Adhiṣṭhāna should not be confused with Adhiṭṭhāna.
The Sanskrit term adhiṣṭhāna (Sanskrit: अधिष्ठान; ; Japanese: 加持 kaji; Thai: [[wikt:อธิษฐาน|อธิษฐาน]] àtíttǎan) is the name for blessings or inspiration that a Buddhist may receive from a Buddha, bodhisattva or guru. The Sanskrit term has various meanings in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, and can also mean the raised base on which a temple stands.
Adhiṣṭhāna(m) is a term with multiple meanings: seat; basis; substratum; ground; support; and abode.[1] The Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary Online holds the following semantic field for adhiṣṭhāna:
Francesca Fremantle gives an etymology of Sanskrit adhiṣṭhāna and Tibetan jinlap: "The Sanskrit word literally means "standing over" and conveys ideas of taking possession, dwelling within, presence, protection, and sovereignty. The Tibetan literally means "an engulfing wave or flood of splendor and power."[3]
Dan Martin opines that the Chinese term for adhiṣṭhāna influenced the Tibetan:
Tsultrim Allione points out that in Tibetan Buddhism adhistana blessings are an important part of the pointing-out instruction received from the guru and lineage.[4] Receiving these blessings is dependent on the student having proper motivation, aspiration and intentionality (bodhicitta) and sufficient "devotion" (Sanskrit: bhakti). These blessings may be received from the student's guru during initiation, from the yidam during deity yoga, or simply from being in the presence of holy objects such as a stupa or the śarīra, "relics", kept inside them. These objects are held to emanate or incite adhiṣṭhāna "blessings, grace" within the mindstream and experience of those connected to them.[5]
In the Indo-Himalayan lineages of Vajrayana, where traditions of Tantra were introduced in the first wave of translations of Sanskrit texts into Old Tibetan from the 8th century onwards, the term chosen by the community of lotsawa "translators", which importantly is one of the most concerted translation efforts in documented history, chose to render adhiṣṭhāna as . This metaphorical usage of "stream, wave, thread, continuum" is reinforced in philosophy with the mindstream doctrine and its relationship to tantric sādhanā, where it is used in visualizations and invocations, particularly in relation to the Three Vajras of Padmasambhava and depicted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist and Bon iconography such as representations of the Adi-Buddha and Tapihritsa. Martin Mills, in a modern political and power-relations dissection of jinlap in relation to hierarchical structures of the Gelug, a Sarma (second-wave) school, holds that:
An example of this sādhanā is described in The Prayer of Inspiration known as "The Falling Rain of Blessings" (gsol 'debs byin rlabs char 'bebs) (from the Yang Zab Nyingpo).[6]
In Shingon Buddhism, an extant non-Himalayan school of Vajrayana, practices involving mantras, mudras, and visualisation exercises aim at achieving honzon kaji or union with the deity. According to Shingon priest Eijun Eidson:
Minoru Kiyota identifies three kinds of adhiṣṭhāna in the theory and practice of Shingon Buddhism:
The term adhiṣṭhāna is also used to describe the transformative power of the Buddha. According to D. T. Suzuki:
The cucumber blessing (Japanese: きゅうり加持) is an adhiṣṭhāna practised at Shingon Buddhist temples in summer. In a cucumber blessing meeting, the priest and believers together pray that they can pass the season of hot summer in good health like fresh cucumbers.[8] Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, is said to have initiated this practice of blessing.