ShingonshŪ
SHINGONSHŪ. The Japanese esoteric Buddhist tradition of Shingon takes its name from the Chinese term zhenyan, which literally means "true word" and is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit term mantra, meaning spoken phrases taken to have extraordinary powers. The practice of reciting mantras is taken as characteristic of this tradition and points to the continuity of the tradition's practices from its Indic origins through to its modern Japanese instantiation. The centrality of mantra recitation is evidenced by two early names for the tradition, Mantranaya (path of mantras), and Mantrayāna (vehicle of mantras). Shingon is an esoteric tradition, meaning that its practices are only to be transmitted by a qualified teacher (Jpn., ajari; Skt., ācārya) to a student who has undergone the appropriate initiations. When speaking of the Shingon tradition, it refers primarily to a lineage of ritual practice.
Other key terms that amplify the character of the Shingon tradition include tantra, which originates as a bibliographic category but which is now used as a synonym for the esoteric tradition within Buddhism, and Vajrayāna, which means the thunderbolt vehicle, referring to the speed of attaining full awakening. In some systems of classification, Mantranaya and Pāramitānaya (path of perfections) are paired as two parts of Mahāyāna, while other systems consider Vajrayāna to be a third vehicle superceding Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna.
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