. esoteric buddhism under the chosn 641
Elsewhere in the Sŏnga kugam Hyujŏng goes into detail with the use
of a certain class of mantras. It is found in a rather curious section on
personal hygiene, which mainly deals with the correct behavior of a
monk while in the communal latrine. Although the practical aspects
such as washing one’s hands are dealt with, it is obvious that the meta-
physical purification is even more important. To this end Hyujŏng
recommends the use of a set of five mantras as a means of purification
and for controlling various evil spirits, which are traditionally thought
to lurk in latrines.^46 In the Sŏnga kugam, Hyujŏng is actually quoting
verbatim from the Deng si guishi (Regulations for Enter-
ing the Latrine; T. 2023.48:1091c–1092b) as contained in the Chinese
Chan manual, the Zimen jingxun (Admonitions for the
Black-Robed Fellows).^47 Hence we find that in early Ming China, the
traditional regulations of the vinaya had been supplanted by a mixture
of Esoteric Buddhist practices, folk customs, and beliefs concerning
toilets, combined with the ever-prevailing fear of ghosts, which had
become accepted within Chan Buddhism. Eventually these beliefs were
introduced to Chosŏn, undoubtedly in conjunction with the Zimen
jingxun, and there accepted as an integrated part of the general Korean
Buddhist make-up.
Among the other works authored by Hyujŏng, which show direct
evidence of Esoteric Buddhist practices and beliefs, both the Sŏlsŏn ŭi
(Ritual for Explaining Sŏn; HPC vol. 7, 737b–743b) and the
Unsŭ tan (Cloud and Water Altar; HPC vol. 7, 743c–752a),
which are ritual and liturgical works, contain numerous mantras as an
integrated part of their respective ceremonial proceedings. The ritual
of the former work is a distinct Sŏn Buddhist ceremony carried out
in order to commemorate the “holding of the flower,” the wordless
(^46) The belief in evil spirits was an integrated part of the life and customs of people
under the Chosŏn, and the communal latrine in the Buddhist monasteries was con-
sidered a particularly unclean place for more than one reason. In the Buddhist vinaya
as followed in East Asia there are numerous and elaborate rules on the conduct for
monks and nuns in connection with the easing of nature. For example, in the writings
of the Japanese Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253) we find descriptions, down to
minor details, on how to wash one’s hands with various substances after having been
to the toilet. Cf. Shōbōgenzō (Storehouse of the True Dharma Eye), ch. 50.
A translation of this chapter can be found in Nishiyama and Stevens 1977, 87–93. See
also Leighton and Okumura 1996, 63–81. However, as we have seen above, in Korean
Sŏn temples during Hyŭjŏng’s time, a modified and localized form of the traditional
vinaya rules on hygienic matters in the latrine was taught.
(^47) T. 2023. It was compiled during the second half of the fifteenth century.