464 henrik h. sørensen
received a special person-to-person transmission on the lore of astrol-
ogy from the National Preceptor (kuksa ).
Conclusion
Esoteric Buddhism under the Khitan was in many ways a continuation
of what had existed under the Tang. The scriptural sources in particu-
lar were widely available in the Liao empire, through the printing of
the Buddhist Canon and through the scriptures engraved in stone at
Fangshan. However, despite the fact that Esoteric Buddhist practices
were widespread and common in Khitan culture, there is no solid evi-
dence that Esoteric Buddhism ever existed as an independent school
of Buddhism. Instead, Esoteric Buddhist doctrines and practices were
integrated into the ritual and belief systems of the various formal Bud-
dhist schools that were then current.
As for the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism, in particular, of the
abhiṣeka from master to disciple, it would appear that the type of
rituals employed by the Zhenyan tradition of Śubhākarasiṃha, Vajra-
bodhi, Amoghavajra, and their heirs in the Tang no longer applied.
In any case, there is no evidence of a direct transmission of Esoteric
Buddhist lore from the Tang to the Liao. This is further underscored
by the fact that the elaborate iconic tradition associated with Zhenyan
Buddhism is not evident in the surviving cultural material, or at least
only partly so. A special feature of Esoteric Buddhism under the Liao
is its conflation with the doctrines and beliefs of the Huayan tradition,
evidenced in both written sources and surviving icons.
The use of dhāraṇīs and spells was widespread in Liao Buddhism,
and they were used to adorn stūpas, pillars, and tombs. Numerous
dhāraṇī pillars engraved with the Sarvadurgatibodoṣṇīsa-dhāraṇ ̣ī have
been documented in the sources.
Buddhism played an important part in the beliefs and systematics of
astrology during the Liao. The cult of the cosmic buddha Tejaprabha
enjoyed great prominence. Evidence shows that astrology transmitted
via Korean court Buddhism was influential during the late tenth century.