Monika Kiss
I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Japanese Studies at ELTE University in Budapest. My research explores Japanese religious art, with a particular focus on Buddhist art from the Heian period, as well as contemporary developments in Japanese Buddhism and its social contexts. I received my PhD in 2018 with a dissertation on the iconography of Fugen Enmei, a bodhisattva venerated in Japanese esoteric traditions. In my current research, I am further examining various roles and representations of Samantabhadra in Japanese Buddhism. I am also engaged in translation studies and participate in the Hungarian Tripitaka Project, a collaborative effort by scholars of Buddhist studies at ELTE University to translate key texts and textual excerpts into Hungarian.
Address: Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Address: Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
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Papers by Monika Kiss
I have previously analyzed the Taimitsu type of the two iconographies. The other type features a twenty-armed bodhisattva image, typically seated on a lotus throne supported by three or four elephants. In Japanese Buddhist sources, it is commonly referred to as “Vajrabodhi’s oral tradition” (Kongōchi kuketsu 金剛智口決[訣]). In this paper, I first introduce this oral tradition proposing some potential textual explanations for the basis of twenty arms. Then I investigate the Shingon context of the transmission of the twenty-armed image. For this examination, I draw from various Chinese Buddhist and Japanese Shingon written sources, as well as depictions spanning the 8th through the 13th centuries.
The Chinese origins of Fugen Enmei - Two Indian masters, two traditions?
There are still plenty of questions about Fugen Enmei bosatsu or Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Prolonger of Life. In this study, I am exploring the question of the origins of the bodhisattva’s two traditions, which are preserved in Japanese esoteric Buddhism. Japanese monks usually mention two famous Indian masters, Vajrabodhi (671-741) and Amoghavajra (705-774) when explaining Fugen Enmei, although an Indian origin is highly dubious, and it is much more possible that the bodhisattva’s traditions were created in China. By examining various Chinese and Japanese sources, I am presenting some aspects, which either verify or refute the masters’ connections to these traditions.
Its themes dominated the visual arts for more than a millennium in Japan, and most of the oldest surviving art works were made for Buddhist purposes. Its prominence is undeniable and its aesthetic appreciation is beyond doubt, however, the shift of religiosity in the modern society, and the reconsideration of religious art is open for
discussion. In the present study, I explore and give an overview of the different platforms for Buddhist art displays in Japan, and how these stages are operating in the new millennium. I am also inserting a brief outlook of how one of the esoteric deities, Fugen Enmei bodhisattva is presented in Japan and abroad.
I have previously analyzed the Taimitsu type of the two iconographies. The other type features a twenty-armed bodhisattva image, typically seated on a lotus throne supported by three or four elephants. In Japanese Buddhist sources, it is commonly referred to as “Vajrabodhi’s oral tradition” (Kongōchi kuketsu 金剛智口決[訣]). In this paper, I first introduce this oral tradition proposing some potential textual explanations for the basis of twenty arms. Then I investigate the Shingon context of the transmission of the twenty-armed image. For this examination, I draw from various Chinese Buddhist and Japanese Shingon written sources, as well as depictions spanning the 8th through the 13th centuries.
The Chinese origins of Fugen Enmei - Two Indian masters, two traditions?
There are still plenty of questions about Fugen Enmei bosatsu or Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Prolonger of Life. In this study, I am exploring the question of the origins of the bodhisattva’s two traditions, which are preserved in Japanese esoteric Buddhism. Japanese monks usually mention two famous Indian masters, Vajrabodhi (671-741) and Amoghavajra (705-774) when explaining Fugen Enmei, although an Indian origin is highly dubious, and it is much more possible that the bodhisattva’s traditions were created in China. By examining various Chinese and Japanese sources, I am presenting some aspects, which either verify or refute the masters’ connections to these traditions.
Its themes dominated the visual arts for more than a millennium in Japan, and most of the oldest surviving art works were made for Buddhist purposes. Its prominence is undeniable and its aesthetic appreciation is beyond doubt, however, the shift of religiosity in the modern society, and the reconsideration of religious art is open for
discussion. In the present study, I explore and give an overview of the different platforms for Buddhist art displays in Japan, and how these stages are operating in the new millennium. I am also inserting a brief outlook of how one of the esoteric deities, Fugen Enmei bodhisattva is presented in Japan and abroad.