Veliki mojster Džikaku v gradu Kōketsu

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Veliki mojster Džikaku v gradu Kōketsu

Long ago, the Great Teacher Jikaku crossed the sea to China to study the Buddhist teachings and bring them back to Japan. While he was there, during the Huichang era, Emperor Wuzong of Tang set out to destroy Buddhism. Temples and pagodas were torn down, and monks and nuns were seized and put to death or forced to return to lay life. The Great Teacher was caught up in this turmoil. When men came to arrest him, he fled into a temple hall. His pursuers entered and searched for him, and, with nowhere else to turn, he hid among the Buddhist images and prayed to Fudō. As the men searched, they found a new image of Fudō among the statues. Suspicious, they lifted it down to examine it, whereupon the Great Teacher returned to his own form. Astonished, the men reported what had happened to the emperor. “He is a holy man from another country,” the emperor declared. “Let him be sent away at once.” And so they released him. Overjoyed, the Great Teacher fled to another region. Far beyond the mountains, he came upon a residence surrounded by a high earthen wall. There was a single gate, with a man standing beside it. Glad to see someone, he approached and asked about the place. “This is the home of a wealthy man,” the man replied. “And what sort of monk are you?” “I am a monk who crossed over from Japan to study the Buddhist teachings and carry them home,” he answered. “But I have been caught in this terrible upheaval, and I hope to find somewhere to hide for a time.” “People seldom come to this place,” the man said. “Stay here for a while. Once peace has returned, you may go out and pursue your studies.” Delighted, the Great Teacher went inside. The man barred the gate securely and led the way farther into the grounds. Following behind him, the Great Teacher saw many buildings standing one after another, crowded with people and full of commotion. He was given a place to stay off to one side. Later, he walked about to see whether there might be somewhere he could study the Buddhist teachings, but he saw no sign of Buddhist worship or monks anywhere. At the rear of the grounds, against the mountainside, stood a building. As he drew near, he heard many people groaning within. Puzzled, he peered through a gap in the fence and saw people bound and suspended from above, with jars set beneath them to catch their dripping blood. Horrified, he asked what this meant, but no one answered. Deeply troubled, he listened at another building and heard the same groaning. When he looked inside, he saw many people lying there, their bodies wasted and their faces a ghastly blue. He beckoned one of them over and asked, “What is happening here? How have you come to be in such unbearable misery?” The man took a splinter of wood, stretched out his thin arm, and wrote in the earth. The Great Teacher read: “This is Kōketsu Castle. Those who come here are first fed a drug that takes away their speech, then another that makes them fat. After that, they are hung up high, cut in various places, and drained of their blood. The blood is used to dye patterned cloth, which is then sold. Not knowing this, we have fallen into this plight. In the food there will be something dark, like sesame seeds. That is the drug that takes away your speech. If they serve you anything like that, pretend to eat it, but throw it away. Afterward, if anyone speaks to you, do nothing but groan. Then find some means of escape and flee. The gate is firmly barred, and there is no easy way out.” Having received these detailed instructions, the Great Teacher returned to the place where he had been lodged. Before long, someone brought him food. Just as he had been warned, there was something of that dark color mixed into it. Pretending to eat, he slipped it into the breast of his robe and later threw it away. When someone came and questioned him, he merely groaned and said nothing. Believing the drug had now done its work, they gave him various preparations to fatten him, but these too he only pretended to eat. During a moment when everyone had gone away, he turned toward the northeast, pressed his palms together, and prayed with all his heart: “Three Treasures of my own mountain, save me!” Then a large dog appeared, took the Great Teacher’s sleeve in its mouth, and tugged at him. Sensing that it meant him to follow, he went in the direction it pulled him. The dog led him out through a water gate he had never noticed. Once he was outside, it vanished. Realizing that this was his chance, he ran wherever his feet would carry him. After crossing mountains for a great distance, he came to a village. A man he met asked, “Where have you come from, that you are running so hard?” “I found my way into a place of this sort,” he replied, describing it, “and now I am fleeing from it.” “What a dreadful thing!” the man exclaimed. “That is Kōketsu Castle. No one who goes there ever comes back. Without extraordinary help from the Buddha, you could never have escaped. What a holy man you must be!” He bowed to the Great Teacher and went on his way. The Great Teacher continued his flight and eventually returned to the capital, where he lived in hiding. In the sixth year of Huichang, Emperor Wuzong died. The following year, the first year of Dazhong, Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne. The destruction of Buddhism came to an end, and the Great Teacher was able to study the teachings as he wished. After ten years, he returned to Japan and spread the teachings of Shingon and the other Buddhist traditions. So it is told.