. esoteric buddhism under the chosn 627
Another important ritual that is full of Esoteric Buddhist elements is
the sip wang chae (ten kings feast).^21 The ritual itself is based
on the Yesu sip wang saeng ch’il chae ŭi chanyo
(Essential Compendium for Arranging the Seven Feasts Ritual of the
Ten Kings for Rebirth; cf. HPC vol. 11, 427a–45b), compiled by the
ritual specialist Pyŏkha Taeŭ (1676–1763). The text consists
of thirty-one sections of which the Ch’ŏng myŏngbu (Implor-
ing the Bureaucracy of the Netherworld; HPC vol. 11, 430b–434a)
constitutes the central part of the rite. Mantras are used throughout
the rite, including mantras for empowering the offerings, the mantra
of all buddhas, mantras of Yama and the other nine kings of hell,
mantra for the breaking of the hells, and so on. These are to be pro-
nounced together with formal prostrations in front of the altar holding
the images of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and the ten kings. ̣
Although Esoteric Buddhism stresses rites and faith in the supernat-
ural effect of spells, mantras, and other magical formulas, it should not
be seen as an expression of folk religion. Even the rituals connected
with the worship of the seven stars of the Great Dipper (ch’ilsŏng )
and the Mountain Spirit (sansin ) should not be understood as
examples of shamanistic influence on Buddhism. Both are in fact part
and parcel of traditional Esoteric Buddhist lore as practiced on the
Korean Peninsula.^22
Rites of empowerment dealing with the practice of “opening the
light” (kaegwang ), also known as chŏm’an sik (ritual for
dotting the eye), are entirely Esoteric Buddhist rituals. In connection
with the dotting of the eyes, the ritual leader writes the Siddham let-
ters oṃ, āḥ, and huṃ for body, speech, and mind on the back side of
the image (or painting) in question in a manner similar to that found
in Tibetan Buddhism.^23 The chŏm’an ritual is closely related to mak-
ing and installing the pokchang, and it was traditionally performed as
(^21) Rituals of this type were originally based on the apocryphal Chinese scripture,
the Shiwang jing (Scripture on the Ten Kings), in which the deliverance of
those unfortunate spirits caught in the Buddhist hells is discussed (ZZ 21.1). This work
has been found in several manuscript copies in Dunhuang. For a solid study of this
important text, see Teiser 1994. Several editions of this apocrypha were printed in
Korea during the Chosŏn, including fully illustrated versions. For the reproduction of
one such apocrypha, see “Yŏsu Hŭngguk sa ŭi pulgyo misul” 1993, 129–47.
(^22) For a detailed discussion of these phenomena, see Sørensen 1995c, 71–105.
(^23) All the details on this rite are provided in the Ǒjong pŏmŭm chip
(Collection of the Five Kinds of Sanskrit Sounds). Cf. HPC vol. 12, 180a–181c.