RESEARCH
(See illustrations below)

My research is in Buddhist Iconography. Artistic representations of Buddhist deities are found primarily in statues, paintings, drawings, and relief prints. The representations can range from highly polished, resulting from an artist’s lifetime practice, all the way to a child’s drawing of the face of the Buddha in the sand with a stick. There are differences and similarities in how the artwork is approached by a casual viewer or a devotee of Buddhism. The approaches exist at equal levels when the spirit of sincerity is established.

My position in creating iconography is formed from my work as an illustrator, as a devotee of Buddhism, and as an ordained Buddhist priest in a Japanese tradition. Japanese artists create most statues and images I pray to and am inspired by. I focus my iconography through the lens of my Japanese teachers.

Purposeful accuracy, spiritual practice, and drawing are all factors in my work. Purposeful accuracy relates to intentionally describing a deity’s personal virtue, prayer, and vow in serving the Dharma (teaching) and the sentient beings who both practice and do not practice the teachings. Spiritual practice is expressing devotion to the deity through daily rituals and intentions. Drawing allows me to apply my illustration background and love for making narrative images to my love for the deities and their iconography.

Illustrations and research of The 31 Spirits of the Great Earth have been made into a book complete with daily devotional practices, descriptions of each phenomenon, and a short list of definitions. I have also created a set of 31 daily practice cards with an accompanying guidebook.

The 31 Spirits of the Great Earth manuscript has been submitted to
• University of Hawai‘i Press
• Shambhala Publications
• Parallax Press

The 31 Spirits of the Great Earth as a set of 31 cards and guidebook has been submitted to
• Watkins Publishing
• Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Rockpool Publishing
• Lifestyles
• Sounds True

SOME VOCABULARY FOUND IN THE DESCRIPTIONS AND INTRODUCTIONS

Bodhisattva: One who compassionately delays their liberation to help others suffering

Butsu: Representation of the Buddha

Daimyojin: Suffix meaning great illuminating deity

Deva: The Sanskrit term for heavenly being

Four Great Bodhisattvas: Peaceful Practice bodhisattva, Pure Practice bodhisattva, Supieor Practice bodhisattva, and Limitless Practice bodhisattva

Gohonzon: Object of devotion

Gongen: Manifestation of the Buddha

Kami: Divine being honored in Shintoism

Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Mahayana sutra, or discourse, as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha in the last eight years of his life

Mudra: A hand gesture made in worship and to invoke currents of energy within the body

Nichiren Shu: A Japanese school of Buddhism founded by Nichiren Shonin, a 13th-century Buddhist reformer of the Kamakura period.

Nyorai: Another name for a Buddha

Odaimoku: Mantra (appearing vertically in Japanese calligraphy on Gohonzon): Namu Myoho Renge Kyo that translates to I devote myself to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma

Pratyekabuddha: Sanskrit term for one who achieves liberation independently

Sanjubanjin: Group of 30 spirit guardians who protect the Lotus Sutra

Shravaka: Sanskrit term for disciple; one who hears the Dharma

Stupa: A structure created as a Buddhist shrine

Tathagata: Another name for a Buddha

Ten (suffix): The Sanskrit term for Deva

Tenjin: Deity of the heavens

I created the 31 Spirits of the Great Earth as an inclusive spiritual environmentalist practice honoring all of life. Upholding natural elements and phenomena of Earth demonstrates dedication to the environment and other sentient beings. In devotional practice, we can show our love for nature and our intention to preserve it. Beginning each morning in homage to our environment sets the tone for beneficial thoughts and actions for the rest of the day.

Benzaiten is a water deity and patron of artists, music, and poetry. She is associated with serpents and the sacred wish-granting jewel that can bring wealth and relieve suffering through eliminating desires.

She is sometimes depicted playing a type of lute or holding a white lotus flower; a symbol of mental clarity and pacification of greed, anger, and ignorance.

Benzaiten employs a hand gesture called Varada mudra to identify and invoke the deity's manifestation. The Varada mudra represents compassion, giving, and welcoming.

Sometimes shown sitting on a lotus flower, she is depicted on a lotus leaf as one who is in the realm of Bodhisattva; one who delays their ultimate liberation to help other suffering beings.

Bishamonten is a celestial being, guardian of the North, and general of the four heavenly kings who protect the cardinal directions. He is associated with the winter season, the color black, and is a god of treasure and good luck.

Portrayed in armor holding a trident or sword, the primary identification for Bishamonten is the treasure stupa. This contains the treasury of the Dharma (teachings), sacred relics, and limitless wealth. Usually held easily in one hand, he is shown here holding an enormous treasure stupa in representation of the Lotus Sutra; the sutra of equanimity, gentle patience, compassion, and an encouragement to help others in their liberation from suffering.

Bishamonten is pacifying a yaksa (nature spirit) demon who will light the road for those on the path of the Dharma.

The bodhisattva is one who vows to delay their enlightenment until all other sentient beings have become liberated from their suffering. This includes all those in the realms of hell (torment), hungry ghosts (greed), animals (ignorance), fighting demons (anger), humans (our everyday life), heaven beings (peace), pratyekabuddhas (individual practice), shravakas (receiving the Buddha’s teachings), and bodhisattvas (other’s awakening). The tenth realm is the Buddha realm (compassion and wisdom), who is also often referred to as the bodhisattva.

This bodhisattva is portrayed with the Gassho mudra, representing peace and respect.

Fugen is the bodhisattva of meditation and wisdom and encourages to practice the Buddhist precepts of no killing, no stealing, no lying, no sexual misconduct, and no clouding the mind with intoxicants. He is often portrayed riding a six-tusked elephant. The elephant’s tusks symbolize overcoming attachment to the 6 sense desires.

Fugen is portrayed with the Gassho mudra, representing peace and respect.

Myoken is the deity of the North Star who offers guidance to those at sea and the lives and livelihood of people. Often portrayed sitting on a cloud, a dragon, or a turtle, he is here sitting on a group of seven stars in the shape of his temple mon (emblem/logo) representing the Big Dipper constellation of which Moken is associaed. Myoken means heavenly eyes. He sees through good and evil and is a god of eyesight. He is prayed to for relief of calamity of the eyes and natural disasters.

The sword above his head is protective, wards off evil, and cuts through ignorance and obstacles of delusion. The right hand is in the Prana mudra and is made for mental and physical health, including improving eyesight.

Taho Buddha, also known as Many-Treasures-Tagatatha appears in the Lotus Sutra, arriving inside an enormous treasure stupa from under the ground. His vow from the remotest past is to appear any time a Buddha is teaching the Lotus Sutra. He represents all of the past Buddhas as well as objective reality. When joined with Shakyamuni Buddha inside the stupa of treasures, they unify wisdom and reality. Similarly, when a sentient being enacts their gentle patience, compassion, and equanimity, they are entering into the stupa of treasures and accessing their Buddha nature.

Usually portrayed in a seated pose, Taho Buddha is standing with the Gassho mudra, representing peace and respect toward Shakyamuni Buddha.

Sanmen Daikokuten is a combination of three deities; Daikokuten, Bishamonten, and Benzaiten.

Daikokuten stands at the center on two large bags of rice, holding a sword in his right hand and a wish-fulfilling jewel called a cintamani in his left hand. “Dai” means true reality and awakening, and ”koku” applies to the darkness of ignorance. Daikouten is here portrayed with a sword to connect to his original, wrathful, and warlike form, the Hindu god Shiva, who is the god of destruction and rebirth, and Mahakala, a manifestation of Shiva.

Daikokuten is established as a god of agriculture, fertility, fortune, and luck. He is a powerful source of good fortune and blessings.

Bishomonten is to the right of Daikokuten, holding a spear and cudgel, who brings good fortune and treasure. Bishamonten is the god of victory.

Benzaiten is to the left of Daikokuten, holding a treasure house key and a sickle for harvesting rice. Benzaiten is the god of beauty and entertainment and brings treasure and a good harvest.

Shakyamuni Buddha, the original and eternal Buddha, stands on a lotus flower, the symbol of the Dharma, with hands in the Vitarka mudra. This mudra is made by combining the Abhaya and Varada mudras’ postures, symbolizing the preaching of the Dharma and leading sentient beings to bodhisattva hood.

The Abhaya mudra of the right hand is a gesture of reassurance, peace, and courage.

The Varada mudra of the left hand is a gesture of compassion, giving, and welcoming.

As siblings, the bodhisattvas of the sun and moon are almost identical and difficult to tell apart in their representation. 

The primary identification is in the color of hand held disks representing their radiance. The sun is typically shown holding a red disk and the moon a white disk. Here, the sun is shown with a white disk and the moon a black disk. The white disk represents the source of compassion and liberation from suffering. The black disk represents the future liberation of all beings from suffering.