Karen Mack is currently affiliated with the Jodo Shu Research Institute in Tokyo, where she is translating the three Pure Land sutras for the Institute. Her primary specialty is Heian period painting and images of Fudō.
Invoking the esoteric Buddhist deity Fudō for rebirth is a lesser known aspect in the development of Pure Land worship. Fudō was invoked by reciting his incantation as a deathbed practice to attain proper mindfulness at death allowing rebirth into the Pure Land, particularly Miroku’s Heaven, from the late Heian into the Kamakura period. The association of Fudō and Miroku’s Heaven extends back to the Tendai monk Sōō (ninth century), and invoking Fudō for rebirth was practiced by such notables as Emperor Shirakawa and the Kegon monk Myōe. Fudō was incorporated into Miroku Raigō paintings from the end of the twelfth century into the fourteenth century, probably as a last recourse by the traditional schools of Buddhism to the rising popularity of Amida worship and easy access to Amida’s Pure Land through the nenbutsu.
