3 - Computing in the Humanities and Social Sciences

(vii) Himitsugo and mitsugø are translations of the Sanskrit terms saµdhåbhå≈ha
(“words with a dense meaning”) and saµdhyåbhå≈å (“twilight language”). These terms
refer to the initiatory, secret aspects of mantric language, as characterized by
agrammaticality, its peculiar semantic structure, and its power. (See Bucknell and
Stuart-Fox 1986, Bharati 1965, etc.)
There are many cases in which these categories overlap. We could say that in
esoteric Buddhism, mantras/shingon are formulae that condense the characteristics and
powers of all the above non-ordinary linguistic expressions. At this point, it is necessary
to outline the history of the development of non-ordinary linguistic expressions in the
esoteric Buddhist tradition in East Asia, in order to better understand the ideas that
ground Shingon semiotics.
1.2. Developments of Mantric Conceptions
As we have seen, the general term referring to mantric expression of the absolute
language of the Buddha is shingon (Ch. zhenyan). This term surfaces rather late in the
history of East Asian esoteric Buddhism. It appears for the first time in texts that are
considered by the Shingon school as manifestations of a “pure esotericism” (junmitsu),
that is, those that were translated since the end of the seventh century by
Subhakarasiµha (Ch. Shanwuwei, Jp. Zenmui; 637-735). In fact, mantras are the product
of a peculiar episteme and present themselves as the condensation of an entire range of
non-ordinary entities and uses related to ritual practices (magic, meditation, liturgy,
etc.), as the result of centuries of Buddhist linguisitic and semiotic elaborations.
The process of emergence of shingon and of the esoteric Buddhist episteme in
China, and later in Japan, has been described by Ujike Kakushø (Ujike 1984, 1987).
According to Ujike, the identification of several non-ordinary linguistic forms as
mantra/shingon is the culmination of a long process of linguistic speculation and
practice that took place in parallel with the development of Buddhism in East Asia. In
particular, the identification of shingon and darani as synonyms, often taken for granted
today, presupposes a complex intellectual elaboration. Ujike showed that different
conceptions concerning dhåra√∆ and mantra in Mahayana and Vajrayana depend on the
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