. esoteric buddhism under the chosn 623
chip (Collection of Five Great Mantras),^13 and the com-
prehensive Chakpŏp kugam (Magic Mirror of [Ritual] Pro-
ceedings; HPC vol. 10, 552b–609b), which was compiled as late as 1826.
Not only do these manuals present the lengthy text(s) of the water and
land ritual, they also include texts on the proceedings of cremation,
sacrifice to the hungry ghosts, confession of transgressions, praise of
and invocation to the great masters of the Buddhist tradition, and so
on. Nearly all these rites feature dhāraṇīs and mantras and, directly or
indirectly, link the individual rituals with the earlier Esoteric Buddhist
tradition from China.
The late Chosŏn ritual manual, the Pulga iryŏng chakpŏp
(Methods of the Daily Activities of the Buddhists),^14 features a
highly interesting section on Esoteric Buddhist ritual practice, in fact
an enhanced version of Amoghavajra’s translation of the Jin’gangding
yuqie nianzhu jing (Vajraśekhara Yoga Scripture
on Prayer Beads; T. 789, Haein Temple edition, 77a–78b). Moreover,
the manual contains directions for Esoteric Buddhist meditation in a
section entitled Ch’ŏnsu sabang kwan (Contemplation of
the Four Directions by Thousand Hands).^15 Here the instructions on
bīja visualization are given. Despite the title of this section, the text
actually follows the fivefold division of the buddha families according
to the Sarvatathāgata-tattvasaṃgraha. Given the overall Sŏn Buddhist
orientation of the Pulga iryŏng chakpŏp, the high degree of mainstream
Esoteric Buddhist thought it contains is a good indicator of the degree
to which these two brands of Buddhism were integrated during the
period in question.
During the Chosŏn there was also a whole range of minor rituals
concerned with the ritual empowerment of Buddhist images. Fore-
most among these was the ch’ŏm’an ritual (ritual for dotting
a few Chinese characters to indicate overall themes. For additional information, see
Sørensen 1991–1992a, 170–71. Cf. Seoul National University Library, #288031. 13
KS 9. Discussed briefly in Sørensen 1991–1992a, 181–82.
(^14) The version used here is the edition from Haein Temple dated 1869. Cf. KS 54
(printed in 1882). It was evidently compiled sometime during the last two decades of
the Chosŏn dynasty. A brief discussion of the contents of this work can be found in
Sørensen 1991–1992a, 177–78.
(^15) Cf. Pulga iryŏng chakpŏp, 79a–79b (in the Haein Temple edition actually three
sets of double pages). A note below the heading of this section informs us that this
meditation is to be used in conjunction with the Yongsan assembly , a major
Buddhist ritual still performed in Korea by followers of the T’aego school (cf. Mun
1997).