Introduction: Three Buddhas Sitting in a Maṇḍala -- 1. Outside the Teachings: Enni, Jōmyō, and the Common Conceptual Space of Zen and Tendai in Early Medieval Japan -- 2. The Vicissitudes of Turning Upward: Enni's Three Mechanisms and Their Contexts -- 3. The Zen of Mahāvairocana: Enni on Zen and the Tantric Teachings -- 4. The Heart of Flesh in the Body of the Teachings: Variations on Esoteric Zen in Enni, Chikotsu, and Kokan -- 5. Means of Mediation: Kōan Interpretation from Enni to Sōtō Lineages -- 6. The Topology of the Womb: Enni, Chikotsu, Dōhan, and the Beginnings of Zen Embryology -- 7. The Womb Was Their Kōan: Zen Embryology in Late Medieval Genjū and Sōtō Lineages -- Conclusions: Tantra, Zen, and Oranges -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary:
"When a Zen teacher tells you to point at your mind, which part of your body do you point at? According to the Japanese master Chikotsu Daie (1229-1312), you should point at the fistful of meat that is your heart. Esoteric Zen demonstrates that far from an outlier, Daie's understanding reflects the medieval Buddhist mainstream, in which tantric teachings and Zen were closely entwined movements that often developed within the same circles of thinkers and texts. Drawing on newly discovered manuscript materials, it shows how medieval practitioners constructed a unique form of Zen by drawing on tantric doctrinal discourses"-- Provided by publisher.
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