Magic or Miracle? Rainmaking Ritual in Medieval Japanese Buddhism from a Comparative Perspective

Main Article Content

Xingyi Wang

Abstract

In facing natural disasters or social crises, Buddhism has never been averse to using the power of ritual. By discussing incidents surrounding a rainmaking ritual conducted in response to severe drought, this paper explores the source of ritual power as conceptualized and practiced in medieval Japanese Buddhist tradition, and as compared alongside Christian rain miracles. A well-preserved, 13th-century rainmaking ritual map, Shinsenen Shōukyō Hōdōjōzu was commissioned and commented upon by Eison, a Buddhist master trained in Buddhist esoteric tradition whose career focused on the study and practice of the Vinaya and precepts. As early Buddhist hagiographies have shown, it is generally accepted that esoteric masters are endowed with certain supernatural powers, a power seen in their conducting of efficacious ritual. However, the attribution of such power—whether to the ritualist or to the ritual itself—is rather ambiguous. By focusing on the historical figure of Eison, I examine the potential connection between ritual efficacy and the ritualist’s status in the observation of monastic precepts. The illustrations in the ritual map imply the ritual master’s unique vision which sees a virtuous monastic body as the precondition for efficacy in esoteric ritual. The practice of rainmaking ritual demonstrates how the ethical teaching of monastic codes and esotericism can mutually reinforce each other in a most tangible and verifiable way. The virtuous body is the medium connected to the realm of the dragon in charge of weather, and ritual efficacy in turn requires the cultivation of a virtuous monastic order. This vision, and the narratives of rainmaking ritual surrounding Eison, is distinctive in Buddhism; and are comparable to the prayer for rain and the narratives of rain miracles related to saints such as Tertullian, Eusebius, and the miracle of Moses in Christian literature. In both traditions, the vulnerability brought out by the uncertainties of natural disaster provides an opportunity to turn to divine intervention and to attend to self-realization and interpersonal relationships.

Article Details