14 charles d. orzech, richard k. payne, henrik h. sørensen
are regional phenomena, such as the Shikoku pilgrimage route, that
are highly institutionalized as well. Because of the increasingly global
mediascape, some of these institutional forms are now becoming glo-
balized. International religious tourism to esoteric sites such as the
Potala in Tibet, and Putuo shan in China has become an important
kind of institution in itself. Similarly, Kōyasan has recently been desig-
nated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which not only makes it more
visible internationally, but brings a different kind of clientele, which
in turn changes the nature of the institution itself.
- Ideology
As discussed above, esoteric Buddhism exists as part of an historical
continuum and includes elements from pre-Buddhist Indian religious
culture. It cannot therefore be defined in a way that is both precise
and useful for broad, comparative inquiry. For the sake of analysis,
however, it is heuristically beneficial to distinguish religious ideology
from specific doctrinal claims. As used here ideology refers to more
widely shared ideas, in common (typically) with the Mahāyāna.^29 These
include concepts that despite being part of a wider religious culture
play an important role in esoteric Buddhism. Such ideas include for
example the efficacy of extraordinary language (dhāraṇī, mantra, etc.),
with its historical roots in Vedic practice, and the idea that all sentient
beings have buddhanature, a notion developed on the basis of Indic
Buddhist conceptions of tathāgatagarbha and alāyavijñāna. - Doctrine
Doctrine is distinguished from ideology as more specifically esoteric
Buddhist. Thus, although buddhanature is widely shared among East
Asian Buddhist traditions, it becomes the basis for a much more
uniquely esoteric doctrinal claim, that is, the possibility of awakening
in this lifetime, sokushin jōbutsu. Simiarly, the active nature
of the dharmakāya in the form of the Buddha Mahāvairocana is an
important marker of esoteric Buddhism in Japan.
(^29) For example, the “three esoterica” or “three secrets” (san mi ) deployed as a
key element of esoteric ritual have a long history in the Mahāyāna, a history esoteric
traditions drew on. See McBride, 2006.