Abbreviation of Tenryū hachibushū 天竜八部衆. Eight classes of Indian deities who were converted by *…

Lit. eight great youths. Eight attendants of either *Monju 文殊 or more commonly *…

Lit. *Amida, 阿弥陀, with teeth exposed. An image of a standing Amida with his…

Devotional paintings of the cult of Hakusan 白山 (white mountains), a group of mountains that border Gifu, Fukui,…

In full Hannya-haramitsu (or Hannya-haramitta) bosatsu 般若波羅蜜(般若波羅蜜多)菩薩. A bodhisattva *…

The transformations in which *Kannon 観音 appears in order to save sentient…

Flying apsaras. Heavenly beings invisible to the human eye, believed to fly with superhuman power and speed. Found in Middle…

Lit. *Amida 阿弥陀 with a Jeweled Crown. A typical representation of Buddha *…

Drawings or paintings, zu 図 depicting the doctrine and stories of the Lotus Sutra Hokekyō 法華経,…

Lit. Lotus Mandala. Also Hokekyō mandara 法華経曼荼羅 (mandala depiction of the Lotus Sutra), Hokekyō hōtō mandara…

A variety of mandala dedicated to specific deities *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅…

Commonly known as Hōnen Shōnin 法然上人 or St. Hōnen (1133-1212), founder of the Pure Land, Jōdo 浄土 sect in…

The original Buddhist identity of a Shinto deity *kami 神. Sometime before the…

Lit. Illustrations of original lives. The original lives; honjō 本生 or honshō, or former lives of the…

A specific type of mandala *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅, based on the Daihō…

Lit. star mandara. A variety of dedicated mandala *Butsugen mandara…

Lit. Six Patriarchs of the Hossō sect. In Japan: Shin'ei 神叡 (d. 737), Genbō 玄昉 (d. 746), Zenshu 善珠 (723-97), Gyōga 行賀(729-…

Ch: Budai. A semi-legendary, itinerant 10th-century Buddhist monk who became a popular subject in Chinese and Japanese ink…

An abbreviation of Nichiren Shōnin 日連上人 (1222-82). A radical reformer of popular Buddhism and founder of the …

Lit. "25 bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩." The bosatsu that are…

The 28 attendants of *Senju Kannon 千手観音. They protect those who place…

Lit. "28 lunar mansions." In the astronomical theory of both ancient India and China the path of the moon during a single…

Also read niga byakudō-zu. Lit. "picture of Two Rivers and the White Path." Inspired by a parable taught by the…

Solar Radiance and Lunar Radiance.

1　Sk: Suryavairocana and Candravairocana. Two…

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 based on the Ninnō Gokoku Hannya…

Also written 二王. Also called *niten 二天 and Niōson 仁王尊. Lit. "two kings" or "benevolent kings."…

A pair of devas *ten 天 or Buddhist guardian gods, such as *…

Also Niutsuhime Myōjin 丹生都比売明神. A female mountain deity that resides in Mt. Kōya 高野. According to legend *…

Sk: Cintamanicakra. A form of *Kannon 観音, most often six armed and…

Lit. "the thus-come one." Sk: tathagata. One who has realized true enlightenment. In order to reach this state of…