Ajikan Meditation Practice

Seikun
Nannyo mo shiyoku ichiji wo jiseba, asa na asa na, hitotabi jishin no miya wo kuwanzeyo.
Jishin wa mata kore sanjin no do (joudo) nari.
Gochi no shougon moto yori yutaka nari.
Priestly Counsel
If men and women hold true to the Letter, every morning they shall see the inner Shrine
within themselves.
The Self becomes the land of the Trikaya (the Pure Land).
The gravitas of the five dhyana Buddhas becomes the source of richness.
-----------Meditation on the Esoteric Sanskrit Letter A
The Truth of Heaven and Earth
Ajikan meditation refers to meditation using the Sanskrit letter A () as a focus
point. The letter A is a mantra representing the Truth of Heaven and Earth.
The Truth of Heaven and Earth is the foundation of all things in existence, the
foundation upon which humanity relies, the source of the eternal way (Tao). All living
beings in the Universe in fact, everything that exists, everything that we see and hear
arises from the Truth of Heaven and Earth. This Truth is the ethereal form of the
Universe, vast in its mystery. It has no fixed form, yet it takes on all forms; it has no fixed
shape, yet it manifests in various shapes here lies the vastness of Existence,
inexplicable in its esoteric nature. It is the mother of all creation, the source of life for all
sentient beings in the Universe. This blessing encompasses all things indistinguishably.
Such life is not confined to the realms of past, present and future. Rather, it is a light that
shines everywhere conceivable, and because of this it is called Nyorai Buddha
(Mahavairocana). The letter A is Nyorai Buddhas mantra, summed up in a single letter.
By meditating on the letter A, one meditates on none other than Nyorai Buddha himself.
The Serenity of a Mountain Hut
Ajikan practice can be done anywhere and anytime, but it should, if possible, be
done in a quiet place at night or in the early morning. In general, a mountain hut at
nighttime is a quiet place. But more than any other time, it is at daybreak when the
mountains aura is freshest, letting the clear waters of the mind flow naturally and
washing away the lingering dust of ones thoughts. Within this silence and your own
inner stillness you can sense the reality of your own mental state; it awakens in your
focused, un-drifting mind, and a deep happiness boils over that is beyond words. How
serene this is!

The Ajikan Image The Focus of the Meditation

The ajikan practitioner venerates an icon representing the Truth of Heaven and
Earth. An icon with this image drawn on it should be mounted on a wall. This could be a
drawing of a white lotus flower with eight petals superimposed over a round moon, with
the Sanskrit letter A inscribed above it in gold. The letter A represents the Truth of
Heaven and Earth residing in the hearts of all mankind that is to say, pure, enlightened
Buddha-nature (a pure aspiration toward Buddhahood). The full moon represents the
virtue of enlightened wisdom, brought about by Buddha-nature. The lotus flower is a
physical representation of the virtue of pure compassion. This image is called the ajikan
icon.
Sitting Quietly, Breathing Rhythmically
To put it simply, the way to proceed with ajikan practice is to first face the icon,
clasp your hands reverently in prayer, and then quietly be seated.
How to Sit
You should sit quietly and peacefully, with correct posture.
There are three ways to sit: heiza style, half lotus style, and full lotus style. The
half lotus and full lotus positions are standard practice in zazen (sitting meditation) but
depending on the situation, even heiza style will not serve as a hindrance.
Heiza is the normal, everyday sitting posture among the Japanese: you sit on the
floor with both knees facing down and with your feet tucked back; your toes are slightly
tucked back; your rump rests between both heels; and your knees should be positioned
about 10cm apart.
In the half lotus position there are two ways to fold your legs. One way is to put
your left foot under your right thigh and rest your right foot on top of your left thigh, and
conversely, to place your right foot under your left thigh and rest your left foot on top of
your right thigh. As a general rule, the Shingon school employs the former method while
the Zen school employs the latter.
The full lotus position is the same in both the Shingon and Zen schools; you sit
placing the right foot on top of the left thigh and the left foot on top of the right thigh, so
that both legs are crossed.
Next we describe how to clasp your hands. Rest your right hand face-up on your
left palm (in contrast, the Zen school prefers to rest the left hand on the right palm), bring
the tips of your thumbs together to form a circle, and let your hands rest comfortably
around your lower belly.
Your upper body should be held straight and erect without leaning in any
particular direction. Your solar plexus should be soft to allow power to flow towards the
lower belly, which itself should be held stiff. Your shoulders should be slack and your
chest should be kept loose. Your jaw should be tucked back instead of jutting forward.
Your tongue should rest by the upper palate and your lips and teeth should be kept even
and still. Both eyes should be half-open, their gaze centered along the tip of your nose.

Your should fix your gaze on a spot about 90cm to 120cm in front of the cushion; it is
important to just let your eyes rest naturally on that spot.
How to Breathe
To begin, you should close your mouth and peacefully take in a breath through
your nose, mindfully letting it diffuse throughout your body. Open your mouth just
slightly as you mindfully and gently exhale. Continue to inhale and exhale in this manner
three times.
Having done this, continue breathing through your nose, keeping your mouth shut.
Allow each breath to be just as it is, without being deliberate about how to breathe or
forcing an unnatural struggle over it.
Ajikan: Your Mindset
Let us briefly address the subject of your mindset when performing sitting
meditation. There are various things to pay attention to, but above all else, the important
thing is to approach meditation with a sincere heart and mind. That is to say, you must
discard the mind that seeks and pursues or wants things. Once you have done this and
made your mind sincere, the dirt and grime of your ego is naturally brushed off,
transforming into a mind that is as pure and undefined as that of a child, removed from all
intrusive thoughts. This sincere, uncorrupted mindset, by which you do not worry about
anything, is the kind of mind that can reach out to the Buddha and achieve harmony with
all things.
Breathing and Chanting the Letter A Mantra
While inhaling and exhaling, you should chant Aaaaah between each breath.
This should be done mindfully but without putting too much thought into it or obsessing
over the quality of your voice as you chant.
Each breath, as you inhale and exhale, should lead itself naturally into the sound
of your voice as you chant Aaaaah so that your breath and voice become, in one
instant, a single mantra composed of the letter A. The letter A is the Truth of Heaven
and Earth. It is life that spans the ages past, present and future. It is ones true, ego-less
nature. It is the truth of non-self, the greater, expansive self-beyond-self. It is the great
existence of the Universe. It is the very foundation of ones own life.
Meditating on the Letter A, Lotus Flower, and Moon
Within a perfectly round, pure, bright moon blooms a pure white lotus flower
with eight petals. The lotus serves as a pedestal upon which the Sanskrit letter A shines
with a golden radiance. These three elements, whether in the icon or in our minds or in all
living beings, are the same entity it is upon this image that you meditate.
Thinking in this manner, meditating on these three elements right in front of you,
and meditating on them within your own heart, makes them grow and expand in all
directions throughout the boundless world. At that moment, you forget the icon, forget

your own self, and become one with the letter A, the lotus and the moon image; you
become one with the Truth of Heaven and Earth, and you can live with ease in the
ancestral home of the soul a soul with no fixations, marked by harmony and peace.
Finally, the essence of the letter A, lotus flower and moon image that has
unfurled throughout the world, subsides and returns once again into your own heart. Then
you sit for a while thinking of nothing at all, having forgotten your own self and your
mind. Finally, you leave the world of asceticism and the ajikan session comes to an end.
A-ji no ko ga a-ji no furusato tachi ide,
Mata tachikaeru a-ji no furusato.
A-ji no ko ga hasu no utena ni nori no fune,
Tsuki no miyako ni ima kaeru nari.
The child of the letter A returns to its ancestral home,
The home to which its parent has returned.
The child of the letter A rests upon the lotus,
And now becomes the moon.
Gachirinkan: Viewing the Full Moon
In exactly the same way that one meditates on the image of the letter A, lotus
and moon, it is also a good practice to meditate on the moon within ones heart. This
meditation is called gachirinkan a meditation on viewing the full moon.
First, imagine the bright, full moon right in front of your face, at the very tip of
your nose. Meditate on this image with your eyes half open. After a while, close your
eyes gently and open them again gently, and keep repeating this during the meditation.
Next, imagine the presence of the full moon within your chest and integrate the two
within yourself, imagining them as a single entity. Then, envision this entity growing
larger until it finally spreads out in all directions throughout the boundless universe. At
that moment, other than that brilliant light there is neither the shape of the moon nor the
meditating heart of yours, but rather a total unity of the moon, heart and Universe, which
transforms completely into a bright new world. You exist in a harmonious mental state of
brilliant one-ness while thus being freed from worldly thoughts and concerns. You feel a
deep sensation of the ecstasy that comes from the state of intense mental state known as
samadhi that is achieved through gachirinkan meditation. Following this ecstatic
experience, the singular moon-and-heart entity that has unfurled throughout the Universe
gradually subsides, shrinks back to its original size, and returns to its place in your chest.
You forget the full moon, forget your own self, and remain in a state of silent meditation
for some time, free from corrupt thoughts. Afterward, you gradually depart from this state
of intense mental concentration.
For people new to this practice, it is not necessary to practice gachirinkan from
beginning to end in one sitting. It is well enough to start just by devoting yourself to
envisioning your heart and the moon, as depicted in the ajikan icon, directly in front of
you, and to practice this with diligence every time you meditate. When you close your
eyes, you will naturally be able to see the full moon clearly in your minds eye, and then
you can envision and meditate on visualizing your heart and the moon being within your

chest. Depending on the situation, you can open your eyes and focus on them as if they
were right in front of you at point-blank range, then close your eyes and focus on them
being within your chest. Take some time to practice this continuously.
After mastering this technique, you can proceed toward envisioning the expansion
and contraction of the moon within your heart. Furthermore, as you approach mastery of
this technique, you do not necessarily have to envision this expansion and contraction,
yet you can exist peacefully in a naturally occurring mental state of brilliance and
freedom from mental obstacles.
[Source text: Ajikan no jisshuu (Ajikan Meditation Practice), written by Ryuuzui
Nakai, published by Ekouin Temple, Koyasan, Wakayama prefecture. Translated
by Marcel Henrique Votlucka, August 2013]