. the dissemination of esoteric scriptures 667
most important site was without doubt Daianji. Not only had Dōji
lived there, but also Simsang, Daoxuan, Bodhisena, Kaimei, and even
Saichō’s teacher Gyōhyō (722–797) and Gonzō (758–827),
who may have been Kūkai’s early teacher. Daianji was one of the biggest
temples at the time and the fulcrum of the provincial temple system
before the completion of Tōdaiji. Other important centers included
Gangōji; Kōfukuji; Hisodera , a mountain temple connected
with Gangōji and Daianji; and, slightly later, the newly built Saidaiji
.^3 Last but not least, there was also the court, with its sūtra
scriptorium and the Shibi chūdai , the office dealing with the
affairs of Empress Kōmyō.
Ritual
Nara Buddhism was not primarily doctrinal, as is sometimes assumed,
but also gave a great deal of attention to practice, and in this context
esoteric dhāraṇīs had a central role. Dhāraṇī chanting was common
among ordained monastics and lay religious (shido ), both often
referred to as spell masters (ju[gon]shi [ ] ), and was mainly used
in curing illness. Esoteric texts often clearly stated that the dhāraṇīs
they contained would heal specific maladies; for example, in the
Amoghapāśa Avalokiteśvara Dhāraṇī Sūtra, it is said that its spells can
cure pains in the eye, ear, nose, teeth, lips, tongue, jaw, heart, stom-
ach, waist, and so on. Other texts, such as the Buddhoṇīsa Dhāraṇ ̣ī
Sūtra, include the following statement: “Even those who are gravely
sick, upon hearing this dhāraṇī, will be emancipated from all forms of
illness and prevented from transmigrating through evil realms” (Abé
1999, 160). Spells were also used for other, less altruistic aims, such
as to lay curses on and kill adversaries with the Vetāla (enmi )
rituals, to the degree that the government felt the need to control such
practices. The Regulations for Monks and Nuns (Sōni-ryō ) con-
tains articles that explicitly forbid the use of magic for any purpose
other than curing illness (Horiike 1994, 10–11).
(^3) Although the affiliation was probably not an issue, it seems that the Hossō, San-
ron, and Kegon schools had the closest ties with esotericism, probably as a conse-
quence of their main teachings, namely Yogācara, Mādhyamika, and Avataṃsaka, that
dealt preeminently with practice and soteriology, and to the fact that their Japanese
founders had been in China when tantrism was flourishing there.