| The original Buddhist identity of a Shinto deity
*kami 神. Sometime before the
12c kami came to be matched with Buddhist deities in a manner called *honji
suijaku 本地垂述 in which the kami were understood as the local Japanese
manifestations *suijaku 垂迹 of eternal Buddhist figures honjibutsu. The kami were believed
to have been sent to save the Japanese people before the arrival of Buddhism and
to have been so well tailored to the people's needs that they continued to provide
an easier level of access to Buddhist salvation. Occasionally, there is a simple
reason for the identification of a Buddhist and a Shinto deity. For example, *Dainichi 大日, written with the characters "Great Sun," the head, or central deity of the
esoteric Buddhist pantheon, was an obvious honjibutsu for Amaterasu Oomikami 天照大神 (the Sun Goddess). However this is a rare example of
a clear identification, given that kami themselves defy simple definition.
Often a single common attribute, a dream or association between both figures is
sufficient. In addition a kami can be identified with several different Buddhist
deities and even then the identity may be subject to change. The matching process honji suijaku is based on the Chinese benji 本迹 system used by Zhiyi
(Jp: Chigi 智 |
