Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

(Ben Green) #1

62 henrik h. sørensen


Wenshu pusa guanxiang (Visualizing Mañjuśrī
Bodhisattva).^142 A meditation text.


Wuzhe dahui zhai wen (Text for a Shuilu Great Assem-
bly Feast). A text related to the Ritual of Feeding the Pretas in Water
and on Land.^143 It may be seen as an early prototype of the later very
important Shuilu Assembly of the Song.


Yuanshuai qiqing (Invoking Yuanshuai).^144 A ritual text
with mantras.


Esoteric Buddhist Texts in the Stone-carved Canon at Mt. Fang


While most of the Esoteric Buddhist scriptures found among the
stone-carved scriptures at Mt. Fang are included in the four Taishō
volumes, there are nevertheless a few that are not, as follows:


Shijiao zuishang sheng bimi zang tuoluoni ji
(Collection of the Secret Storehouse of Dhāran ̣īs of the High-
est Vehicle of Buddhism),^145 compiled by the ācārya Zhaowu Xinglin
(fl. second half of ninth century to early tentth century)^146
from Da Anguo Temple in Chang’an. This comprehen-
sive collection of dhāraṇīs and mantras is one of the most important
and significant of the Esoteric Buddhist works found in the Mt. Fang
Tripiṭaka, and it reflects the final phase of orthodox Zhenyan Bud-
dhism of the Tang.^147


Zunsheng foding zhenyan xiu yuqie fa
(Method of the Sarvabuddosnīṣ a Mantra for Cultivating Yoga).̣^148 A
variant of T. 973.


(^142) P. 3835V° (10).
(^143) P. 3542, P. 3542.
(^144) P. 3845 (1).
(^145) Zhonghua dazang jing , 1619.68, pp. 500–675. See also Zhongguo
fojiao xiehui Fangshan shijing zhengli yanjiu zu, ed. 1986, vol. 22. The stone slabs for
this compendium were carved in 1147 C.E. 146
For additional biographical information, see MDJ (1968–1970), p. 1603c.
(^147) For a brief discussion of this work, see Sørensen, “On Esoteric Buddhism in
China: A Working Definition,” in this volume.
(^148) Zhongguo fojiao xiehui Fangshan shijing zhengli yanjiu zu, ed. 1986, vol. 21.

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