668 clemente beghi
This general reliance on the potency of dhāraṇī spells had serious
political implications, as it conferred a great deal of power to those
who could master them. There was an area of the palace dedicated to
Buddhist practices called the Naidōjō , where monks would
perform rituals necessary for the well-being of the emperor and the
nation. Among them were (healer-)meditation masters, (kanbyō) zen-
shi ( ) , who were held in very high esteem and considered on
par with other ministers, if not of even higher status (Horiike 1994,
20–25). The exclusive position enjoyed by these healer-meditation
masters allowed them close proximity to emperors and empresses, on
whom they were able to exert much influence through their magic.
Two of the three greatest rebellions of the Nara period were related in
some form or other to such monks. Gembō was involved in the revolt
of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (d. 740); and, most famously,
Dōkyō (d. 772) was initially involved in the revolt of Fujiwara
no Nakamaro (706–764) and later became a central figure
in the problems that surrounded Empress Kōken (718–770).
The rituals themselves were often based on descriptions in the
Dhāraṇī Sūtra Collection and frequently involved dedicated altars
(danjo ). Another important practice with strong esoteric under-
tones was the rite of repentance (keka ), done at the request of
the emperor when famines or epidemics struck, and for a variety
of private purposes, such as to restore health or fight maledictions.
This ritual was mostly dedicated to certain esoteric deities, such as
the transformations of Avalokiteśvara, Bhaiṣajyaguru (Yakushi ),
and Laksmī (Kichijōten ̣ ). Although we do not know exactly
how these rituals were performed, it is likely that they were exoteri-
cised, as Abé has demonstrated in his detailed analysis of the “service
of the second month” (shunie ). This rite of repentance, still
performed today at Nigatsudō of Tōdaiji, evokes the Eleven-
headed Avalokiteśvara as its main deity (Abé 1999, 168–76).
Nonetheless, apart from the recitation of dhāraṇīs many esoteric
elements can be found in these rituals, such as ringing vajra bells,
sounding conch shells, sprinkling water, the use of fire for purification
of the ritual arena, or the use of round altars (endan ), typical of
the later esoteric rituals to avert calamities (sokusai-hō ), as in
the case of the Bhaisajyaguru rite of repentance at Yakushiji ̣
(Misaki 1994a, 42–43; Hamada 1986, 146; Kushida 1964, 34–35).