50 henrik h. sørensen
eng (1607–1675). This is a brief ritual work involving repentance
at the altar of Cundī together with the cultivation of meditation, includ-
ing the method of eighteen forms of samādhi. Visualization practice
involving the letters of Cundī’s spell is also taught. The instructions
given here would appear to reflect practices current during the late
Ming.
Zhunti fanxiu xidi zhanhui xuanwen
(Abstruse Text of Repentance of the Ascetic Cultivation of Cundī’s
Siddhi).^73 Although this text of repentance is focused on the Cundī
cult, all the divinities of the entire Esoteric Buddhist pantheon appear
in the rite. The five buddha families and the three mysteries (sanmi
) are referred to directly, indicating that we are dealing with a text
that is part of the mainstream Esoteric Buddhist tradition. Moreover,
the text invokes the names of the earlier translations of the Cundī-
dhāraṇī sūtra, including those of the Three Ācāryas of the Tang, as a
means of underlining its authority.
Shoulengyan tanchang xiu zheng yi (Ritual for
Proof of Cultivation at the Śuraṅgama Altar),^74 evidently a Ming text.
It places much importance on the erection of the altar as well as the
ritual implements to be used. Given that the Shoulenyan jing is an
apocrypha, the rite itself is of course pseudo-esoteric as well.
Kongque zun jing keyi (Regulations for the Ritual
of the Mahāmayūrīvidyārājñī sūtra),^75 a Ming text by an unknown
author. Most of the practices as well as the ritual concepts are based
on Amoghavajra’s translation of the sūtra in question. Mahāmayūrī is
here referred to as a buddha.^76
Qianshou qianyan da beixin zhou xing fa
(Method for the Cultivation of the Heart Spell of the Thousand-
(^73) ZZ. 1482.74. The text itself would appear to be from the Ming, but the edition
we have here is from 1652. 74
ZZ. 1477.74.
(^75) ZZ. 1479.74.
(^76) Cf. ZZ. 1479.74: 539b.