō (1582), a rite of subjugation was performed at Sannō-in on Kōyasan, and in the sixth month Nobunaga was struck down by Akechi Mitsuhide and his forces scattered.

The record takes this as divine punishment brought about by the protection of Kobo Daishi and the kami.

At this time the mountain fell into great decline, its branch temples went to ruin, and this temple too is said to have suffered such a blow that its Dharma lamp nearly went out. There is also an account that many temples were burned in the incursion of Chōsokabe, and that this temple suffered the same.

The record, however, says that such accounts were handed down in error: when Motochika passed in front of this temple and heard the voices of practice and prayer, he at once got down from his horse and bowed.

Motochika then said, "If I can fulfill my ambition, I will devote myself to restoring this sacred site. And if the fortunes of war fail me and I must go before the court of Enma, O principal images of the main hall and the hōjō, Kobo Daishi who founded this temple, and Ashura Myōō, guide me onto the boat of the great vow." It is said that he shed tears that wet the sleeves of his armor, and departed.

The author closes by asking how this story should be received when set beside temple histories that say "the halls and pagodas were burned, but the principal image escaped the fire by a wonder," or "it escaped riding on a purple cloud."

Even so, the record says that after the Sengoku period, around the time the Hachisuka clan came to rule the province, the whole Shikoku pilgrimage had declined, and the decline of Byodoji had reached its depths.

In the reign of Emperor Reigen, however, in the third month of spring in the fifth year of Enpō (1677), a monk came to this temple with several attendants. He was the son of Watanabe Magobei of Furuta village in Kuwamura District, Iyo Province, and had been ordained at Kōryūji on Mount Ashizuri in the same district.

At that time the previous chief priest, Gon-daisōzu Yūzen, was still alive, but the sacred site had fallen into ruin and looked like a grass hut.

This monk grieved at it and at last resolved to restore it. The record says that this was none other than the holy monk Gon-daisōzu Shōshun Hōin, the first restorer of this temple.

After that, Shōshun Hōin put the temple grounds in order and carried forward the work of rebuilding the halls. In the third year of Tenna (1683) he recast the temple bell, in the third year of Hōei (1706) he built the two-story gate, and in the eighth month of the seventh year of Kyōhō (1722) he built the main hall.

Then, on the seventh day of the eleventh month of the tenth year of Kyōhō (1725), forty-five years after his ordination and at the age of eighty, he passed away after carefully entrusting what was to come.

His final instructions said: "Let each chief priest in turn take up this aim faithfully and never let the building of halls cease. Build a new main hall, roof the hall I built with copper tiles, and make it the Mie-dō of the founding patriarch, the Daishi." He even prepared a copper model of the tomoe-and-arabesque tiles.

The record says that he also left these words: "Strive to make the hōjō and the kuri equal to the temple halls of old. And when the time comes, revive the observances that have lapsed since the time of Kobo Daishi."

The next Hōin, Kaiō Shōnin, received these final instructions, cleared the hill behind the temple, and built a new Yakushi Hall in the third month of the second year of Genbun (1737).

He passed away on the twenty-ninth day of the second month of the third year of Kanpō (1743), at the age of sixty-one.

His disciple Etō inherited the Dharma lamp. On the twenty-eighth day of the second month of the following year, the fourth year of Kanpō (1744), he held the enshrinement rite for Yakushi Nyorai, and afterward put the hōjō and the kuri in order.

He passed away on the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month of the fifth year of An'ei (1776), at the age of fifty-six.

In the time of his disciple, Gon-daisōzu Mui, in the first month of the eighth year of An'ei (1779), copper tiles were made according to the model Shōshun had left, the Daishi Hall was rebuilt, and the goma hall was also completed.

The record says that he further offered prayers widely for abundant harvests, the happiness of all people, safety at sea, and the safety of sailors, and began the practice of one thousand goma over one thousand days and an observance of reciting the Universal Gate chapter (Fumon-bon), so that the temple again matched the days of old when Kobo Daishi performed the goma.

After these four, in the time of the fifth restorer, Gon-daisōzu Keiban, the long-interrupted opening of Yakushi Nyorai was revived for five days from the fourth day of the third month of the fourth year of Kansei (1792), leaving a model for later ages.

On the first day a great maṇḍala offering was held in dedication of the Mie-dō, on the middle day an eye-opening offering for the Eight Patriarchs, and at the close a ryūsui kanjō (flowing-water consecration) for all spirits of the Dharma realm.

The record says that through this the benefits of the opening of Yakushi Nyorai, the protector against misfortune, became widely known in the world.

Gon-daisōzu Ken'ō, the eighth restorer, built the Mie-dō in the intercalary first month of the fifth year of Bunsei (1822), at the age of forty-eight, and held the ridgepole-raising ceremony on the twenty-first day of the fourth month of the seventh year of the same era (1824).

The record says that the Daihannya (Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra) now kept at this temple was completed around that time through the vows of believers.

From then on, it became customary to add the "practice of the turning recitation of the Daihannya" during the opening of Yakushi.

The record says that this began when Gitō Jōkō, the tenth restorer, held a seven-day opening from the second day of the third month of the eleventh year of Bunsei (1828).

The eleventh restorer, Daiōshō Tōga, was versed in the secret rites, and it was even rumored that he walked in the air.

The twelfth, Oshō Tōsō, on the sixteenth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Tenpō (1840), recast the bell that had been cast at the time of the restoration, and it has come down to the present.

The record says that the thirteenth restorer, Daiōshō Shōsōjō Sai Yūken, built the Enma Jūō Hall in the seventeenth year of Meiji (1884), held its ridgepole raising on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of that year, and afterward also cast and set up a bronze water basin in the shape of a lotus, carrying out various works up to the present.

The record says that the secret rite of the "Ashura-son goma," a rite of Kobo Daishi, has also been handed down at this temple.

This rite dedicates its merit to King Ashura, the fierce deity who fought against Bonten and Taishakuten, and shows the efficacy of subduing demons and powerful enemies.

Long ago, at the time of the Mongol invasion in the fourth year of Kōan (1281), when temples and shrines throughout the land prayed by imperial command for the enemy to be driven off, this temple reverently performed this rite for seven days and seven nights. On the night of the seventh day a violent storm suddenly arose, and the record says that this was the very moment the Mongol forces sank into the sea.

It is said that from then on, successive provincial governors had this rite performed for lasting fortune in war and for the peace of the nation.

The record also says that it was during this practice that Chōsokabe Motochika bowed down before the temple, and it closes by saying that the rite could be applied today to prayers concerning military matters, such as the advancement of the nation's fortunes and the safety of soldiers.

The record says that, as something showing the depth of faith of the believers of old, there is a copy of the Sutra of the Original Vows of Yakushi Nyorai written out by a believer who turned the suffering of bodily illness into tears of joy.

It also says that, as something to be seen as a keepsake of Shōshun Hōin the restorer, the descendants of the attendants he brought with him, such as Kōno Makiyama, are still living.

The author says that, above all, the reappearance now of histories and treasures long buried is enough to make him realize the depth of his own karmic bond with this place.

He writes that his praying with ever greater devotion and striving never to let this sacred site be lost is only a small expression of gratitude for the kindness of Kobo Daishi who opened the mountain and of Shōshun Hōin who restored it, and that the masters and disciples who follow should take this deeply to heart.

He then closes by recording this beneath the light of the moon of true suchness, earnestly asking that whoever becomes chief priest of this temple hereafter never spare the labor of repairing and continuing this record.