What are some characteristics of Shingon Buddhist sacred spaces?

Bright on Buddhism - Episode 116 - What are some characteristics of Shingon Buddhist sacred spaces? How do they differ from other Buddhist sacred spaces? How are Shingon sacred spaces influenced by texts and doctrines?Resources: Andreeva, Anna. “Buddhist Temple Networks in Medieval Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 47, no. 1 (2020): 11–41.; Bushelle, Ethan. “The Mountain as Mandala: Kūkai’s Founding of Mt. Kōya.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 47, no. 1 (2020): 43–83.; Collection of Benevolent Deeds (Sazenshū 作善集). By Chōgen 重源 (1121–1206).In Shunjōbō Chōgen shiryō shūsei 俊乗房重源資料集成, ed. Kobayashi Takeshi小林 剛.Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1965.; Dobbins, James C. Jōdo Shinshū: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Religion in Asia and Africa Series. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989.; Goodwin, Janet R. “The Buddhist Monarch - Go-Shirakawa and the Rebuilding of Tōdai-Ji.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, The Emperor System and Religion in Japan, 17, no. 2/3 (1990): 219–42.; Horton, Sarah (2004). The Influence of the Ōjōyōshū in Late Tenth- and Early Eleventh-Century Japan, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31 (1), 29-54; Inagaki, Hisao. “Esoteric Meaning of Amida.” Pacific World Journal New Series, no. 10 (1994).; Ingram, Evan. “Chōgen’s Vision of Tōdaiji’s Great Buddha as Both Mahāvairocana and Amitābha.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 46, no. 2 (2019): 173–92.; Johnson, Peter Lunde. Land of Pure Bliss: Sukhavati, 2021.; Kainuma, Yoshiko. “Chōgen’s Jōdoji Amida Triad and Its Environment: A Theatrical Effect of the ‘Raigō’ Form.” Artibus Asiae 74, no. 1 (2014): 97–127.; Kuroda, Toshio. “The Development of the Kenmitsu System as Japan’s Medieval Orthodoxy.” Translated by James C Dobbins. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, The Legacy of Kuroda Toshio, 23, no. 3/4 (1996): 233–69. ; Rosenfield, John. “Introduction: Todaiji in Japanese History and Art.” In The Great Eastern Temple: Treasures of Japanese Art From, edited by Yutaka Mino, 17–31. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1986.; Rosenfield, John M. Portraits of Chōgen: The Transformation of Buddhist Art in Early Medieval Japan. Japanese Visual Culture ; Volume 1. Leiden, the Netherlands ; Brill, 2011.; Stone, Jacqueline I. Right Thoughts at the Last Moment–Buddhism and Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan. University of Hawai’i Press, 2016.; Tōdaiji zōryū kuyōki 東大寺造立供養記. Anonymous. In Dai Nihon Bukkyō zen-sho 121, Tōdaiji sōsho 1, ed. Bussho Kankōkai, 47–57. Tokyo: Bussho Kankōkai,1912–1922.; Yen-Yi, Chan, and 晏怡詹. “Revealing the Miraculous: Objects Placed inside the Statue of the Kōfukuji Nan’endō Fukūkenjaku Kannon.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 49, no. 1 (2022): 45–88.Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected]:Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-HostProven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host