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There is not much concerning Dakini teachings in the Buddhism of Japan, since most of the esoteric teachings brought to Japan by Kukai (a.k.a. Kobo Daishi) are of the lower tantra type, i.e. single form. That may be because Kukai left China after only two years of practice, and it may not have been not long enough for him to have received any higher Vajrayana teachings. According to Kojien, the term dakini-ten refers to a female demon who devours the hearts of the dead. This unbound spirit affords extraordinary powers to those engaged in the practice of "black" magic. The White FoxInari are spirit or nature deities similar to the Indian yaksha. Their shrines are numerous and can be distinguished by the pair of fox statues that guard the entrance. One theory is that the Inari became syncretized with dakini-ten. Dakini-ten were generally associated with Daikoku-ten (Mahakala,) understood as the same as the god of the Five Cereals of Buddhism. This dakini had as its "messenger" a white fox. Worshipers offer fried soybean curd at Inari shrines, a food which is believed to be a favorite of foxes.
In Japan, then, the dakini is only understood to be a fox spirit, a were-fox. At the shrine Chiba-narita, a Dakiniten festival
is held in February. Tamamo-no Mae is the Japanese name of a mysterious female tantric adept who at one time was the consort of an Indian king. Later, she became the concubine of Emperor Toba (1103-1156,) but she was believed to actually be a nine-tailed golden fox. When the Emperor suddenly fell sick with a serious illness, she was blamed. It is said that when her true identity was discovered, she sprang into the air and flew off to the Plain of Nasu where she was shot by the archer, Miura Kuranosuke. (Some say she was struck by the "hammer" of one of the gods.) When she fell to earth, she assumed the form of a rock subsequently known as sessho seki or the death stone, for any living thing that came into contact with it died.
____________________________________________________________ Dictionary considered the authority in Japan.
Japanese Buddhist legend tells of kitsune who disguise themselves as nuns wearing traditional robes . |
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