Shugyo Daishi

In Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles there is a Shingon Buddhist temple on First Street called the Koyasan Buddhist Temple. Recently a statue was installed in front of the temple which is apparently in commemoration of the temples's 100th anniversary. The base of the statue says Shugyo Daishi.

I was curious if this was an alternative name for the founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan, Kobo Daishi or Kukai. But my Google searches did not clearly tell me who Shugyo Daishi was. With the help of several people from the Samurai Archives, I learned that it appears the term Shugyo refers to some sort of pilgrimage or person who is on a path towards knowledge or enlightenment. It also appears that the Shugyo Daishi statue in front of the temple is Kobo Daishi while he was on a pilgrimage according to this website. If anybody out there has more knowledge regarding Shugyo or Shugyo Daishi, please share.

Below is what someone from the Samurai Archives provided. Very interesting.


北米開教　百年記念

hokubei kaikyô hyakunen kinen

Hundred-Year Anniversary of the Opening of the Teaching in North America.


The left side refers to the 4th　(第４)　completion　（成満） of the Shikoku pigrimage　（四国通路）, and then lists two names: Kurata Yasuo and Tomoko　（倉田康男、智子）, as donors or benefactors (施主).

The last line names the head of the temple (I guess):

Leader (先達) of this branch temple (別院), 7th generation (第七世) Abbot (大僧正)... and then it gives the abbot's name 諦詮。

The right side names the temple: Koya-san (高野山) US (米国) Branch Temple (別院), followed by what I assume is another name:

Eighth Generation (大八世) Asahi (旭)Kiyosumidai (清澄代).

Japanese Shingon Buddhism

This is a picture of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.

The Temple serves as the North American regional headquarters of Koyasan Shingon School of Buddhism (Vajrayana Tradition) and its main headquarters is located at Koyasan, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan.

The Koyasan temple in Los Angeles was established by Rev. Shutai Aoyama in 1912. Later, the current temple was constructed at the present site in Little Tokyo on First Street. It was elevated to the Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin in 1940.

Periodically I stop by the temple to look at the Jizo and Kannon statues in the front of the temple. I also read the information on a bulletin board they have near the entrance. A notice on the board said that recently the Japanese actor Ken Watanabe visited this Los Angeles Shingon temple. While I was there, a monk handed me a small brochure describing the temple and Shingon buddhism. Below is from the brochure I received.

The Teaching of Shingon Buddhism

Shingon or True Word Buddhism proclaims as its core teaching the vows:

1. May we realize Buddhahood in this very life.

2. May we dedicate ourselvesto the well-being of all people.

3. May we establish the World of Buddha on this Earth.

Appearing in Northern India in the 4th century, the Vajrayana Tradition traveled through China. Kobo Daishi, a Japanese monk, went to China to study with the great Buddhist masters. He returned to Japan in 806 as the inheritor and propagator of esoteric Buddhism known as Shingon.

Shingon teaching advocates that Buddhahood is attainable by everyone in this life. Kobo Daishi proclaimed that one does not have to be a monk or wait countless lifetimes to realize enlightenment. The freedom can be attained here and now through wisdom if one simply makes the decision to be free. In other words, by intending to make every breath, word, and action a realization of the Truth, one can reach the final goal/freedom and accomplish one's mission.

The goal of Shingon Buddhism is the realization that our own mind is the same as the Buddha mind. In other words, it is the way of knowing self-nature directly. All existence is aspects of the creative nature of the universe symbolized by Dainichi Nyorai in Japanese. Since the human mind is an aspect of this Ultimate Truth, we have the Buddha-mind within our mind. There is no need to seek enlightenment outside our self. We simply need to look into our own mind to realize enlightenment while we are living. This teaching is called "Sokushin Jobutsu" in Japanese or becoming a Buddha in this very life.

Kobo Daishi

Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, was born in the town of Zentsuji in Kagawa Prefecture in 774. He became a monk when he was 19 and went to China to study esoteric Buddhism when he was 31. He mastered Esoteric teaching from the Chinese master Hui-kuo, the 7th century patriarch of Esoteric Buddhist tradition. When Kobo Daishi returned to Japan, he established Shingon Buddhism and propagated its teaching throughout his lifetime. The Emperor Saga granted him land at Koyasan (Mt. Koya) as a place to establish a monastic center in 816.

Kobo wrote several influential teachings and commentaries such as, "The Secret Key to the Heart Sutra," "The Difference Between Exoteric and Esoteric Buddism," "Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence," and "The Ten Stages of the Development of the Mind." Twelve hundred years later, these texts continue to enlighten seekers throughout the world.

Kobo Daishi visited many temples throughout Japan. Many of these temples are now part of a Kobo Daishi pilgrimage which I posted about here previously.

The Traveler's Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages

I recently finished reading The Travelers Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages by Ed Readicker-Henderson. It describes three popular temple pilgrimages in Japan, the Mt. Hiei pilgrimage near Kyoto, the 33 temple Saigoku Kannon temple pilgrimage, and the 88 temple Kobo Daishi temple pilgrimage.

It was interesting to read about pilgrimages in Japan which I was not that familiar with. And the brief descriptions of all the temples was also interesting to read about.

What caught my attention was the great disparity in the prosperity, or lack of, between many of the temples. Some temples on the pilgrimages are extremely well off while others apparently are in such a dilapidated state that they appear to be ready to collapse any day.

It also would seem that most of the temples survive or exist or prosper based primarily on the thousands of pilgrims that pass through each year. The more prosperous temples are usually so well off because of some tradition or religious practice that draws people to the temple. One such practice that is very popular at some of the temples is for potential mother's who are planning to or attempting to have children. Many mother's-to-be come to these temples to pray for a child or a safe birth.

Often, according to the book, the poorest temples are located very near or next to the richest temples. It's a little sad to hear about a temple that was founded over a thousand years ago that is in such a poor and lonely condition. If it was not for the pilgrimage, they most likely would cease to exist.

If anyone is planning to embark on one of these pilgrimages, this is a good book as you can easily take it with you. You can probably also find a lot of other useful guides and information about taking on one of these pilgrimages from the internet.