1. INTRODUCTION: ESOTERIC BUDDHISM AND
THE TANTRAS IN EAST ASIA:
SOME METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Charles D. Orzech, Richard K. Payne, Henrik H. SørensenIn all likelihood, it was the Buddhism scholars commonly designate
‘esoteric Buddhism’ that had the greatest geographical spread of any
form of Buddhism. It left its imprint not only on its native India, but
far beyond, on Southeast Asia, Central Asia, including Tibet and Mon-
golia, as well as the East Asian countries China, Korea and Japan. Not
only has esoteric Buddhism contributed substantially to the develop-
ment of Buddhism in many cultures, but it also facilitated the trans-
mission of religious art and material culture, science and technology.
The modern English moniker ‘esoteric Buddhism’ is often used inter-
changeably with other labels, such as tantric Buddhism, Vajrayāna,
Mantrayāna, Zhenyan, Shingon, Mikkyō, Yoga, and so on. The rela-
tionship between these various labels is commented on below, and it
is considered in some detail in Orzech (2006b, 36–78), Payne (2006,
1–31), in Sørensen, “On Esoteric Buddhism in China: A Working
Definition,” and in Orzech, “Esoteric Buddhism in the Tang: From
Atikūta to Amoghavajra (651–780),” in this volume.̣
In planning this volume and negotiating assignments, Henrik, Rich-
ard and I avoided imposing definitions of the notoriously problematic
terms esoteric Buddhism and tantra. Instead, we contacted people who
are doing work in the field with the aim of producing a volume both
cutting edge and definitive. Such an approach will inevitably lead to
a volume that will reflect scholarly debate and disagreement. At the
same time this approach cannot fill in existing lacunae in the field.
This collection therefore reflects the state of the art, without claiming
to be encyclopedicly comprehensive. At the same time, the volume is
unique in its scope. Its focus on East Asia underscores the cosmopoli-
tan and trans-national context of Esoteric Buddhism while attending
to its specific local manifestations. Rather than trying to recapitulate
the eighty-eight essays in this volume, we will spend some time taking
up a few theoretical considerations.