Heisaku Kosawa visited Sigmund Freud in 1932 and presented this paper on the Ajase complex. The paper was entitled "Two Kinds of Guilt Feelings" and subtitled "The Ajase Complex."

The Ajase complex is an original theory developed by Kosawa, and subsequently expanded by Keigo Okonogi. Whereas Freud based his Oedipus complex on a Greek tragedy, Kosawa developed his theory on the Ajase complex from stories found in Buddhist scripture. The story of Ajase centers on the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. Well known to the Buddhist world, Ajase's story appears with many variations in the scriptures of ancient India. Kosawa modeled his theory on the version of Ajase story appearing in the Kanmuryojukyo, a Buddhist scripture centering on the salvation of the mother.

Ajase was the son of a king in India. His mother, fearing the loss of her youth and beauty, wanted to bear a child so she could retain her status. A prophet told...