78. ZEN AND ESOTERIC BUDDHISM
William M. BodifordIntroductionZen and esoteric Buddhism can be seen either as two complementary
expressions of a single underlying Buddhism, or as two fundamen-
tally separate entities that have overlapped due to historical and social
proximity. The traditional Zen myth of an ancestral lineage, whose
members transmit the entirety of the buddha-mind (busshin ),
can imply either view.
Traditional accounts of Zen history assert that the orthodox Bud-
dhist lineage was brought from India to China by Bodhidharma in
the fifth century and then successfully transplanted to Japan several
times beginning in the late twelfth century. The Zen that subsequently
developed in Japan drew inspiration from the Chinese Buddhist
monasticism of the Song dynasty (960–1279), not only its material
culture and institutional practices but especially its literature, mythos,
and doctrines (see Foulk 1993; Schlütter 2008). Insofar as the Chinese
government designated the major Buddhist monasteries as Zen
(Chan) institutions and the “pure rules” (shingi ; qinggui) gov-
erning life at these institutions to constitute a major genre of Zen lit-
erature, the Buddhism transmitted by the Zen ancestors must embrace
all the diverse practices of Chinese Buddhist monasticism, including
its many dhāraṇī (esoteric spells or formulae) and rituals.^1 Yet because
the members of the Zen lineage claim to transmit only the buddha-
mind, they are free to eschew any characteristics deemed external to
that mind, whether texts, practices, or dogma.
Japanese scholars commonly refer to the inclusive view of Zen as
“mixed Zen” (kenshū zen , i.e., Zen mixed with other forms of
Buddhism) or “esoteric Zen” (mikkyō zen ) and the exclusive
(^1) Many dhāraṇī are known by a variety of alternative names, and their precise
formats can vary depending on region, Zen lineage, or ritual context. In this essay I
try to use the most common generic names and provide the Taishō serial numbers of
scriptures where canonical versions of the same spells can be found. These numbers
are for purposes of identification only. The actual textual sources and histories of the
ones used in Zen are more complex than can be discussed here.