. esoteric buddhism and its relation to healing 209
Eventually, in ritual texts that were introduced during the High and
Middle Tang periods (713–820), several aspects of the healing rituals
used to extract demons were transformed into esoteric rituals by which
adepts were sealed unto buddhahood. Finally, several texts translated
during the eighth century and afterward described processes by which
ritual specialists utilize spirits and “voluntary” spirit possession proce-
dures to effect healing and to accomplish other desires.
Because disease and illness was understood as being caused by
noxious and contagious denizens of the netherworld, the distinctions
between healing, spell-chanting, and demon-quelling are completely
blurred and indistinguishable. Furthermore, according to such norma-
tive texts as the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom (Dazhidu
lun ), all ordained Buddhists monks were strongly encour-
aged to develop the skills of mixing herbs and medicines, planting
cereals and trees, observing celestial phenomena, understanding all
manner of earthly and celestial portents, as well as being students
of spell techniques, divination practices, charms, and talismans (T.
1509.25: 79c–80a; Lamotte 1944–1981, 1:199–202). Fotudeng
(or Fotucheng, d. 348), for instance, is remembered for miraculously
healing people by enchanting objects with spells (Wright 1948). And
Dharmaksema (Tanwuchen ̣ , 385–433) was so famous for his
knowledge of spells that he acquired the title “Great Spell Master”
(dazhou shi ) and specialized in expelling ghosts and goblins
responsible causing illness. Various individual scriptures and compen-
dia of dhāraṇī and spells were compiled during the fifth, sixth, and
seventh centuries for use by monks and laypeople. Although many
dhāraṇī sūtras were translated, the three great collections of the North-
ern and Southern dynasties period are the Dhāraṇī Spirit-Spell Sūtra
preached by the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas (Qifo bapusa
suoshuo da tuoluoni shenzhou jing ,
T. 1332), which was compiled in the late fourth to the early fifth cen-
tury; the Consecration Scripture (Guanding jing , T. 1331), com-
piled about 457; and the Dhāraṇī Miscellary (Tuoluoni zaji
, T. 1336), compiled in the first half of the sixth century. Later, in
the early Tang period, Atikūta compiled the ̣ Dhāraṇī Collection (Tuo-
luoni ji jing , T. 901) in 653–654 (Ōmura 1918, 2:212–255;
of Murti’s work. Based on this, Alan Watts is reported to have said, “Buddhism is
Hinduism stripped for export.”