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Yamabushi
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011) Yamabushi (? ) (one who lies in the mountains)[1] are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits [1] with a long tradition, endowed with supernatural powers in traditional Japanese Ksh Tateishi in Kumano mysticism. They follow the Shugend () doctrine, an integration of mainly esoteric Buddhism of the Shingon () sect, with Tendai (, Tendai-sh) Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto () elements. [citation needed] For the most part solitary, they did form loose confederations, and associations with certain temples, and also participated in battles and skirmishes alongside samurai () and shei () on occasion. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yamabito, Yamashi, and some hijiri () of the eighth and ninth centuries. [2] There has also been cross-teaching with samurai weaponry and Yamabushi's spiritual approach to life and fighting. In modern use, the term ubasoku-yamabushi refers to laymen practitioners of shugend. The religion places a heavy emphasis on asceticism and feats of endurance, and white and saffron-robed yamabushi toting a horagai conch-shell trumpet are still a common sight near the shugend holy site of Dewa Sanzan and in
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horagai conch-shell trumpet are still a common sight near the shugend holy site of Dewa Sanzan and in the sacred mountains of Kumano and Omine.

History
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

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Yamabushi began as yamahoshi, isolated clusters (or individuals) of mountain hermits, ascetics, and "holy men", who followed the path of shugend, a search for spiritual, mystical, or supernatural powers gained through asceticism. This path may or may not have had a founder, as the myths surrounding En no Gyja are numerous and complex; he is quite similar to a Japanese Merlin in this way. Men who followed this path came to be known by a variety of names, including kenja, kenza, and shugenja. These mountain mystics came to be renowned for their magical abilities and occult knowledge, and were sought out as healers or mediums, although Shinto shrines had traditionally reserved this role exclusively for maidens known as Miko. Most of these ascetics, in addition to their devotion to shugend, studied the teachings of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, or the Shingon sect, established by Kb Daishi in the 8th century. Shingon Buddhism was one of the primary sects of mikky () or Esoteric Buddhism, according to which enlightenment is found through isolation, and the study and contemplation of oneself, as well as nature, and esoteric images called mandala. Both the Shingon sect and the Tendai viewed mountains as the ideal place for this sort of isolation and contemplation of nature. In their mountain retreats, these monks studied not only nature and religious/spiritual texts and images, but also a variety of martial arts. Whether they felt they had to defend themselves from bandits, other monks, or samurai armies is questionable, but the idea of studying martial arts as a means to improve oneself mentally and spiritually, not just physically, has always been central to Japanese culture, beyond the specific tenets of one religious sect or another. Thus, like the shei, the yamabushi became warriors as well as monks. As their reputation for mystical insight and knowledge grew, and their organization grew tighter, many of the
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masters of the ascetic disciplines began to be appointed to high spiritual positions in the court hierarchy. Monks and temples began to gain political influence. By the Nanboku-ch Period, in the 13th and 14th centuries, the yamabushi had formed organized cohorts called konsha,[citation needed] and these konsha, along with shei and other monks began to take direction from the central temples of their sects. They assisted Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempts to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, and proved their warrior skills to be up to the challenge of fighting professional samurai armies. Several centuries later, in the Sengoku Period, yamabushi could be found among the advisers and armies of nearly every major contender for dominion over Japan. Some, led by Takeda Shingen, aided Oda Nobunaga against Uesugi Kenshin in 1568, while others, including the abbot Sessai Choro, advised Tokugawa Ieyasu. Many fought alongside their fellow monks, the Ikk-ikki, against Nobunaga, who eventually crushed them and put an end to the time of the warrior monks. Yamabushi also served as sendatsu, or spiritual mountain guides, since medieval times for pilgrims along the Kumano Kodo to the Kumano Sanzan, including retired emperors and aristocrats.

References

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1. ^ a b Nelson, Andrew (1998). The Original Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 134, 346. ISBN 978-0-8048-1965-7. 2. ^ Blacker, Carmen (1999). The Catalpa Bow. UK: Japan Library. pp. 165167. ISBN 1-873410-85-9.

Ratti, Oscar and Adele Westbrook.(1973 Orig Ed) Secrets of the Samurai. Edison, NJ: Castle Books. ISBN 0-7858-1073-0. Charles E Tuttle Co reprint: ISBN 978-0-8048-0917-7

External links
Yamabushi Training Program (in Japanese) web site on Yamabushi & Shugendo, in English & French Shugendo Kenjaku, Yamabushi monk, gyoja and astrologer website. Shugendo Picture & Informationsite in Germany
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Categories: Japanese warriors Religious occupations Vajrayana Japanese language Japanese mythology Japanese vocabulary Japanese culture Japanese words and phrases

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