Minnasan, doumo…hello everyone,
This past week Sensei (Rev. Tanaka) gave us the name and calligraphy (displayed below) for “Fudosan Kongo-Ji” the meaning is “Diamond Temple of Fudo Mountain.” This is a significant step for us and I will explain a little bit about the meaning of the name.
“Fudo-san,” refers to Fudo Myoo, the chief diety to whom the Goma is offered. (For more information about the chief diety please click here ). In this case, “san” refers to the Chinese character for mountain. In Japan mountains are the sacred abode of the spirits.
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“Kongo” literally translates as “diamond” but the deeper meaning refers to the male aspect of Dainichi Nyorai, (Mahavairocana in Sanskrit) the great universal cosmic Buddha from which all other deities are emanations. In this way, the concept is very similar to the western notion of “God,” “Spirit,” or “The Creator” – all names for the highest universal deity. Kongo is in reference to the Kongokai mandala, one of the two artistic depictions of the Shingon pantheon and view of the universal process. (More information here)
Ji is Japanese for Temple.
So we are very excited to be given this name. Sensei also dropped one more surprise last week: We are getting our own omamori. In Japan, many people will carry with them a protective amulet from a shrine or temple and these are called Omamori. These amulets bear a sacred protective mantra inside and are embued with the energy of their shrine or temple. Our Omamori will bear our new name and be purified and empowered in the Goma Fire before being given to those who wish to have them. An omamori is shown below:
