joyed in this life as well as the next, and testimonies
abound about how people gained worldly boons from
their moral and ritual practices.
With the exception of Jodo Shinshu, all schools of
Buddhism affirm the acquisition of worldly benefits
through merit-making. In Japan, the ritual essentials
are extremely simple, consisting of short petitionary
prayers and the purchase of good luck amulets and
charms. In the teaching of karma, nothing can happen
by luck or chance, everything is the result of human
deliberation and action. The belief in the power of
amulets to produce benefits and blessings is often crit-
icized by intellectuals and scholars as a form of magic
that contradicts the doctrine of karma. Defenders of
the practice, however, point out that it is precisely the
law of karma that is at work when believers create merit
by purchasing and venerating amulets. Benefits—and
they include health, wealth, business success, good
grades, family harmony, traffic safety, safe childbirth,
and a host of other good things in life—result from the
virtue of acquiring amulets and believing in the divine
power it represents. Since amulets are believed to be
consecrated with the power of specific deities, the
worldly benefits are received as divine blessings.
While there is clearly an element of magical think-
ing associated with amulets, few people believe that the
mere possession of charms will produce the desired ef-
fects without any exertion of effort on their part. Japan-
ese students, for example, purchase amulets for good
grades, but do not believe that they are thereby relieved
of having to study for an exam. Right action is still nec-
essary in order to create merit, which can be comple-
mented by divine blessings, but is not abrogated.
Set within the larger context of the teaching of
karma, merit and merit-making comprise a cogent
system in which moral action produces merit, ritual
performance generates benefits, and the buddhas
and bodhisattvas grant blessings to those who earn
them through their efforts and can share the fruits
of their virtues with the living and the dead in hopes
of gaining a good rebirth and, ultimately, entry into
nirvana.
See also:Amulets and Talismans; Death; Ghosts and
Spirits; Rebirth
Bibliography
Brokaw, Cynthia J. The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social
Change and Moral Order in Late Imperial China.Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1975.
Reader, Ian, and Tanabe, George J., Jr. Practically Religious:
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan.Hon-
olulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.
Teiser, Stephen F. The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Mak-
ing of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism.Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
GEORGEJ. TANABE, JR.MIJIAO (ESOTERIC) SCHOOLThe Esoteric school (Chinese, Mijiao) of Buddhism
was introduced to China as part of the general spread
of MAHAYANABuddhism that took place in the third
and fourth centuries of the common era. The earliest
forms of Esoteric Buddhist practice consisted of in-
cantations and DHARANI, as found in a number of
canonical and essentially exoteric sutras belonging to
the Mahayana tradition. The gradual development to-
ward esotericism in Indian Mahayana Buddhism is re-
flected in Chinese translations, which preserve the
largest number of early Esoteric Buddhist scriptures.
In the course of its development in China, Esoteric
Buddhism evolved from a ritualistic appendix on the
exoteric scriptures to full-scale Esoteric Buddhist scrip-
tures that propagated a wide range of practices and be-
liefs with ritualized magic at the center. In the course
of this development the Esoteric Buddhist tradition
adapted a number of Daoist beliefs and practices, while
at the same time greatly contributing to the develop-
ment of that rival religious tradition.
During the Tang dynasty (618–907) Esoteric Bud-
dhism reached its zenith in terms of influence and pop-
ularity, and its lore and ritual practices were adopted
by most Buddhist traditions in China. Esoteric Bud-
dhism under the Tang was chiefly represented by the
Zhenyan (True Word) school, which propagated a sys-
tematic and highly elaborate form of Esoteric Bud-
dhism. Its leading patriarchs were S ́ubhakarasimha
(637–735), Vajrabodhi (669–741), and Amoghavajra
(705–774), all of whom were of foreign ancestry. All
three teachers served as preceptors for a succession of
Chinese rulers. The teachings and rituals of the
Zhenyan school were based on a large number of
sutras and scriptures, most of which propounded the
use of MUDRAs, MANDALAs, and visualizations, as well
as incantations of magical formulas in the forms of
MANTRAs and dharans. The main teachings and prac-
tices focused on the Mahavairocana(Great Sun) andMIJIAO(ESOTERIC) SCHOOL