Dainichi Nyorai — the cosmic Buddha

At the center of Shingon Buddhism stands a Buddha who is quite different from the historical Buddha. He didn't sit under a tree and awaken, and he wasn't born and didn't die. Dainichi Nyorai is understood as the cosmic Buddha, the truth itself, which has always been there and always will be.

The name 大日如来

The sun here is more than a comparison. Just as the sun shines on everything without choosing, Dainichi Nyorai pervades all things, the Buddha as much as the stone and the human being as much as the earthworm. The classical Chinese commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sutra even says that the comparison with the ordinary sun falls short, because the ordinary sun sets at night and doesn't reach inside things, while Dainichi's light knows no day and night.

The cosmic Buddha 法身

Siddhārtha Gautama, the historical Buddha, lived about 2,500 years ago in northern India. Mahāyāna Buddhism describes him as a "manifested body" (nirmāṇakāya), a Buddha who appears in history. Dainichi Nyorai, on the other hand, is the Dharmakāya 法身, the "body of truth," reality itself, without beginning or end.

What's special about Shingon is that, for Kūkai, this Dharmakāya isn't silent. It teaches, it speaks and it acts. Kūkai called this hosshin seppō 法身説法, "the Dharmakāya preaches the Dharma." In other words, the whole universe is the body, speech and mind of Dainichi. Every sound is his voice and every form his body. All other Buddhas, bodhisattvas and protective beings are understood as manifestations of Dainichi.

The mudras 智拳印

In the Diamond Realm (kongōkai), Dainichi Nyorai is shown with the mudra chiken-in 智拳印, the "wisdom fist." The raised index finger of the left hand is enclosed by the right hand. This gesture stands for the unity of the Buddha and living beings, and of wisdom and principle. In the Womb Realm (taizōkai), on the other hand, he sits with his hands in the meditation mudra, resting in his lap. So if you see a Dainichi statue, you can tell from the hands which of the two forms you're looking at.

The two mandalas 両界

In Shingon there are two great mandalas, which together represent the whole of reality. Dainichi Nyorai sits at the center of both.

Together the two are called ryōbu 両部 or ryōkai 両界, "both realms." They belong together like inhaling and exhaling. Kūkai brought both mandalas from China to Japan in 806, and they're still at the heart of Shingon practice today. More on this is in the article on mandalas and Reiki.

The mantra 真言

Every Buddha has a mantra that carries his power. A commonly recited mantra of Dainichi Nyorai is On abiraunken basara datoban, which combines both realms. A bi ra un ken (Skr. a vi ra hūṃ khaṃ) belongs to the Womb Realm, and the five syllables stand for the five elements earth, water, fire, wind and space. Basara datoban (Skr. vajra dhātu vaṃ) belongs to the Diamond Realm.

In Shingon, sound isn't just acoustics, it's understood as an expression of reality itself. The word shingon 真言, "true word," is the Sino-Japanese rendering of the Sanskrit mantra, and that's where the school gets its name.

Dainichi Nyorai and Reiki 靈氣

Reiki is written 靈氣, spiritual life force. From the Shingon point of view, all power ultimately comes from Dainichi, since the whole universe is his body. When you lay on hands, then, it isn't really "your" energy flowing, but a power that pervades everything.

There's also a connection through the symbols. Dai Kō Myō 大光明, "great radiant light," shares its language of light with Dainichi, and in the article on this symbol I explain how it relates to the sun, the moon and the two mandalas. In the Shingon Reiki Master Path, Dainichi Nyorai is one of the initiations. Have you ever seen a Dainichi statue and noticed which mudra it was showing?