(Krityânushthâna-gñâna), the
“Wisdom-of-accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done;”--that is to
say, the divine wisdom that helps beings to reach Nirvana.
The element Air. Air personified is Fu-kū-jō-ju, the
“Unfailing-of-Accomplishment,”--more commonly called Fuku-Nyōrai
(Amoghasiddhi, or Sâkyamuni).[19]
Now the doctrine that each of the Five Buddhas contains the rest, and
that all are essentially One, is symbolized in these texts by an
extraordinary use of characters called _Bon-ji_,--which are recognizably
Sanscrit letters. The name of each element can be written with any one
of four characters,--all having for Buddhists the same meaning, though
differing as to sound and form. Thus the characters standing for Fire
would read, according to Japanese pronunciation, _Ra_, _Ran_, _Raän_,
and _Raku_;--and the characters signifying Ether, _Kya_, _Ken_, _Keën_,
and _Kyaku_. By different combinations of the twenty characters making
the five sets, different supernatural powers and different Buddhas
are indicated; and the indication is further helped by an additional
symbolic character, called _Shū-ji_ or “seed-word,” placed immediately
after the names of the elements. The reader will now comprehend the
meaning of the invocatory “Ether, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth!” and of the
strange names of divine wisdom written upon sotoba; but the enigmas
offered by even a single sotoba may be much more complicated than the
foregoing examples suggest. There are unimaginable acrostics; there are
rules, varying according to sect, for the position of texts in relation
to the points of the compass; and there are kabalisms based upon the
multiple values of certain Chinese ideographs. The whole subject of
esoteric inscriptions would require volumes to explain; and the reader
will not be sorry, I fancy, to abandon it at this point in favor of
texts possessing a simpler and a more humane interest.
The really attractive part of Buddhist cemetery-literature mostly
consists of sentences taken from the sûtras or the sastras; and the
attraction is due not only to the intrinsic beauty of the faith which
these sentences express, but also to the fact that they will be found
to represent, in epitome, a complete body of Buddhist doctrine. Like
the mystical inscriptions above-mentioned, they belong to the sotoba,
not to the gravestones; but, while the invocations usually occupy the
upper and front part of the sotoba, these sutra-texts are commonly
written upon the back. In addition to scriptural and invocatory texts,
each sotoba bears the name of the giver, the kaimyō of the dead, and the
name of a commemorative anniversary. Sometimes a brief prayer is also
inscribed, or a statement of the pious purpose inspiring the erection of
the sotoba. Before considering the scripture-texts proper, in relation
to their embodiment of doctrine, I submit examples of the general
character and plan of sotoba inscriptions. They are written upon both
sides of the wood, be it observed; but I have not thought it necessary
to specify which texts belong to the front, and which to the back of the
sotoba,--since the rules concerning such position differ according to
sect:--