The Mountain Forest Dharma emerges from the profound retreat to give this sage advice to all true seekers. It is of those estranged from empowerments and Sangha, and true friends in the Way. It is to invoke the Morning Star, Venus as Kokūzō. This was Kukai’s skillful means to open the gates to his true Dharma Way, that led him to the profound teachings of thought, word, and action to attain Buddhahood ‘in this very body, in this very lifetime.’ Kokūzō symbolizes the “vast and boundless storehouse of esoteric knowledge and Memory, the Space Repository or Sky Repository (空 = Space, Sky; 蔵 = Repository). The practice is to incessantly chant this mantra, with a focus practice especially at dawn and to complete over 108 days. To hold the with a wish-granting gem (Cintâmani or Nyoihôshu), by means of which he bestows worldly blessings on all beings, enables one to empower this practice even more.
Kōbō Daishi 弘法大師 (Kūkai, Shingon Founder and Great Teacher Kōbō), said people who chant this mantra one million times will gain the ability to remember and understand any Buddhist text. The Gumonjihō sutra itself says: “If people recite the mantra of Kokūzō one million times, in accord with the teachings [in this sutra], they will achieve the ability to memorize the words and understand the real meaning of all scriptures [they study].”
Japanese nōbō akyasha kyarabaya on ari kyamari bori sowaka
Kokuzo Bosatsu – Morning Star Mantra in Sanskrit
namo ākāśagarbhaya oṃ ārya kamari mauli svāhā (transliteration)
Morning Star Mantra in Sanskrit.
Homage to Ākāśagarbha, Om – Crown of the Noble Enemy of Kāma – svāhā