Ajikan

NOTE: The following general description of simple Ajikan is intended as an introduction to the practice. Anyone who wants to practice this or other Buddhist meditation techniques is strongly advised to work with a qualified teacher.

Ajikan is meditation on the form, sound and meaning of the syllable "A." In Shingon teachings, "A" is the a symbol of Dainichi Nyorai, the Supreme Buddha, the symbol of the ultimate reality. In fact, the syllable itself is called "the king of all mantras" in one of the most revered Shingon texts, The Commentary on the Dainichi-kyo. Kobo Daishi called it the wellspring of all Buddhist teachings.

Ajikan exhists in many forms with over 100 explanatory texts. In its simplest form, taking only 10 minutes, the practicioner sits in front of a hanging scroll painted with a Sanskrit "A" superimposed on the disk of the full moon above a white, eight-petaled lotus.

Ajikan includes the basic Shingon meditation techniques, with some variations according to the instructional text followed. The following description of Ajikan is based on the English publication
Ajikan: A Manual of the Esoteric Meditation
Edited by Bishop Taisen Miyata
Published by Koyasan Buddhist Temple
342 East First Street
Lost Angeles, Calif. 90012
1998

The Practice of Ajikan Meditation

1. Enter the Shrine:
   Wash your hands, rinse your mouth, and enter the meditation room. Nobody should enter or leave the room during the practice.

2. Prostrate Before the Scroll (three times):

   • Face the scroll holding the Sanscrit letter A.

   • Stand up straight and make the Vajra-Anjali mudra (see Figure 2).

   • Bow your head and flex your knees slightly twice.

   • Prostrate deeply once, touching both knees, both elbows and your forehead to the floor.

   • Recite the following mantra three times:
     Om sarva tathagata pada-vandanam karomi
     (I prostrate at the feet of all the Buddhas/Tathagatas)

3. Sit in Front of the Scroll:
   Sit in the Hankaza position (see Figure 3). Release all tension from your shoulders. Stretch your back. Control your breath: first, exhale slowly through the nose, then inhale slowly through the nose. Repeat these slow breaths until you feel completely at ease.

   While you breathe, your mind should be focused at your navel. This combination of physical and mental exercise will control your emotions and prepare you for the following steps in Ajikan meditation.

4. Purify the Three Karmic Actions: Make a lotus anjali mudra with the three middle fingers slightly apart. (see Figure 4) With this mudra, empower the five places of your body (forehead, right shoulder, left shoulder, chest and throat) and recite this mantra five times:
   Om svabhaha-suddha
   sarva-darma
   svabhava-suddha 'ham.
   (Om, all natures are pure by nature; I'm pure by nature)

5. Generate the Mind of Enlightenment with the vajra-anjali-mudra and recite this mantra 7 times:
   Om bodhicittam utpadayami.
   (Om I produce/generate the mind of enlightenment)

6. Recite the Samaya Pledge: vajra-anjali-mudra
   Om samayas tvam (7 times)
   (Om, you are united with the pledge!)

7. Recite the Five Great Vows: vajra-anjali Living beings are innumerable; I vow to save them all.
   Merit and knowledge are innumerable; I vow to accumulate them all.
   The teachings of the Dharma are innumerable; I vow to master them all.
   The Tathagatas are innumerable; I vow to serve them all.
   Enlightenment is unsurpassed; I vow to attain it.

8. Recite the Mantra of the Five Great Vows: vajra-anjali mudra
   Om a-vi-ra-hum-kham. (7 times)
   (Om, non-arising, untained, delightful, truthful, and cosmological one)

9. Control Your Breathing:
   Make the meditation mudra (Houkai-jo-in): the hands lie in the lap, one on the other, palms up; the thumb extending and touching toward each other to form a triangle with the palms of the hands. (see Figure 5)

   Form this mudra, close your eyes and exhale through your nose twice. Hereafter you must breathe only through your nose, not mouth. Calm down and lose your tension by controlling your breath as in Step 3 above.

10. Visualization:
    Open your eyes slightly and look at the Sanscrit letter A on the scroll. Then close your eyes slowly and visualize it in front of your body.

    The 17th century meditation teacher Zoei described the visualization in this way:

    "First visualize the syllable A, a lotus, and the disk of a full moon within your own heart. Imagine that within your heart there is a full moon, bright shining and white in color. In the middle of this full moon there is a white lotus flower. The syllable A is resting on the surface of this open lotus flower. Visualize the fact that the ultimate (nokan) syllable A, the lotus flower and the full moon are ultimately one with the syllable A, the lotus flower, and the full moon in the heart of the meditator (shokan): these two [external and internal] have always been one, and are not different, being of one nature.

    Next, open your eyes and visualize the syllable A about one chu (40 cm.) in height before your eyes; then close your eyes and visualize this syllable within your heart. Do this several times, opening and closing the eyes, visualizing the syllable in front of your eyes and within your heart.

    When you want to leave this Samadhi, then begin to visualize the syllable A growing in size until it fills the whole universe (the Dharmadhatu; hokkai), filling every corner of it. Gradually break down in your own mind the difference between the Chief Diety and your own heart, until you abide in the state where there is no distinction between them. Abide in this state for a while, and then visualize that the syllable A, which now permeates the whole universe, now starts to grow smaller until it reaches the dimension of one chu (40 cm.) in height which it was at the beginning of the meditation, and now this small syllable is again placed in one's heart. At this time forget the differences between your body and your heart, and abide for a while in the state of non-difference. From this point on, gradually leave the Samadhi; rub the rosary, and your prayers are finished."

    Translated by Bishop Taisen Miyata

11. Leave the meditation:
    Take two or three deep breaths, keeping your eyes closed. Open your hands, raise them and move them slowly down your body, touching your body softly from head to feet. When your breathing returns to normal, open your eyes. Then recite the Stanza of Three Powers, making the Meditation mudra (Figure 3 above):
    "Through the power of my merit, the power of the Tathagata's empowerment, and the power of the Dharmadhatu, I abide in a universal offering. (once)

12. Aspiration: vajra-anjali-mudra
    At this point you may pray for the fulfilling of a vow. Imagine that everything you desire will be done by the will of Maha-Vairocana Buddha.

13. Don the Armour of Great Compassion:
    Place your hands in the mudra of the Armour of Great Compassion. Extend and join the two middle fingers in an inner fist. Hook the two index fingers; don't touch the backs of the two middle fingers; the two thumbs are extended together, and the ring fingers touch. With this mudra consecrate the five places of your body (forehead, right and left shoulders, throat, chest) reciting the following mantra five times:
    Om vajragni pradiptaya svaha.
    (Om, Homage to Vajra Agni, bursting into flames! Svaha)

14. Leave the Shrine:
    Prostrate three times as described above, then leave the meditation room.