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,nlWhere MikkyoCame From ,

I by Rev. C . Jikai ChoffyIMikkyo is the Japanese vajrayana

"diamond vehicle" approac h to therealization of the universal ultimate truth.This awakening to ultimate truth as originally

taught by Siddhartha Gautama is popularlyreferred to as attaining enlightenment. Asi Nine Gates Institute members know, thesemethods for accessing the inherent potentialfor enlightenment that is hidden in each of

us were always closely associated with theI roots of Japan's historical ninja.i In Japan, the vajrayana method in itsI formal tradition has been handed down by

two distinct lineages for almost 1,200years.The Tendai tradition was brought back from

China in 805 by the scholar priest Saicho,later known as Dengyo Daishi. The Shingontradition was brought back at approximatel@the same time by Saicho's counterpart Kuka1,-later known as Kobo Daishi.

The two lineages of Mikkyo are oftenreferred to by other names in Japan. TendaiMikkyo practice is sometimes called tai-mirsu. because of a reference to the sect'soriginal Mt. T'ien-t'ai source in China,

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To-mitsu, ukal's Shlngon Mlkkyo

temple in Kyoto. Although each is its ownvery independent tradition, both Te ndai andShingon are based on similar theories andpractice methods.r It should be noted that Saicho, as founde r

of the Tenda i deno mination, did not himselfreceive the full transmission and initiationinto the vajray ana methods while he was in

Ch ina. Saicho' disciple Ennin, later knownas Jikaku Daishi, was the one who travelledto China and trained there in the esotericmethods for nine years. Upon his return toJapan, Ennin expanded the esoteric founda-tion of the Tendai tradition based high onMt. Hiei, northeast of Kyoto.

Scholars now know that the principal textsupon w hich Tendai and Shingon practices arebased had already been formulated by thebeginning of the 700s, and probably much

earlier than this in actual fact. These esotericteachings are sometimes labelled "tantric" ,

implying that they were a third wave of dev-elopment in the ancient Indian spiritualtradition. Today, the first wave is labelledTheravada ("way of the Elders"), o r some-times hinaya na , or the "smaller vehicle",and refers to the original practices ofdiscipline and secluded meditation carried

out by the followers of the historical teacherShakyam uni. The second wave is know n asm aha yan a, or the "great vehicle", in refer-ence to its acknowledgement of the inherentpossibility for enlightenment in every being.The tantric vajrayana "diamond thunderboltof ultimate unchanging truth" was the thirdwave of development, and introduced themost direct means of accessing enlightened

vision inherent within each of us.It is very important to acknowledge thedirect line of transmission of these vajrayanateachings from their original developm ent innorthern India to C hina, and then on to Japanand Tibet. The Japanese did not invent,imagine, or "m ake up '? the teachings andpractices of Mikkyo. They were carried toJapan as already-proven techniques bycourageous Japanese student-monks whounde rwen t the perilous journey to Ch ina inthe effort to bring the knowledge to their owncountry. Today, on the threshold of thetwenty-first century, these same well-established teachings are now making their

way into the cultures of the W estern w orld.In ancient India, the greatest teaching

center for these vajrayana doctrines andpractices was Nalanda University, home togrea t s chola rs inc lud ing Nagar juna ,

v a, V a s u b h a e , and ~ a n ta ra k si ta .Other such universities were VikramasilaUniversity and Odantapuri University.

Nalanda University was almost a thousandyears old be fore it was finally burned to theground in the final holocaust as Mosleminvade rs swept into India and destroyed theindigenous spiritual wealth. By that time,how ever, the vajrayana teachings had beentransmitted successfully to Nepal, Tibet,China, and were on their way to Japan.Later, the Moslem wave moved further toconquer China under the hand of the greatKhan generals, leaving only Tibet and Japanuntouched as the last repositories of theactive practice of the vajrayana mystictraditions. +

Rev. Jikai is a retired American university pro fessor. H ewas ordained as a Tendai Mikkyo priest atop Mt. Hiei inJapan, in the summer of 1975. He in turn authorized theordination of Nine Gates Institute founder Stephen K. Hayes.

He can be reached by letter: Rev. C. Jikai Choffy, TendaiKongosatta-In, PO Box 212, Cape Giradeau, MO 63702.

Short NotesWe are expanding our work. In addition to our

Shadows of Iga Society martial arts training eventsand our Blue Lotus Assembly mikkyo mind scienceprograms, we have recently inaugurated one morebranch of our work as Nine Gates Institute. Under theimprint of Nine Gates Press, we will be offeringmembers a new series of training materials in printed,video, and audio forms. These new publications will

be directed towards members and students who mustrely heavily on self-training without the daily uidanceof a qualified teacher. Emphasis will be on cfarifyingthe training process to permit self-discovery. Thesenew publications will then fit in as a different viewof the same arts as described in the more philosophicalwritten works of founder Stephen K. Hayes.

Ordering instructions for our two new workbooksa pear on the back cover of this issue of Musubi.8nlightened Self-Protection is the training guide usedby all students entering the Bujinkan Kasumi-An ninjamartial arts program. It covers all the details of howto get started in the dojo, and what to do to preparefor your first tests. Action Meditation is the trainingguide used by those students who wish to begin formaltraining in the Tendai mikkyo mind science traditionof Mt. Hiei. It covers a series of meditation and mantrarecitations necessary for building a solid foundationin the practice.

By the way, we would appreciate our help ingettlng these new books out into the worr . When youorder and then receive your copies of the newworkbooks, please show your copies to the managers

of bookstores near you and encourage them to contactus about getting the books for their stores. Let us knowif you are successful in getting them to carry ourbooks; we would like to send a special calli raphypresent to each member that helps get our boof s intothe listings of booksellers around the world. +