[Buddha-l] An Elucidation of Kukai's 'World-Text'

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Joushin schreef:

> Can someone elucidate with regards to how Kukai held that all 
> phenomena were 'letters' in a 'world-text'?
>
> http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=Vajrayana
>
> Perhaps with iconographic images? Scholarly 
> references? Suggested reading? Links to Japanese sites? Manga? I read 
> Japanese so I can fiddle with it. How would 'world-text' as Buddhist 
> terminology be translated to Japanese?  [ I sure hope it's not ワール 
> ドテクスト ] ;-). 　
>
> This same description is found no matter where/how I search. At least 
> with my search skills.
>
> "/Kukai held, along with the Hua-yen (Jp. Kegon) school that all 
> phenomena were 'letters' in a 'world-text'. Mantra, mudra, and mandala 
> are special because they constitute the 'language' through which the 
> Dharmakaya (ie Reality itself) communicates. Although portrayed 
> through the use of anthropomorphic metaphors."/
>  
> Joushin
>  
>
> <http://pr.mail.yahoo.co.jp/yells/>

Kukai was much influenced by vedic theories about the nature of shabda, 
which were introduced together with buddhist mantric theories.
Search at http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/srb/cyber/cyber.html for the 
course in Buddhist Semiotics.

-- 


Erik


www.xs4all.nl/~jehms
weblog http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/blogs/blog.php?uid=2950