A study into the thought of Kōgyō Daishi Kakuban : with a translation of his Gorin kuji myō himitsushaku

Kôgyô Daishi Kakuban (1095-1144) is the second most important figure in the history of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism, but there are few studies on him in Western languages. This work contains a biography and a discussion of Kakuban's works, focusing on his doctrines. Although it is widely believed that Kakuban incorporated Amidist ideas and practices into Shingon, this study shows that Kakuban's aim was to explain the practices of other schools from an orthodox Shingon perspective. The translations of Kakuban's major works, the "Amida hishaku" and the "Gorin kuji myô himitsushaku", clearly support this idea.