In Japanese Shingon Buddhism, the concept of hosshin seppō 法身説法, the preaching of the Dharmakāya, is crucial because it appears in several writings by its founder, Kūkai (A.D. 774-835). Kūkai cites several Mahāyāna and Tantric Buddhist scriptures as the basis for this concept, but the term “the preaching of the Dharmakāya” is not directly used in those texts. The question here is whether this concept was established in India prior to the period of Kūkai’s activity. An earlier study has found only one example of the use of this term in the commentary *Tantrārthāvatāra-vyākhyāna, written by Padmavajra, who was active in India at about the same time as Kūkai. However, this example is expressed in extremely brief sentences, and it is unclear how far back in time the concept could be established.
The author has conducted an exhaustive survey of the relevant term in the literature established in India to clarify this issue. The results show that Padmavajra in India proposed this concept, which developed until around the 12th century. Therefore, since Padmavajra and Kūkai were active in very distant regions at about the same time, it is not easy to imagine that the former had any ideological influence on the latter.
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