Lot 85
Far East, Japan, ca. early 20th century CE. A small, hand carved wooden shrine of Kukai, the Great Master of the Propagated Teaching, known posthumously as Kobo Daishi (774 to 835 CE). This piece presents him as he appeared just before his departure from this world, seated in full lotus position, donning flowing robes adorned with gold painted stripes, holding a vajra in his right hand and a glass beaded malla in his left hand. He sits atop a traditional striped and gilt throne, with shoes placed under the pillow. The events of his final days are quite poignant. According to scholar David Moreton, "In the first month of 835, he performed a week-long service for the peace and prosperity of Japan inside the Imperial palace. Then, in the second month, he announced his departure from Kyoto and headed for the last time to Koyasan. Upon arriving in Koyasan for his last time, he began a fast which included no grain or flesh and practiced seated meditation. On the fifteenth day of the third month he called his disciples together in order to announce that on the twenty-first day he would pass away. Then, after ritually purifying his body and donning clean robes, he went to a room where he assumed the lotus position. Then he placed his hands in the mudra (ritual gesture) symbolizing Dainichi Nyorai, chanted the mantra of Dainichi, and entered the meditation of Maitreya (the Buddha of the future). He remained in this state for seven days until the twenty-first of the third month in 835, when he passed away, just as he had predicted. He was sixty-two years old. In 919, fifty eight years later, the Emperor Daigo bestowed upon him the posthumous honorific title Kobo Daishi, Great Master of the Propagated Teaching." Size: 9-1/2" x 5" x 3-3/4" (24.1 x 12.7 x 9.5 cm)
Kobo Daishi (774-835 CE) came into this world in what is the modern day Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku via legendary circumstances. Following a dream of an Indian sage entering her abdomen, his mother became pregnant. His family belonged to the aristocratic Saeki family, but little is known of his childhood. At the age of 15 he moved to the capital with his uncle who taught him the Chinese classics. He then attended the national university but grew weary of Confucian studies. Instead he became enamored with Buddhism and studied under the Buddhist monk Gonso. He also studied esoteric Buddhism with a practice devoted to the Bodhisattva Kokuzo. At the age of twenty, in 793, he made the decision to enter the priesthood and changed his name to Kyokai, later changed it to Nyoku, and finally when he was fully ordained as a priest, he took the name Kukai. At the age of twenty-four, in his "Indications of the Three Teachings" (Sango shiiki) he described his dissatisfaction with day to day life and his quest for meaning, in short his reasons for entering the priesthood. He told of his wandering in the mountains, studying the scriptures, and practicing Morning Star meditation of Kokuzo and other esoteric rituals. He found his purpose and continued to study, practice, and teach. Later in life, Kukai wrote many essays and poems producing the Shingon doctrine. Perhaps the most important of his writings are the essay "The Ten Levels of the Development of the Mind" and a shorter piece entitled "The Preciious Key to the Secret Treasury." Kukai achieved many great accomplishments in his lifetime, including the founding of the first private school in Japan open to the public. He was also a master of calligraphy, painting, and sculpture, the inventor of the Japanese syllabary, a discoverer of hot springs, and an authority on the use of coal, as wellas the construction of bridges, dams, and roads.
Provenance: Ex-private Northern Colorado collection.
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#110931
- Condition: Intact and overall very good. Minor surface wear and small areas of paint loss.
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