This September has been a really hectic month for me, and I apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay in replying to your inquiries.

As I have already announced, the first book has been published, a translation into modern Japanese of a commentary on the Jizoin-ryu lineage written by Inyu in 1488.

The Jizoin-ryu lineage and the Samboin-ryu lineage are like brother dharma lineages, having studied under the same master Seigen, so their practices do not differ greatly from each other. However, as I have repeatedly said, esoteric Buddhism is also Buddhism, so the teachings given will differ depending on the state of students. It makes no sense to argue which is correct, because for the students, the teachings given to them are both correct. Hence, there are teachings given in the Jizoin-ryu lineage that are not given in the Samboin-ryu lineage, and vice versa. I have inherited many Dharma lineages, and I believe that all the important things are the same, and that there are only different Dharma lineages in terms of the way the teachings are transmitted.

I am also working on my next book, which will be over 1000 pages and will be a commentary on all of Samboin-ryu’s practices. I have a lot of editing work to do.

This month I received a donation of a Buddhist bell from a friend, made in 1715, which originally belonged to one of the temples in the Kompira Mountains in Shikoku. When the temple lost its successor, the bell was entrusted to a friend’s temple. During World War II, metal Buddhist ritual objects in temples throughout Japan were forcibly collected to be used as ammunition, so it is extremely precious that the old bell still remains. The donated bell makes a very nice sound when we strike it. In other words, it sounds 300 years old.

Since Shinto was derived from Buddhism in the first place, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines used to be the same. For example, Mt. Kompira (the original name is Matsuo-ji temple) today is a Shinto shrine, but Kompira means crocodile (kumbhīra) in Sanskrit, and was introduced from India along with Buddhism as a guardian deity for maritime transportation. In the Meiji era (1868-1912), Shintoism was propagated as an ancient Japanese religion for the sake of national uplift, and Buddhism and Shintoism were considered to be two separate religions.

Mt. Kompira in Shikoku is so famous that it is sung in Japanese folk songs, and many people visited the temple to pray.

Interestingly, in the classical Japanese language, crocodiles were said to be sharks. This is because there are no crocodiles in Japan.

There is no sea creature in Japan that is stronger than a shark, so they used its strength as an ally. They say the best way to destroy an enemy is to become friends. I feel that the sound of the bell conveys such harmony that we have almost forgotten to this day.