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sought to embrace the various strands of Buddhism emerging from
the late Tang. Zanning, like the earlier Chan synthesizer Zongmi, took
the position that “the sūtras are the Buddha’s words, and Chan is the
Buddha’s meaning. The mind and speech of the Buddha cannot be at
odds.”^9 Thus his inclusive position contrasts to that of the growing
number of proponents of Linji who championed “a teaching outside
of the scriptures” (jiaowai biechuan ).^10 His understanding of
Buddhism—and the role of esoteric Buddhism within it—can be seen
in the following passage:
Now, as for the Teaching... there are three varieties. The first is the Exo-
teric Teaching (xianjiao ), which is the Vinaya, Sūtra, and Abhid-
harma of all the vehicles... The second is the Esoteric Teaching (mijiao
), which is the method of Yoga: the abhis ̣eka of the five divisions,
the homa, the three secrets, and the methods for the mandala... The
third is the Mind Teaching (xinjiao ), which is the method of Chan:
the direct pointing at the human mind, seeing one’s nature and attain-
ing Buddhahood. The first of these is the Wheel of the Teaching ( falun
), this then is the Exoteric Teaching. It takes Kāśyapa Mātaṅga as
the first patriarch. The second is the Wheel of Instruction and Com-
mand (jiaoling lun ), this then is the Esoteric Teaching. It regards
Vajrabodhi as its first patriarch. The third is the Wheel of Mind (xin-
lun )... this then is the Teaching of Chan. It regards Bodhidharma
as the first patriarch. Therefore, those who transmit the Wheel of the
Teaching use the sound of the Teaching to transmit the sound of the
Teaching (yi fayin chuan fayin ). Those who transmit
the Wheel of Instruction and Command use the secrets to transmit the
secrets (yi bimi chuan bimi ), and those who transmit the
Wheel of Mind use the mind to transmit the mind ( yi xin chuan xin
). These are the three Wheels of theThree Teachings, whose
three patriarchs came from the West to the East.^11I have argued elsewhere that Zanning saw the esoteric Teaching as
serving a crucial military function in defense of the State.^12 What
is surprising is despite his promotion of the “Esoteric Teaching” as
one of the three foundational teachings of Buddhism, and despite his
having written a brief treatise on the “Transmission of the Esoteric
(^9) Quoted in Foulk 1999, 235. The original is T. 2015.48:400b10–11.
(^10) Welter 2008, 38.
(^11) Lives of Eminent Monks Composed in the Song (Song gaoseng zhuan
T. 2061.50:724b16–26).
(^12) Orzech 2006b, 64–68.