The Karmic Origins of the Great Bright Miwa Deity: A Transformation of the Sacred Mountain in Premodern Japan

Mt. Miwa 三輪, situated in the southeastern corner of the Yamato plain in what is now Nara prefecture, is one of Japan's most important cultic sites. Both Nihon shoki 日本書紀 and Kojiki 古事記 describe the "kami of Miwa" as being a deity closely connected to Izumo and feared by early Yamato rulers. After the kami of Ise was adopted as the imperial ancestor, however, Mt. Miwa appears to have declined in importance. In the medieval period the sacred site at the foot of the mountain was revived and transformed into a leading religious authority. In that process of transformation a text entitled Miwa daimyōjin engi 三輪大明神縁起 (The Karmic Origins of the Great Bright Miwa Deity; also referred to below as the Engi) plays a remarkable role. An essentially Buddhist term, engi 縁起 (Sk. pratīya-samutpāda) is most commonly translated as a "(story of) karmic origins." Sakurai Tokutarō 桜井 徳太郎 was one of the first scholars to discuss such texts in comprehensive detail.¹ Conventional engi often explain the relationships of a native deity, cultic site, or ritual to the teachings and practices of Buddhism, thus establishing firm foundations for the propagation of the theories of honji suijaku 本地垂迹 (original ground and manifest trace). Leaning toward a broader view of what may belong to the category of engi, Sakurai, in his introduction to a collection of shrine and temple engi, has pointed out that there may be several types of such texts.² While some engi can clearly be viewed as literary or artistic productions, others can simultaneously be interpreted as political statements outlining certain links between cultic sites, religious figures, practices, doctrines, and rituals in preference to others. This broader, more inclusive view of engi, as well as consideration of the circumstances in which such texts may have been produced, undoubtedly enhances our interpretation and understanding of these texts.

The story of the Miwa daimyōjin engi outlines a vision of the new identity of this ancient sacred site and offers innovative explanations of its importance. As a text, this engi is central to the Miwa tradition of kami worship, recording a wealth of theories and ideas about Mt. Miwa and the deity venerated at the Ōmiwa shrine that were in circulation during the medieval period.³ More importantly, this text seems to have appeared around the time when kami sites were becoming objects of intense attention from within the Buddhist milieu and "therefore needed to represent themselves, to themselves, in a different manner and to then inform potential pilgrims and devotees of the visions they rested on."⁴ In offering a reinterpretation of the Ōmiwa deity and ancient legends associated with it along the lines of contemporaneous Buddhist logic, this text is a good example of the major features of so-called medieval Shinto.⁵

In the history of Japanese religions, Miwa daimyōjin engi is often categorized as an example of the "Shinto of Two Parts" (Ryōbu Shinto 両部神道).⁶ In this tradition, the worship of local kami was based on the understanding that the cultic sites where the said kami were enshrined were in fact physical manifestations of the Two Part Mandala (ryōkai mandara 両界曼荼羅) of esoteric Buddhism, namely, the Womb Realm (taizōkai 胎蔵界) and the Diamond Realm (kongōkai 金剛界).⁷ Broadly speaking, this text demonstrates how the combinatory world of medieval Japan functioned: by representing sacred sites as mandalas, by playing with the meaning of words, and by associating well-known facts about the physical world with secret tenets of esoteric Buddhist teachings.⁸

Not simply highlighting the importance of Mt. Miwa alone, Miwa daimyōjin engi upon closer investigation reveals the mountain's connections with other cultic sites. For example, the deity and the sacred site of Miwa are either connected to or juxtaposed with the deities, sites, or practices associated with cultic institutions at Murō 室生, Yoshino 吉野, Ise, and Hiei 比叡.⁹ The referential framework of this engi is also far-reaching, as it draws its sources from the realm of oral transmissions; Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese lore; esoteric Buddhist theories; and important...