Dharma Dictionary: Kaji




At the esoteric level of Shingon, kaji is quite often a synonym for yuga, or union. This refers to the understanding that Buddha and sentient life are not separate, but are connected and interfused. They are not separate, because the mind of man and the mind of the Tathagata are the same. Therefore, when a priest performs a Shingon ritual, he or she becomes the Buddha and experiences a shift in awareness, honzon kaji. Such awakening is initially temporary, but through focused and sustained practice the priest can sustain this state, which is essential for the maturing of practice. When honzon kaji can be sustained beyond the ritual, the practitioner truly becomes one with the honzon. At this point the practitioner is in the samadhi of the three secrets (san mitsu) and has entered the state of funi (not two).

The san mitsu are the three secrets of thought, speech and action. When this samadhi is attained, each action is the action of an enlightened tathagata, each word is the word of an enlightened tathagata and each thought is the thought of an enlightened tathagata. The practitioner attains buddhahood in the body (sokushin jobutsu) and is in union with all of the buddhas and with all of humanity. Phenomenal reality itself shifts as a result of such union.


Rev. Eijun Eidson is a Shingon priest and headmaster of the Koyasan Shingon Tenchiji Temple in Fresno, California