Imagination · “Feel It Real”
Ajikan
Visualise the white syllable A on a moon-disc upon a lotus, identify the mind with it, and realise the ‘unborn’ (non-arising) nature of all phenomena — the Dharmakāya Buddha Mahāvairocana — as one’s own nature.
Ajikan: Sit calm, breath settled. Visualise a white lotus, on it a bright full moon-disc, at its centre the white syllable A — the unborn / Mahāvairocana. Contemplate moon-disc as your mind, lotus as your heart; sound “ A.” Let the disc and A expand to fill all space and merge with you (your mind = Dharmakāya), then gather back to the heart and rest. Dedicate.
What it is
Ajikan (阿字観, “contemplation of the syllable A”) is the signature meditation of Shingon, the Japanese esoteric Buddhist school founded by Kūkai / Kōbō Daishi (774–835), who brought it from Tang China in the early 9th century.
The practitioner visualises a single luminous image — the white Sanskrit/Siddhaṃ letter A (अ) resting on a full white moon-disc, which itself sits upon an open lotus flower — and steadily identifies the mind with it.
In esoteric Buddhism the letter A is supremely sacred: it signifies the Dharmakāya Buddha Mahāvairocana (Dainichi), emptiness, and above all the “unborn” / non-arising (anutpāda) nature of all things.
To contemplate A is therefore to contemplate the ground of reality — and, in Shingon’s bold teaching of attaining buddhahood in this very body, to recognise that ground as one’s own nature.
The Method
A faithful outline of the standardised form (after Jitsue’s Record and modern Shingon practice):
- Posture and breath. Sit upright and calm. Settle the breath; some forms coordinate a slow breath with the syllable, exhaling on a long “ A“ sound.
- Establish the image. Before you (or in the heart), visualise an open lotus; upon it a full, bright white moon-disc (gachirin); and at its centre the white letter A, luminous and clear. Often a scroll painting of this image is gazed at first, then internalised with eyes closed.
- Identify moon-disc with mind, lotus with heart. Contemplate that the moon-disc is your own mind — pure, round, luminous — and the lotus is your heart. The image is not external decoration; it is the structure of your awakened nature.
- Sound and meaning of A. Intone or rest in “ A“ while holding its meaning: the unborn, the non-arising, the empty-yet-luminous source — Mahāvairocana himself. Body (mudrā/posture), speech (the syllable), and mind (the visualization) are unified — the Shingon “three mysteries.”
- Expand and merge. Let the moon-disc and A grow to fill the body, the room, and finally all space — then let the practitioner and the A become non-dual: your mind and the Dharmakāya are recognised as one.
- Contract and rest. Gather the image back (often to a small A in the heart), then rest in the clarity it leaves. Close with dedication. (Sourcing note: a faithful general outline; full Ajikan in Shingon is transmitted with initiation/abhiṣeka and oral instruction, which this entry cannot supply.)
Source & Lineage
Kūkai’s own writings stress the centrality of the letter A but do not give step-by-step instructions; the earliest detailed source is Jitsue’s (786–849) Record of Oral Instruction on the Ajikan, which fixed the now-standard components — A, moon-disc, lotus.
Ajikan remains the principal contemplative practice of the Shingon school. → author node.
Common refinements
Over-ornamenting the image. A stable, luminous A and disc matter more than artistic detail; gaze at a scroll first if visualization is hard.
- Treating it as mere picturing. The identification — moon-disc = mind, A = the unborn — is the heart of it; without the meaning it’s just imagery.
- Forcing the merge. Let the expansion and non-duality unfold from settled concentration rather than straining for it.
- Skipping the contraction/close. Gather and dedicate; don’t leave the practice diffuse.
- Self-initiating the full ritual form. The complete Shingon practice is transmitted with empowerment; lay forms of the core visualization are taught more openly.