190 henrik h. sørensenin a ritual setting. The Chan lineage of transmission it presents has
been adapted from the orthodox patriarchal lineage as found in the
Shengzhou ji (Collection of the Holy Descendants), a work of
Southern Chan provenance.^33
Likewise, texts reflecting the synthesis between Esoteric Buddhism
and the Pure Land tradition also appear in the form of apocryphal
scriptures. A good example of this is the Jiupin zhusheng Amituo
sanmodi ji tuoluoni jing (Scrip-
ture on the Collected Dhāraṇīs of Amitābha’s Samādhī on the Nine
Divisions of Rebirth),^34 which places Pure Land belief and doctrine
in the context of Esoteric Buddhist ritual, including special mantras
for rebirth in the Pure Land.^35 Another apocryphal text that com-
bines Esoteric Buddhist spells with Pure Land beliefs is the Foding
xin Guanshiyin pusa da tuoluoni jing
(Scripture on the Great Dhāran ̣ī of the Buddha’s Usṇ̣īsa Heart of ̣
Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva).^36
The same tendency can also be observed in works such as the Da
fangguang fo huayan jing ru fajie pin sishier zi guanmen
(Method of Meditation on the Forty-
two Letters of the Gaṇḍhayūha Chapter of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra)^37
and the Da fanguang fo huayan jing ru fajie pin dunzheng Piluzhe’na
fashen zilun yuqie yigui
(Ritual Proceedings of the Gan ̣ḍhavyūha Chap-
ter of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra Sudden Enlightenment of Vairocana’s
Dharmakāya Character-wheel Yoga),^38 both of which represent a syn-
thesis of Huayan doctrine and Esoteric Buddhist beliefs. The first of
these texts has coopted a section from the Gaṇḍhavyūha and added to
(^33) Cf. Tanaka 2002.
(^34) T. 934.19, pp. 79b–80a.
(^35) Spells appear in texts relating to Pure Land belief relatively early in the history
of Chinese Buddhism, and were originally part of the Indian tradition. Cf. Amituo fo
shuo zhou (Amitābha Buddha Utters a Mantra), T. 369.12, p. 352a.
Exactly when Esoteric Buddhist elements were added to the Pure Land tradition is
not clear, but it may very well have taken place during the third to fourth centuries.
Interesting information can be found in the encyclopedic, Fayuan zhulin.
T. 2122.53:735b–38b. However, only with the flowering of the Zhenyan tradition from
the eighth century onward were Pure Land beliefs and Esoteric Buddhist doctrine
brought into alignment and systematized. 36
P. 3916 (5) etc. For additional information on this interesting scripture, see Yü
- 37
T. 1019.19:707c–9a.
(^38) T. 1019.20:709bc.