By
Kakuban
Kakuban,
popularly known as Mitsugon Sonja (Venerable Mystic Glorification), was born in
Fujitsu-no-sho, Hizen Province (near the present Kagoshima City), on the 17th
of the 6th month, 1095. His father Isa-no-Heiji Kanemoto was a high officer in
charge of a manor belonging to the Ninnaji temple, and his mother came from the
Tachibana family. Born as the third of four sons, he was called Yachitose-maro.
According to the Genko-shakusho, one day when Kakuban was eight years old, a messenger of the provincial governor came to see his father to press him for payment of taxes. The messenger’s attitude was rude, and the boy’s father was hiding behind the screen. The boy was shocked and asked the monk who was staying at his house, “Who was that messenger?” and “Who is the highest authority in Japan?” After learning that the emperor was the highest person, he further asked the monk if there was someone superior to the emperor.
The monk replied that the Buddha was the supreme authority. This incident prompted him to decide to become a Buddhist; whereupon he himself burned incense as an offering to the Buddha.
According to the Genko-shakusho, one day when Kakuban was eight years old, a messenger of the provincial governor came to see his father to press him for payment of taxes. The messenger’s attitude was rude, and the boy’s father was hiding behind the screen. The boy was shocked and asked the monk who was staying at his house, “Who was that messenger?” and “Who is the highest authority in Japan?” After learning that the emperor was the highest person, he further asked the monk if there was someone superior to the emperor.
The monk replied that the Buddha was the supreme authority. This incident prompted him to decide to become a Buddhist; whereupon he himself burned incense as an offering to the Buddha.
His father died when Kakuban was ten, and in 1107, at the age of 13, he went to Kyoto and became a disciple of Kanjo, the founder of the Joju-in Hall and a well-known esoteric adept. In the following year, he went to Nara to study the Kusha and Hosso teachings under Keigyo at the Kofukuji. In 1110 he returned to the Joju-in and received the ordination of a novice from Kanjo and was given the name Shogaku-bo Kakuban – “Enlightened VAM” (VAM is the mystic syllable of Maha Vairocana in the Vajra-realm Mandala). After the ordination, Kanjo sent him to Nara again – this time to the Todaiji to learn the Sanron and Kegon Teachings. While studying in Nara, Kakuban had a dream in which a Shinto god urged him to go up to Mt. Koya. So he once again returned to the Ninnaji and began the preparatory practice for becoming an acarya.
