coming impervious to weapons, and so on. In the MA-
HAYANAtantric tradition of Bengal, the term vidyadhara
became a synonym for the MAHASIDDHAor “great
accomplished one,” a tantric master who attains liber-
ation as an immortal wonder worker. Classically eighty-
four in number, mahasiddhaseither ascend alive to the
paradise of the DAKINISor remain among humans un-
til the advent of the Future Buddha MAITREYA(Pali,
Metteyya). From either abode, mahasiddhascontinu-
ously protect the Buddha’s religion and instruct wor-
thy disciples in their liberating mysteries.
A similar tradition from Southeast Asia is the eso-
teric weikzacult of Burma (Myanmar). The Burmese
weikzaor weikza-do(from Pali vijjadhara) is a kind of
semi-immortal sorcerer committed to the protection
of Buddhism and destined to remain alive until the
coming of Metteyya. Possessed of an incorruptible
body, the weikza teaches human disciples how to
attain magical power and extraordinarily long life
through such means as the recitation of spells, the cast-
ing of runes, and alchemy. It is a premise of the sys-
tem that these techniques depend for the efficacy on a
simultaneous mastery of meditative trance (dhyana;
Pali, jhana). While almost certainly descended from
the tantric tradition of Bengal, the weikzacult has long
been domesticated to the dominant worldview of
Burmese THERAVADABuddhism and no longer retains
any overt Mahayana elements.
Bibliography
Ferguson, John P., and Mendelson, E. Michael. “Masters of the
Buddhist Occult: The Burmese Weikzas.” Contributions to
Asian Studies16 (1981): 62–80.
Snellgrove, David. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists
and Their Tibetan Successors.Boston: Shambhala, 1987.
PATRICKA. PRANKEVIETNAM
Although both THERAVADAand MAHAYANABuddhism
exist in Vietnam, the kind of Buddhism that is most
influential and most widely practiced by the majority
of Vietnamese Buddhists is Sinitic Mahayana Bud-
dhism. Indian and Chinese scholastic traditions have
had little if any impact, while Chinese Chan and Pure
Land are the only major schools that provide philo-
sophical and religious foundations for the ideas and
practices of Buddhism in Vietnam. Incorporation of
popular religions and Vietnam’s political involvement
with China and France were also instrumental in shap-
ing certain characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhism.HistoryFrom the beginning to independence.Evidence in-
dicates that Buddhism had come to Jiaozhou (as Viet-
nam, a Chinese protectorate, was then called) by the
second century of the common era. Scattered hints in
Chinese history inform us that Buddhism in Jiaozhou
was consistent with the cultural and religious influ-
ences to which the religion was exposed in the first mil-
lennium C.E. The presence and activities of figures such
as Mou Bo (second century C.E.) and Kang Senghui
(third century C.E.) were indicative of the integration
of Jiaozhou into the cosmopolitan Buddhist world of
the time.
By the late sixth century C.E., Buddhism was already
a part of the cultural and religious life of many people
in Jiaozhou. Monks from various parts of Asia were
regular visitors to Jiaozhou, and they contributed to
Buddhist studies and activities there. They also in-
spired native monks to go on PILGRIMAGEto India or
China to study the dharma. Little record of Buddhism
in Vietnam during the Tang period (618–907) remains,
but there are hints of a continuing pattern of links be-
tween Vietnam and other parts of the Buddhist world:
visits to China by monks from Vietnam, or Chinese
and Central Asian monks who stopped in Jiaozhou on
their way to India. In addition, monks from Jiaozhou
who made prolonged stays in China and India were
well versed in Sanskrit and they assisted Indian and
Central Asian monks in translation work.Early Vietnamese dynasties (968–1010).By the
time Vietnam gained independence from Chinese po-
litical hegemony in the tenth century, Buddhism had
existed in Vietnam for nearly a millennium. The early
Vietnamese dynasties found in the Buddhist clergy a
cultural force that could assist them with their politi-
cal agenda. The founder of the Ðinh dynasty (968–980)
instituted a system of hierarchical ranks for court of-
ficials, Buddhists monks, and Daoist priests. This in-
dicates that Buddhist monks already held a recognized
place in the social and cultural order of Vietnamese
life, requiring the Ðinh dynasty to integrate Buddhism
into the structure of the state.Lý dynasty (1010–1225).The Lý kings continued
to draw support from Buddhism, and in return they
patronized Buddhism on a large scale. Eminent monks
served at court and exerted great influence in politicalVIETNAM