Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

158 henrik h. sørensen Mahāyāna but as an integrated part of it and, in fact, has always remained part of the Mahāyāna tradition ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 159 “Primitive” or undeveloped forms of Esoteric Buddhist practice came first in the form of “ ...

160 henrik h. sørensen Mahāyāna.^6 One of the earliest sūtras of this class (where the concept of spells or dhāraṇīs can be fou ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 161 Within a relatively short period, perhaps no more than a century, dhāraṇīs in the form of ...

162 henrik h. sørensen the spells are rendered in Chinese phonetic Sanskrit, which may indi- cate the growing familiarity of Chi ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 163 tuoluoni jing (Buddha Speaks the Scripture on the Dhāraṇī that Protects all Children; T. ...

164 henrik h. sørensen control them. Examples of these are the extended translation of the Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī by Saṅghabara ( ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 165 From this point onward, we are justified in speaking of the exis- tence of an “Esoteric Bu ...

166 henrik h. sørensen (T. 1080–83).^31 Taken altogether, these sūtras feature a fully developed form of Esoteric Buddhism compl ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 167 more or less the same meaning as “mi,” i.e., “secret.” The two indeed go together to furth ...

168 henrik h. sørensen meaning of “spell” or “mantra.”^35 We later find the same usage in the Pretamukhāgnijvālayaśarakāra dhāra ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 169 T. 1954.46) by Jñānacakra/Zhihuilun (fl. ninth century) where we read: The secret of culti ...

170 henrik h. sørensen the Da fagu tuoluoni jing (T. 1340), where we encounter the follow- ing phrase, “the upāya of the esoteri ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 171 If on behalf of the country’s king it is necessary to make a mandala, one should twist fiv ...

172 henrik h. sørensen majestic, divine power of the mantras.”^57 The same element of secrecy applies to other Esoteric Buddhist ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 173 the preface is given, it seems likely that it was written by one of Xing- lin’s disciples. ...

174 henrik h. sørensen contemporary sources to our understanding of the development and formation of the Tang Esoteric Buddhist ...

. on esoteric buddhism in china 175 grew and developed as part of traditional Mahāyāna Buddhism but took on a distinct form an ...

12. DHĀRAṆĪ SCRIPTURES Paul Copp “Dhāraṇī scriptures,” those Buddhist texts that center on the presenta- tion and means to act ...

. dhāraṇī scriptures 177 consist of little other than these elements. Often such texts are simply lists of prescriptions for ...