From Cartesian dualism to a Foucauldian subversion, the mind and the body are traditionally positioned as two separate entities, with the mind regarded as the source of humans’ rationality and reason, and the body linked to biological drives and instinctual passions. However, recent scholarship has moved toward a more integrated view, recognizing the body as part of a mind-body continuum where sometimes bodily integrity takes precedence over the spirit. Scholarship on Asian religions, in particular, has demonstrated more diverse ways to theorize the body without necessarily relegating it to the inferior opposite of the mind. This article explores these alternative perspectives on the body, offering a thorough discussion on how bodies were understood and conceptualized in medieval Japan. It argues that any discussion of the religious body in Japan requires an “emic” approach, that is, one that grounds the body within its specific religious and cultural context.

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The present article sheds a new light on female symbolism in medieval Japanese Esoteric Buddhist visions of kingship by drawing attention to a passage in the Yugikyō that has hitherto passed unnoticed in scholarship. Concretely, the passage concerns an instruction on Kongōsen 金剛染 (S. Vajrarāga) which informs that the latter’s esoteric knowledge symbolically serves as the consort of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and human kings. First, the article provides a discussion of the currently known scriptural sources of female symbolism related to sacred kingship through an analysis of the famous dream of the Tendai prelate Jien 慈円 (1155–1225). It then proceeds with an investigation of an esoteric view of kingship transmitted at Daigoji, which reveals the influence of the cult of Kongōsen. Additionally, based on the fact that Kongōsen was identified with Aizen’ō 愛染王 (S. Rāgarāja), a buddha-mother (butsumo 仏母), the article further clarifies that protector monks visualized themselves as mothers and consorts of the emperor during protective services at court. Thus, by highlighting the concept of enlightenment embodied as mother and consort of divine monarchs, the article provides a crucial new element to better assess the role of female symbolism in esoteric visions of kingship and its relation to the body of the monastic practitioner.

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