Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Bodhisattva (bosatsu)

Kongōhō Jizō

金剛宝地蔵こんごうほうじぞう

An illustration of Kongōhō Jizō created for this site
An original illustration made for this site.

This is a Jizō listed as one of the Six Jizō.

This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.

English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む

The name and role of Kongōhō Jizō

This is a Jizō listed as one of the Six Jizō. It is explained as the Jizō who saves from the realm of hungry ghosts among the six realms, and the object held and the hand gesture are briefly recorded.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Tracing the form and the traditions

It is introduced in a form holding a jewel in the left hand and forming the kanro-in mudra with the right hand.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Staying close to the suffering of the six worlds

The Six Jizō are a faith in Jizō Bosatsu saving the beings of each of the six realms: hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asura, humans and heavenly beings. They have been enshrined at places such as cemetery entrances, with prayers for the salvation of those who have died. Seen together, the six figures express Jizō's work of bringing salvation to every condition of life.

Source: 浄土宗

The Six Jizō have several lines of names

Shōhōin lists one set of six that includes 預天賀地蔵 and another set of six that includes 地持地蔵. The combinations of names, forms and objects held are not fixed. This site also keeps the two lines separate, and does not mean that all twelve form one set of Six Jizō.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Related kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)