174 henrik h. sørensen
contemporary sources to our understanding of the development and
formation of the Tang Esoteric Buddhist tradition.
Conclusion
When compared with other terms used to designate this particular
form of Buddhism, I believe that the inherent logic behind “Esoteric
Buddhism” should by now be evident. That being said, “Esoteric Bud-
dhism” is merely a term; it does not ultimately correspond to some-
thing in the sense of a singular fixed historical reality.
In sum, the use of spells and associated beliefs in magic appear as
early as the beginning of the Common Era, although it is highly prob-
able that spells existed alongside orthodox Buddhist practices earlier.
From the second and third centuries onward, the spell literature and
ritual arcana become increasingly important, eventually develop-
ing into a tradition of their own. In Chinese translations from the
third through fifth centuries, the usual narratives and normally well-
defined doctrinal discourses have been omitted, toned down, and/or
replaced with instructions in ritual magic. In many cases we even find
that the traditional Mahāyāna quest for universal and full enlighten-
ment (anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi), as well as the perfected deeds of
a bodhisattva (pāramitās) have been omitted, though perhaps not
completely abandoned, as they sometimes remain as an oblique pres-
ence in the background. Instead, believers are provided with spells and
detailed lists of demons and the suggested ritual methods on how to
defeat and control them.
Scriptures of this type may be considered “esoteric Mahāyāna,” as
we are obviously not dealing with mainstream Mahāyāna Buddhism
but instead with a distinct and special class of Mahāyāna, a form of
Buddhism focused on ritual arcana, where spiritual attainment to a
large extent has been displaced by success in the magic arts. More-
over, the injunctions we find in these “esoteric” Mahāyāna sūtras, as
well as their appearance on the historical horizon, precede mainstream
Esoteric Buddhist scriptures in which similar and related practices are
contextualized and augmented with the use of mudrās, mantras, man-
dalas, homa, siddhi seeking etc., the main defining aspects of Esoteric
Buddhism.
It is correct, then, to see these earlier scriptures as formative exam-
ples of what later became full-fledged Esoteric Buddhism. We are in
fact dealing with an unbroken tradition of practices and beliefs that