Acala

or Achala ( , "The Immovable", ), also known as ( , "Immovable Lord") or ( , "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. Originally a minor deity described as a messenger or acolyte of the buddha Vairocana, Acala later rose to prominence as an object of veneration in his own right as a remover of obstacles and destroyer of evil, eventually becoming seen as the wrathful manifestation of either Vairocana, the Buddha Akṣobhya, or the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. In later texts, he is also called ( , "Violent Wrathful One", ) or ( , "Violent One of Great Wrath", ), the names by which he is more commonly known in countries like Nepal and Tibet. In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Acala is classed among the Wisdom Kings ( ) and is preeminent among the five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, he occupies an important hierarchical position in the Mandala of the Two Realms. In China, he is known as ( , "Immovable Wisdom King", the Chinese translation of Sanskrit ), while in Japan, he is called Fudō Myōō, the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name. Acala (as Fudō) is one of the especially important and well-known divinities in Japanese Buddhism, being especially venerated in the Shingon, Tendai, Zen, and Nichiren sects, as well as in Shugendō.…

or Achala ( , "The Immovable", ), also known as ( , "Immovable Lord") or ( , "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. Originally a minor deity described as a messenger or acolyte of the buddha Vairocana, Acala later rose to prominence as an object of veneration in his own right as a remover of obstacles and destroyer of evil, eventually becoming seen as the wrathful manifestation of either Vairocana, the Buddha Akṣobhya, or the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. In later texts, he is also called ( , "Violent Wrathful One", ) or ( , "Violent One of Great Wrath", ), the names by which he is more commonly known in countries like Nepal and Tibet. In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Acala is classed among the Wisdom Kings ( ) and is preeminent among the five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, he occupies an important hierarchical position in the Mandala of the Two Realms. In China, he is known as ( , "Immovable Wisdom King", the Chinese translation of Sanskrit ), while in Japan, he is called Fudō Myōō, the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name. Acala (as Fudō) is one of the especially important and well-known divinities in Japanese Buddhism, being especially venerated in the Shingon, Tendai, Zen, and Nichiren sects, as well as in Shugendō. Acala has been worshiped throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times in Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan, where sculptural and pictorial representations of him are most often found.

Origins and development

Acala first appears in the ( , translated by Bodhiruci circa 707-709 CE ), where he is described as a servant or messenger of the buddha Vairocana: The first from the west in the northern quadrant is the acolyte Acala ( ). In his left hand he grasps a noose and in his right hand he holds a sword. He is seated in the half-lotus position. More well-known, however, is the following passage from the (also known as the or the ) which refers to Acala as one of the deities of the Womb Realm Mandala: The deity was apparently popular in India during the 8th-9th centuries as evident by the fact that six of the Sanskrit texts translated by the esoteric master Amoghavajra into Chinese are devoted entirely to him. Indeed, Acala's rise to a more prominent position in the Esoteric pantheon in East Asian Buddhism may be credited in part to the writings of Amoghavajra and his teacher Vajrabodhi. school) painting of Acala stepping on Vighnarāja, the "Lord of Obstacles" While some scholars have put forward the theory that Acala originated from the Hindu god Shiva, particularly his attributes of destruction and reincarnation, Bernard Faure suggested the wrathful esoteric deity Trailokyavijaya (whose name is an epithet of Shiva), the Vedic fire god Agni, and the guardian deity Vajrapani to be other, more likely prototypes for Acala. He notes: "one could theoretically locate Acala's origins in a generic , but only in the sense that all Tantric deities can in one way or another be traced back to ." Faure compares Acala to Vajrapani in that both were originally minor deities who eventually came to occupy important places in the Buddhist pantheon. Acala is said to be a powerful deity who protects the faithful by burning away all impediments ( ) and defilements ( ), thus aiding them towards enlightenment. In a commentary on the Mahāvairocana Tantra by Yi Xing, he is said to have manifested in the world following Vairocana's vow to save all beings, and that his primary function is to remove obstacles to enlightenment. Indeed, the tantra instructs the ritual practitioner to recite Acala's mantras or to visualize himself as Acala in order to remove obstacles. From a humble acolyte, Acala evolved into a powerful demon-subduing deity. In later texts such as the , Acala - under the name ("Violent Wrathful One") or ("Violent One of Great Wrath") - is portrayed as the "frightener of gods, titans, and men, the destroyer of the strength of demons" who slays ghosts and evil spirits with his fierce anger. In the Sādhanamālā, the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Kandarpa - described as "wicked" beings who subject humanity to endless rebirth - are said to be terrified of Acala because he carries a rope to bind them. : Acala (Fudō, center), Trailokyavijaya (Gōzanze, lower right), Amṛtakuṇḍalin (Gundari, lower left), Yamāntaka (Daiitoku, upper left), and Vajrayakṣa (Kongōyasha, upper right)|267x267px In Tibetan Buddhism, Acala or Miyowa ( ) is considered as belonging to the ("vajra family", ), one of the Five Buddha Families presided over by the buddha Akṣobhya and may even be regarded, along with the other deities of the kula, as an aspect or emanation of the latter. He is thus sometimes depicted in South Asian art wearing a crown with an effigy of Akṣobhya. In Nepal, Acala may also be identified as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. He has a consort named Viśvavajrī in both the Nepalese and Tibetan traditions, with whom he is at times depicted in yab-yum union. By contrast, the ( , "bodies of the three wheels") theory, based on Amoghavajra's writings and prevalent in Japanese esoteric Buddhism ( ), interprets Acala as an incarnation of Vairocana. In this system, the five chief vidyārājas or Wisdom Kings ( , ), of which Acala is one, are interpreted as the wrathful manifestations ( , , lit. ""embodiments of the wheel of injunction") of the Five Great Buddhas, who appear both as gentle bodhisattvas to teach the Dharma and also as fierce wrathful deities to subdue and convert hardened nonbelievers. Under this conceptualization, vidyārājas are ranked superior to , a different class of guardian deities. However, this interpretation, while common in Japan, is not necessarily universal: in Nichiren-shū, for instance, Acala and Rāgarāja (Aizen Myōō), the two vidyārājas who commonly feature in the mandalas inscribed by Nichiren, are seen as protective deities ( , ) who respectively embody the two tenets of ("original enlightenment") doctrine: "life and death (saṃsāra) are precisely nirvana" ( , ) and "worldly passions (kleśa) are precisely enlightenment (bodhi)" ( , ). File:Tang Acala Vidyaraja (14372153865).jpg File:Tang Acala Vidyaraja (14185590020).jpg File:Tang Acala Vidyaraja (9912784335).jpg File:Dazu 2007 777.jpg|12th century Song dynasty statues of Acala (left) and Yamantaka (right) at the Dazu Rock Carvings in Chongqing, China. File:永安寺传法正宗殿忿怒大威德马首明王.jpg|Ming dynasty(1368-1644) mural of Acala, one out of a set depicting the Ten Wisdom Kings, in Yong'an Temple [zh] in Hunyuan, Shanxi, China File:Acala at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.JPG|Acala ( ) at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (Chinatown, Singapore). File:Achala statue from Tibet, 15th-16th century, gilt bronze, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|Gilt bronze statue from Tibet, 15th-16th century, Honolulu Museum of Art File:Hermitage Museum XX-2375 Achala.jpg|Thangka from Khara-Khoto, Western Xia, 13th century, Hermitage Museum File:Hermitage Museum XX-2374 Achala.jpg|Thangka depicting four-armed Acala, from Khara-Khoto, 13th-14th century File:Fudō Myōō.jpg|Kamakura period painting at Daigo-ji, Kyoto showing Acala with Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka File:Fudo Myoo 8 Acolytes (Nara National Museum).jpg|Acala with eight acolytes, Kamakura period, Nara National Museum File:Sword Dragon Kurikara (Nara National Museum).jpg|The Kurikara sword flanked by Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka, Kamakura period, Nara National Museum File:四臂不動 - Four-Armed Acala (Fudō).jpg|Drawing of four-armed Acala, from the (1245) File:法華寺 (岐阜市)-三田洞弘法-両頭愛染明王坐像Mitahorakobo028.jpg|Statue of Two-Headed Rāgarāja, the combined form of Acala and Rāgarāja, at Hokke-ji (Mitahora Kōbō) in Gifu File:Fudo, Ichikawa Ebizo V as the Mystical Image of Fudo Myoo.jpg|Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō V as Acala, by Utagawa Kunisada File:Kounominezi03.jpg|Red-skinned Acala at Kōnomine-ji, Yasuda, Kōchi Prefecture File:Narita Shinsho-ji Große Friedenspagode Innen Altar 3.jpg|Statue at the Great Peace Pagoda in Shinshō-ji, Narita, Chiba Prefecture File:Hombre con horimono Fudō Myō-ō en pecho.jpg|A man with an irezumi tattoo of Acala

References

Bibliography

External links

Fudo Myo-O, 不動明王 O-Fudo-sama in Japan Ellen Schattschneider "Fudo Myoo (Acala)" - In: immortal wishes (2003) Shingon Buddhist International Institute Tendai Buddhist Sangha in Denver Colorado

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