Kongo Yasha Myoo: The Five-Eyed Guardian Who Devours Evil, and the Wisdom King of the North
A Demon with Five Eyes: Why Does Kongo Yasha Myoo "Devour Evil"?
In the dim Lecture Hall of To-ji in Kyoto stands the three-dimensional mandala conceived by the great teacher Kukai. At the far northern end of the space where the Five Wisdom Kings are gathered stands a statue of unusual and overwhelming intensity.
It has three faces and six arms, with the powerful body of a warrior. The right foot is raised high, as if breaking through the lotus pedestal and shaking the earth. Behind it, fierce flames burn up toward the sky.
When visitors look up at the central face, they are struck silent. On that face glitter five eyes. Four are set above and below the usual pair, and one more opens vertically in the center of the forehead. The five eyes pierce the viewer, and sharp fangs project from the mouth.
This is Kongo Yasha Myoo, the last of the Five Wisdom Kings and the powerful guardian of the north. A yaksha, in ancient Indian myth, is a fearsome demon who eats humans. Why did a man-eating spirit become a guardian of Buddhism, glaring with five eyes?
At first glance this is a monster of terror. But in the teaching of esoteric Buddhism, his form carries an astonishing philosophy of breaking evil: he devours the evil thoughts and afflictions that cling to the human heart without a trace, and returns it to purity. This article follows the origin of the Sanskrit name Vajrayaksha, the myth of the man-eating demon who took refuge in the Buddha, the truth the five eyes see through, the meaning of the implements in his six hands, and the National Treasure sculpture in the To-ji Lecture Hall.
The Sanskrit Name Vajrayaksha and the Idea of Devouring Evil
The origin of Kongo Yasha Myoo goes back to late esoteric Buddhism in ancient India. In Sanskrit he is called Vajrayaksha. Vajra means the truth that no force can destroy, and yaksha means a spirit or demon with supernatural strength. Together the name means a holy yaksha with indestructible power. In Chinese-translated Buddhism he was named Kongo Yasha Myoo, or alternatively Kongo Tanjiki Myoo, where tanjiki means to devour greedily.
When the yaksha, once a fearsome demon that seized and ate people, met the teaching of Dainichi Nyorai and took deep refuge in it, a dramatic change occurred. "Until now I have eaten people. From now on I will devour the evil, afflictions and past sins that torment humans, and save them." So the yaksha was reborn as the strongest guardian who devours demons.
Among the Five Wisdom Buddhas of esoteric Buddhism, Kongo Yasha Myoo is the wrathful manifestation of Amoghasiddhi, the Buddha of the north. Amoghasiddhi governs the wisdom of accomplishing actions: he surely achieves what must be done and removes all fear. Kongo Yasha Myoo is the practitioner who devours every obstacle and evil bond that blocks our way, and leads people to complete peace of mind and success.
The Unique Five Eyes: Complete Insight into Truth and the Purification of the Dark Heart
The most distinctive feature of this deity's imagery is the five eyes carved on the central face. Why five? They symbolize the complete, flawless insight into truth that Buddhism teaches.
Buddhism teaches five kinds of sight, five stages of perception.
- The physical eye: the eye with which a human body sees.
- The divine eye: the eye with which gods see far.
- The wisdom eye: the eye of insight that sees the truth of emptiness.
- The Dharma eye: the eye that discerns the teaching that saves beings.
- The Buddha eye: the eye of one who has fully awakened to the truth of the universe.
The five eyes of Kongo Yasha Myoo show that he holds the power of all five. They also signify the power to see all directions at once: the five directions of east, west, south, north and center, or past, present and future together with the inner and the outer.
The lies, the evasions, the unconscious ill will and envy hidden in our hearts: his five eyes see through the darkness we try to conceal in an instant. Because nothing can be hidden from them, the yaksha seizes the evil thought exactly, chews it to the marrow and devours it.
The Implements in Six Arms and the Warrior Pose
The three faces and six arms, and the dynamic pose with one foot raised high, also carry symbolic meaning.
The two main hands crossed before the chest hold a five-pronged vajra and a vajra bell. The five-pronged vajra is a weapon that shatters afflictions, and the bell is an implement whose pure sound resounds through the three worlds and awakens the Buddha nature that sleeps in all beings. The other four hands hold a treasure sword that cuts evil bonds, a bow and arrow that pierce distant obstacles, and a wheel that crushes demons.
Most striking is the movement of the legs: the right foot is kicked high while the left alone stands firmly on the lotus. It expresses a resolute determination that stamps out creeping demons and evil energy and allows no disaster to approach.
From the Heian to the Kamakura period, in times of national crisis and war, the imperial court and warriors performed the Kongo Yasha rite with this deity as the principal image. It drew overwhelming devotion as a secret rite for the repulsion of enemies, long life in battle and the removal of evil obstacles from body and mind.
Japanese Buddhist Art and the Five Wisdom Kings: The National Treasure at To-ji and the Jewel of Shingon
The finest example of Kongo Yasha Myoo in Japanese Buddhist art is the National Treasure wooden standing statue in the Lecture Hall of To-ji in Kyoto. Dated to the Jowa era in the early Heian period, it is a large figure about 1.7 meters tall. Carved from a single block of camphor wood, the muscular body is full of tension, as if it might begin to move at any moment.
The vitality of the raised right foot, the vivid carving of the five eyes on the face, the flame-like hair standing on end and the spatial spread of the six arms: standing for twelve hundred years in the smoke of fire rituals, it is filled with a sacred force that breaks the viewer's wicked thoughts in an instant.
In Shingon esoteric Buddhism (To-ji), Kongo Yasha Myoo is placed in the north, while in Tendai esoteric Buddhism (Enryaku-ji) it is common to place Ususama Myoo in the north. This difference in arrangement is valuable historical evidence of the depth of the esoteric culture established in the Heian period.
The Courage to Let Our Inner Demons Be Devoured
Everyone carries "dark feelings we do not want to see." Delight at another's failure, envy that wants to pull someone down, laziness and self-protection. When such feelings rise, we are tormented by guilt, thinking "I am the worst," and tend to shut them in the cellar of the heart and pretend not to see. But a locked-away evil thought does not disappear. It swells like a monster in the depths and torments us as anxiety.
At such times, try laying your dark feelings out before the five eyes of Kongo Yasha Myoo. He never abandons your evil thoughts and never judges them. He waits with his mouth wide open: "Hand over that muddy, black heart. I will devour it cleanly."
When the five eyes have looked at you, and the yaksha has devoured the evil in your heart, what remains is a clear light without a single cloud and an absolute courage to live facing forward. Protected by the Five Wisdom Kings, let go of fear and take a new step with strength.
Enjoy Japanese History Through Mori no Akari
The absolute power to break evil of Kongo Yasha Myoo, who devours evil and fear to the marrow, the gaze of truth from his five eyes, and the vivid beauty of the National Treasure sculpture that has guarded the To-ji mandala for twelve hundred years: the solemn and powerful world of Japanese esoteric art can bring unshakable courage to hearts troubled by envy and self-dislike, as part of the Mori no Akari Series.
Mori no Akari offers art works that let you color the sacred beauty of Japan's deities and Buddhist statues with your own hands.
References and Sources
- Yorotomi Motohiro, Mikkyo no hotoke-tachi, Nippon Hoso Shuppan Kyokai, 1990
- Sawa Takaaki, Butsuzo zusetsu, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1962