. esoteric buddhism and magic in china 203
hunting.” This arcane form of treasure hunting can be subdivided into
two kinds. One is explicitly worldly in nature, i.e., the concrete pur-
pose of the performance of magic is to get rich. The other may involve
more lofty goals such as procuring a religious treasure or holy book.
However, it should be noted that the tradition rarely if ever distin-
guishes between these two types, and it certainly does not place any
moral value on either. Again the texts feature many different tech-
niques, but among the more common ones is that which gives the
practitioner control over an assisting spirit or demigod. These spirit-
helpers are encountered in many Esoteric Buddhist scriptures such
as the Amoghapāśa-kalparāja sūtra (cf. T. 1097.20:424c425a).^16 The
Usṇ̣īṣacakravarti tantra translated by Amoghavajra
contains many methods for invoking the assistance of female demons
as Esoteric Buddhist partners. One method describes how the practi-
tioner invokes a yaksị̄ through a homa ritual and makes her do a variety
of tasks according to his wishes (see T. 953.19:296c). Spells are a stable
ingredient in the rites with which the adept makes the non-human
assistant perform the task at hand, but in some cases, especially those
from the later tantric phase, more arcane requirements are needed in
order to achieve success. In extreme cases these may involve necro-
mancy, sex, and even cannibalism on the part of the practitioner.^17
Part of attaining ritual success or siddhi usually requires that the
practitioner meet with buddhas, bodhisattvas, or other divine or semi-
divine beings such as gods, ghosts, demons, etc. Although the interven-
tion and appearance of buddhas and bodhisattvas form part and parcel
of many of the prescriptions on how to perform Esoteric Buddhist
magic, in most cases these divinities mainly function as messengers
indicating that the magic works. In other works, meeting with these
non-human beings is usually not the primary object of the magical
process; what we may refer to as “divine communication” is often of
secondary importance in the magical process in which the adept of Eso-
teric Buddhism engages. Hence, the time-honored concept of “divine
(^16) The spirit assistants mentioned here also include a resurrected corpse; cf.
T. 1097.20:425b. For a translation of a treasure hunting rite and of a rite to acquire an
asura consort from this text see Orzech 1994b, 116–120.
(^17) James Sanford has eloquently discussed some of these strange practices in his
stimulating research on the Tachikawa cult in late medieval Japan. Much of the tex-
tual material on which the Tachikawa cult developed its practices can be traced back
to esoteric Buddhism in China (cf. Sanford 1991a, 1–20). See also Goepper 1993 and
Iyanaga, “Tachikawa-ryū,” in this volume.