Miroku　弥勒

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Also Jishi 慈氏, lit. compassionate one (Sk.Maitreya). A bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩 believed to be at present residing in heaven (Jp: Tosotsuten 兜率天, Sk: Tusita) awaiting the time when he is to return to earth as the next Buddha. He is therefore also referred to as the Buddha Miroku Mirokubutsu 弥勒仏 or future Buddha Miraibutsu 未来仏 or Shouraibutsu 将来仏. According to the prevailing belief, his advent is to take place 5,670 million years after the death of *Shaka 釈迦 the founder of Buddhism, whose precise dates of birth and death are unresolved. He is thus represented as either a bodhisattva or a Buddha, and he is revered by followers of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. It is recorded that an image of Miroku was brought to Japan from the Korean kingdom of Paekche (Jp: *Kudara 百済) in 584, and he was one of the most important figures in the early Japanese Buddhist pantheon. When represented as a bodhisattva, he is often seated with one or both legs pendant. Especially common among early images is the half-cross-legged contemplative image hanka shiyuizou 半跏思惟像, a position with the left leg pendent, the right leg crossed over the left knee, and the fingers of the right hand lightly touching the cheek, e.g., Kouryuuji 広隆寺 in Kyoto and Chuuguuji 中宮寺 in Nara. When represented as a Buddha, he is shown with the standard characteristics of a Tathagata *nyorai 如来. Early examples include that at Taimadera 当麻寺 (late 7c) in Nara and one of several images at Houryuuji 法隆寺 (711) in Nara. From the Heian period onwards the Esoteric Buddhist variation of Miroku in bodhisattva form came to predominate. This form characterized by a stupa, tou 塔 either in his crown or in his hand. There was a widespread interest in eschatological thought in the late Heian period, in which much emphasis is placed on the final phases of life, the rewards and the punishments of the afterlife, and the end of the world. In order to take advantage of his reputation for compassion there was a revival of the Miroku cult at this time, although it was eventually overshadowed by the Pure Land faith, Joudokyou 浄土教. This revival produced depictions of Miroku in Tusita Heaven, Tosotsuten mandara 兜率天曼荼羅 an example of which is at Enmeiji 延命寺 in Osaka. Also produced were images of his descent to earth in order to welcome and convey devotees to his heaven: Miroku raigou-zu 弥勒来迎図 such as that in Shoumyouji 称名寺, Kanagawa prefecture. Miroku also figures among the so-called Thirteen Buddhas juusanbutsu 十三仏 who preside over the memorial service held on the 42nd day after a person's death. In Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教 he appears in both the *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 and *Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅. In the Taizoukai mandara he appears in the central Chuudai hanchiyouin 中台八葉院 holding a lotus surmounted with a vase in his right hand and displaying the mudra for bestowing fearlessness *semui-in 施無畏印 with his left hand. In the Kongoukai mandara he is included among the sixteen Deities of the Auspicious Aeon gengou juurokuson 賢劫十六尊. Texts also mention a 30-armed form, illustrations of which are found in iconographical manuals, but no statuary representations are known. There is also a mandala known as Miroku bosatsu mandara 弥勒菩薩曼荼羅 centered on Miroku; examples of this from the Kamakura period are preserved at Daigoji 醍醐寺 in Kyoto and Reiunji 霊雲寺 in Tokyo.

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