page_title: Marici (Buddhism)
section_title: Japan
hierarchical_section_title: Marici (Buddhism) / Region / Japan
caption_attribution_description: English: Marishi_multiarmed_on_one_boar
context_page_description: Mārīcī, is a deva, as well as a bodhisattva associated with light and the Sun. She is among the lists one of the guardian devas, specifically the Sixteen Devas, the Twenty Devas and the Twenty-Four Devas. In Taoism and Chinese folk religion, Doumu is considered to be synonymous with Mārīcī within Chinese Esoteric Buddhism.
context_section_description: Mārīcī is an important deity in the Shingon and Tendai schools, and was adopted by the Bujin or Samurai in the 8th century CE as a protector and patron.
  While devotions to Mārīcī predate Zen Buddhism, they appear to employ a similar meditative model to enable the warrior to achieve a heightened state of mind. They lost interest in the issues of victory or defeat (or life and death), thereby transcending conventional understandings of mortality. The end result was that they became a better warrior.
  Devotion to Mārīcī was to expected to provide a way to achieve selflessness and compassion through mastery of the self. Some martial arts schools also worshiped Mārīcī as a guardian deity of their lineage. The school of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū is an example of this, whose blood pledge chart (Keppan) ordered the disciples to submit to Futsunushi-no-Mikoto and accept Mārīcī's punishment if they commit sins against the school's rule. This is understood as being "the God of Katori's holy commandment."
  The most outstanding example is the worship of Mārīcī by the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. In the aftermath of the battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu made a vow to protect this style as well as the Yagyū family in exchange for their teachings. Because of this, Shinkage style has been permeated with esoteric Buddhist teachings such as the practice of mantra and mudra, which are said to confer invisibility upon a warrior.
  At the age of 12 or 13, Yagyū Renya wrote the Shinkage Ryū Heihō Mokuroku Renya Kudensho (新陰流兵法目録柳生連也口伝書 Scroll of Renya's oral teachings about the Art of War according to the style of the New-Shadow), a treasured scroll discussing the theory and technique of the first and second Sōke compared to those of his father, the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū 3rd Sōke, Yagyū Toshitoshi. Martial arts were changing because samurai no longer fought wearing a complete set of armor, but instead wearing civilian clothing. The headmaster made the choice to adapt to the current time. Sekishūsai also created the Mutō-dori techniques, which were absent from the original Shinkage-ryū of headmaster Kamiizumi, which he demonstrated on Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  Unlike many other high ranked samurai of the Edo period, Renya fully mastered the core principles of Shinkage-ryū and Marobashi which resulted in a great deal of fame. One evening, Renya was attacked, though he was able to kill his assailant in a single blow with his wakizashi. The wakizashi forged by Hata Mitsuyo was nicknamed "Oni-hōchō" (the demon's kitchen knife), and many copies of various quality were made by swordsmiths of the time, with its peculiar kata-shinogi-zukuri (片鎬造) shape. Yagyū Renya was said to possess Marobashi, which included a deep understanding of combat and warrior instinct. His book was never shown to anyone, and he wrote on the cover that someone foolish enough to break the seal would be blinded by Mārīcī. According to Renya's strong beliefs, the Kudensho was passed down only to Shinkage-ryū headmasters.
  Samurai would invoke Mārīcī at sunrise to achieve victory. Since Mārīcī means "light" or mirage, she was invoked to escape the notice of one's enemies.
  Mārīcī was also later worshiped in the Edo period as a goddess of wealth and prosperity by the merchant class, alongside Daikokuten (大黒天) and Benzaiten (弁財天) as part of a trio of "three deities" (三天 santen).
caption: Multi-armed Mārīcī on one boar.
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