Fudo Myoo —
the Unshakable Wisdom King.

A face you don't forget

不動明王 Fudō Myōō means "the Immovable Wisdom King." Many people take a step back when they see him for the first time. He has furrowed brows and bared teeth, a sword in his right hand and a rope in his left, and behind him flames blaze.

He isn't a demon, though. In Shingon he's understood as a wrathful manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai, the Great Sun Buddha. His fierce face is compassion in action. His wrath isn't directed against you, but against everything that keeps you from being free. If you look closely at a Fudō statue, you'll often notice that behind the fierce expression there's something very kind. In Japanese Buddhism, especially in Shingon and Tendai, he's one of the great protectors. He fights everything dark and demonic and everything that pulls you off your path, and people call on him above all for protection and for freedom from negative influences. Put a little loosely, he chases off the troublemakers by looking like trouble himself.

What Fudō Myōō carries

The iconography of Fudō Myōō isn't random. Every element has a meaning, and once you understand his depiction, you understand a lot about his power.

His face and head tell you something, too. Often one fang points up and the other down, which in Japan is read as striving upward toward awakening while turning downward to guide people. His forehead is creased in folds that the Mahāvairocana Sūtra already compares to waves on water (suiha 水波), and one Japanese reading sees in them the immeasurably long stretches of time over which he works for people. A long braid (benpatsu 弁髪) falls over his left shoulder, and it's understood as a sign of the compassion that runs through his wrath. And on some statues he wears a small lotus on top of his head (chōren 頂蓮), a symbol of awakening.

You could say that sword, flames and rope together form a complete process. The rope catches what holds you, the sword cuts it, and the fire burns what's left.

Karmic patterns

Most of us know this. A pattern repeats itself, a reaction always runs the same way, or a theme just won't go away, no matter how well you understand it. Some of these patterns we've carried since childhood, and some seem to go back even further.

In Buddhism this is connected with karma (gō 業), which doesn't mean punishment here but something more like an imprint. Every action leaves a trace that shapes future actions. In my experience, what has become fixed in this way often can't be released through understanding alone. That's where practice with Fudō Myōō comes in, because he works directly and doesn't avoid the places where it gets uncomfortable.

Wrathful compassion

For many people compassion and wrath sound like opposites. In esoteric Buddhism they belong together, and Fudō Myōō is the clearest example. He's fierce because he cares, and he burns because he wants to free you. His intensity isn't aggression, it's resolve.

Shingon describes this with the idea of the "bodies of command" (kyōryōrinjin 教令輪身). Put simply, the Buddhas take on a wrathful form for those who can't be reached by gentle means. Sometimes a pattern is so deeply rooted that it needs a power that doesn't flinch. His name says it, the Immovable. He isn't rigid, but nothing throws him off.

Fudō Myōō in Shingon Reiki

In Shingon Reiki, the initiation into Fudō Myōō belongs to the advanced practice, and on the Master Path he's one of the initiations. In this practice, his power doesn't only come into play in meditation, but also through the hands in Reiki. As in all of Shingon, body, speech and mind work together. How exactly this is done is passed on in the initiation.

Fudō Myōō and Kuji Kiri

Fudō Myōō is closely connected with Kuji Kiri. In Kuji Kiri 2 he's the main power. There you receive initiations into his three mysteries of body, speech and contemplation, and practice the fire contemplation with the Siddham syllable (Bonji in Japanese) kāṃ (Kanjikan) and the actual ritual of the nine cuts. His power clears the space and protects the practitioner. In Kuji Kiri 3 the nine hand seals are added, again with Fudō Myōō.

Kuji Kiri itself has a long history. Its first sources come from China, and it came to Japan in several waves over centuries through the exchange with China. In Japan it then developed over further centuries into a system that exists only there, a combination of Daoism, Japanese folk magic and Shingon mikkyō.

Fudō Myōō today

Relaxation and a bit of mindfulness have their value. Some people, however, feel that something deeper wants to be let go of, and for them Fudō Myōō can be a strong companion. Practice with him asks for some courage, because you have to be willing to look. Is there a pattern in your life where you'd like Fudō's sword to help you?