#kukai

[yoga-onion]

“How can I know the truth of the world without looking at my true heart? Matters that are contrary to the Buddha's teaching are because I do not look at myself seriously.” - Kukai

Kukai (b. 27 July 774 – d. 22 April 835), also known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi (The Grand Master Who Propagated the Buddhist Teaching), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist who founded the Esoteric Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism.

"我が本心を見つめずして、どうして世界の真理を知ることができようか。仏の教えに反する事柄は、自分を真面目に見ていないからである。"

―空海（くうかい、774年7月27日生 - 835年4月22日没）は、日本の僧侶、書家、詩人で、真言密教の創始者であり、「弘法大師」とも呼ばれる。

[kyotodreamtrips]

Hozan-ji on Mount Ikoma, Nara Prefecture Japan.

[thalassomania]

what is “what happens next” about if you don’t mind me asking? :)

i've been sitting on this ask for a while now because WHERE! DO I! BEGIN!!!!

ok. so. what happens next is a currently ongoing webcomic by max graves, beginning late in 2021. it is a story told in multiple chapters about multiple characters, but one could argue that its protagonist is milo holliday. milo is a trans man, pastel blogger, toy customizer... and accomplice to a murder.

one of the first panels of the comic is a screenshot of the dni page on milo's tumblr, which got me IMMEDIATELY interested in the comic because it's such a unique way of storytelling:

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and we get a lot more pages like this that are screenshots of websites, social media profiles, and the like. the comic is a mixture of in-person interactions, online communication, and occasional flashbacks, all of which are important pieces of the story.

so when they were teenagers, milo's best friend griffin petty killed two people, and milo helped mutilate one of the bodies. while griffin was sent to prison, milo spent years in a psychiatric institution that stunted his emotional growth and forever altered his view of the world. a drawing he makes while institutionalized provides a window into milo's perceptions of the event:

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the whole comic is an uncomfortably accurate reflection of mid-2010s tumblr culture, right down to the sanrio traumacore and crytyping. milo's suffering is multifaceted: in reference to the people harassing him online, he says "it doesn't feel like they hate me for what i did... it feels like they hate me for the way i am," referring to his being an autistic trans man. and given that many of his detractors seem to come from sites like kiwifarms (notorious for its transphobia and ableism), he isn't entirely wrong! but at the same time, his relentless depictions of himself as the victim erase his contributions to haylie's death and the ways he's made himself and others' problems worse.

not every part of the comic is about milo, though! i'm only scratching the surface of it here: all of those pages and links are for the first part, titled "dog names." in the second part, "someone else," we're introduced to gage ludemann, a gore blogger and true crime fan who has entered a long-distance relationship with griffin, and once again, screenshots are used to masterful effect:

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but screenshots and characters' drawings are one thing, and max's art is another. starting in the third part, "no matter what," panels are shown in full color, and his color choices are great. what i really love, though, is the amount of detail max puts into character design and facial expressions. i could show you so many different panels that i think show off max's art, but i'll try to narrow it down to one:

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soooo yeah!! i have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this webcomic and i keep trying to get close friends to read it, haha. i've read a lot of webcomics and i can say with certainty that there is NOTHING out there quite like what happens next. it's a story about true crime fanaticism, psychological trauma, social media presences, existing as a transgender person, and so much more. the comic is currently on its fifth part, "you'll all be sorry," which seems to be about the characters vikki escamilla and xandra blumberg. if you decide to check it out please feel free to tell me all about it! i'm not connected to the comic at all, but i really love it and i think everything about it is just fascinating.

and max graves, if you're somehow reading this... hiiiiii i'm a huge fan!!! love your work!!! i hope i've represented it at least somewhat accurately here!

@kukai

[crazyfox-archives]

A painted image of the Shingon founder Kūkai (空海) a.k.a. Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師) (774-835) manifesting a sun disc halo along with a sword & prayer beads while lecturing at the palace on his text, “The Secret Key to the Heart Sutra” (般若心経秘鍵)

Dating to the Muromachi period (1336-1573) from the collection of Ryūkōin Temple (龍光院) on Mount Kōya (高野山) in Wakayama Prefecture

Image from the twitter account of the monk Fujiwara Eizen (藤原栄善)

[begottaum]

Kūkai wards off a demon by reciting the tantra.[8] Painting by Hokusai (1760–1849)

[sachi]

☆ Jinx // League of Legends “Star Guardian” ☆ 1/7 / Good Smile Arts Shanghai ☆ August 2023 ¥36,100 ☆ Sculpt Wood Habitat Paint Kukai

[whencyclopedfr]

Mont Kōya

Le mont Kōya (alias Koyasan), situé dans la préfecture de Wakayama, au sud d'Osaka, au Japon, est le site d'un complexe de temples fondé en 819 par le moine érudit Kūkai pour servir de siège au bouddhisme Shingon. Il y a des temples et des bâtiments sacrés autour de la base de la montagne, sur ses pentes et sur le plateau sommital qui se trouve à 820 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer. Le mont Kōya est classé au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO.

Lire la suite...

[ancientorigins]

Who would have even thought live self-mummification was even possible? Well through a torturous 6-year process showing religious dedication and discipline, Shingon monks have proved it is.

[glitchybeauty]

glitchy beauty #1

[bonguri]

20221008 Mikawa-bay temples 4 by Bong Grit 弘法大師に帰依しましょう。 @Muryoji temple, Gamagori city, Aichi pref. （愛知県蒲郡市 無量寺） https://flic.kr/p/2nYyn3p

[yoga-onion]

“Ice in winter melts and flows in spring, and minerals and rocks are burnt and melted by fire. In this way, all things are established by causality and have no true nature.” - Kukai

[Kukai (b. 27 July 774 – d. 22 April 835),  posthumously called Kōbō Daishi ("The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism.]

Buddha to his disciples, mini-series (21)

Nidana - "direct cause" &  "indirect cause" in all phenomenal things

Kukai's quotation of the sacred word 'causality' is referred to as the 'Twelve Causes (Pratītyasamutpāda,Ref)', etc., and is one of the fundamental doctrines that the Buddha taught to his first disciples after his enlightenment, and the content of enlightenment itself. The Buddha realised that "the phenomena of this world are the result of the interrelation of causes and conditions. Everything is the result of nidana".

In Buddhism, all phenomenal things which those caused by phenomena, have a hetu (direct cause), and a pratyaya (indirect cause) conditions that help the cause to produce the result..

"冬の氷は春になれば解けて流れ、金属や岩石は火に焼かれて溶解する。このようにすべての物事は縁によって成立し、本姓はない。"

―空海（くうかい、774年7月27日生 - 835年4月22日没）は、日本の僧侶、書家、詩人で、真言密教の創始者であり、「弘法大師」とも呼ばれる。

ブッダから弟子たちへ、ミニシリーズ (21)

因縁 〜 現象的事物 (有為) はすべて直接原因 (因)と間接原因縁 (縁)

空海の聖語から引用した「縁」という言葉は「縁起の法」「十二因縁（参照）」などといい、釈迦が悟りを開いて最初に弟子たちに説いた根本教理の一つ、悟りの内容そのものである。釈迦は「この世の現象は原因や条件が相互に関係しあって生まれ出た結果である。すべては縁によって成り立っているのだ」と気づいた。

仏教では，現象的事物には必ず原因があるとし，生滅に直接関係するものを「因 (梵:ﾍｰﾄｩ＝直接原因)」と言い，因を助けて結果を生じさせる間接的な条件を「縁 (梵: ﾌﾟﾗﾃｨﾔﾔ＝間接原因)」と言う…

[kyotodreamtrips]

Hozan-ji on Mount Ikoma, Nara Prefecture Japan.

[musictomyremember]

ARALARKO DAMA (LIVE) - ZETAK, Neomak, Kukai

[crazyfox-archives]

A portrait of the Shingon founder Kūkai (空海) a.k.a. Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師) (774-835) sculpted by the Buddhist artist Chōkai (長快) during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) at Rokuharamitsuji Temple (六波羅蜜寺) in Kyoto

Image from the temple’s official website (see source)

[japanicus-nerdus]

Photo of the Day: Kukai

This is not Japan, but rather near my house in Honolulu. Shingon Buddhism is one of the larger sects of Buddhism in Japan. Kukai was the monk who brought it from China to Japan. He is a legendary figure so it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, but he was a real person.  The 88 Temple pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku was dedicated to him.  If you enjoyed this photo, please visit my…

[ideas-of-immortality]

"Fire burns things, but is said a certain kind of rat plays in the fire; water causes men to drown, but dragons and turtles swim in it. We can see that some conform to the world in which they live, while others rebel against it. Therefore, although we live in a degenerate period, there is no reason to believe there are no worthy ones."

—Kūkai: Major Works, translated by Yoshito S. Hakeda