Introduction
In our reading of the Shinkage-ryū Honshiki Sanmondō (本識三問答; “Three Dialogues on the Original Consciousness”) of Kimura Kyūho it was noted that Honshiki (本識; Skt. mūlavijñāna) is the Yogācāra “root consciousness,” a synonym of the ālayavijñāna. We describe that concept in brief and relate the concept of trikāya (three bodies) to symbolism associated to breathing practices cultivated later in the Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
Yogācāra
Yogācāra is an influential school of throught in Buddhist philosophy, also called Vijñānavāda or “the doctrine of consciousness”, dating from the early common eera and attributed to Asaṅga (opens in a new tab) (310-390 CE; Skr. असंग; 無著; ; pinyin: Wúzhuó; romaji: Mujaku).
Generally Buddhist schools assume six primary consciousnesses (Sanskrit: vijñāna, Tibetan: རྣམ་ཤེས་, Wylie: rnam-shes), the five physical consciousnesses of the senses and then the sixth consciousness associated to mental processes. Together they form the body-mind processes that are spoken to in the Heart Sutra.
In Yogācāra, two additional forms or layers of consciousness (opens in a new tab) are described: kliṣṭamanovijñāna and ālayavijñāna, in order to explain the workings of karma. Asaṅga’s work titled the Mahāyānasaṃgraha (opens in a new tab) ( 攝大乘論; pinyin: Shè dàchéng lùn ) survives in Chinese and Tibetan and consists of ten chapters, culminating in a discussion of Trikāya doctrine (opens in a new tab) (त्रिकाय, lit. “three bodies”; Chinese: 三身; pinyin: sānshēn; Japanese pronunciation: sanjin, Tibetan: སྐུ་གསུམ ) that examines the profound aspect of Buddhahood:
- Dharmakāya (the Dharma body) associated with ultimate reality and all-pervading Buddha nature
- Sambhogakāya (the Bliss body) associated with infinite forms and powers
- Nirmāṇakāya (the manifestation body) associated with corporeal human form
This manifestation is non-dual: it is at the same time physical, the basis of the physical, and the underlying nature of reality. In Yogācāra, this is called Dharmadhātuviśuddhi as Buddhahood is ascribed not residing separately in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa (saṃsāra-nirvāṇa-apratiṣṭhitatvāt),
Relation to A and Un
The A in Siddham script (bonji) found in Jikishinkage-ryū mokuroku, symbolizes the formless Dharmakāya. Later Mahayana suras, including the Lotus Stura focus on a pairing of Dharmakāya with the form body, which I wonder if is then associated to the last character Un, forming the A-Un pairing used to describe the breathing (life giving) process of kokyū in the foundational practices of the Kashima-shinden Jiki Shinkage-ryū of swordsmanship.
