As I knelt before my preceptor on my ordination day a little over two years ago, I found myself looking just over his head at the face of Kannon , the main image of my teacher's temple. Unlike many Kannon statues in Japan, the image at Fukusho-ji is not a gentle mother; she has a fixed jaw and determined eyes, and stares intently at who's before her. Her many arms drip with potency, and her skin is ruddy, as though all her muscles are clenched in the desire to save.  Fukusho-

Below is my translation of the Shingon Hymn (Wasan), "Eight Petals." Longer vernacular hymns like this and others, along with short songs called Goeika, were and are important teaching tools for sharing Shingon teachings with the public.

This short sutra is often chanted at Goma fire offering ceremonies, as well as sacred sites associated with the wrathful deity Fudō Myō-Ō...

Konji-ji's Saito Goma fire ceremony The Gyoja Mondo , or “Practitioner Questions and Answers,” are performed at the start of Saito Goma...