The esoteric Buddhist tradition evolved out of a simple practice of reciting spells (or dhāraṇīs). Reciting spells focuses our attention on the sensory domain of sound, yet later esoteric Buddhist rituals based on this practice produced a rich visual culture of images and maṇḍalas. This development must have occurred as part of a larger process, reflecting and affecting other changes in the evolution of this ritual tradition. In this paper I focus on the role of visions as a distinctly visual phenomenon. Early accounts of dhāraṇī recitations often mention visions that confirm the efficacy of recitation.Footnote 1 The preoccupation with visions was accompanied by a growing prominence of distinctly soteriological benefits promised from dhāraṇī recitation. Here I shall examine visions and soteriological goals in dhāraṇī practice by looking closely at early instructions for dhāraṇī practice that are preserved in Chinese translations.
Early records of esoteric Buddhist rituals survive largely in Chinese translations. These sources typically take the format of a sūtra and present their content as a part of the Buddha's sermon. But the subject of the sermon is a specific dhāraṇī, or a set of dhāraṇīs, presented in transcription. The Buddha himself or, with the Buddha's permission an attendant bodhisattva, explains the origin of the dhāraṇī, its affiliation with a specific deity, and its efficacy. I shall refer here to these sources as dhāraṇī sūtras.
As I have attempted to demonstrate elsewhere, these records enable us to trace in broad outline the evolution of this ritual tradition.Footnote 2 In their simplest form, spells were recited for practical purposes such as healing, securing the birth of a child, causing harm to enemies, or securing the peace and prosperity of a kingdom. In some, early instructions appear – for example in a collection Sūtra of the Divine Spells of the Great Dhāraṇīs of the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas, dating from the fourth to fifth century. This presents a more complex ritual scenario: as one recites the spell over and over, a specific Buddha or, more broadly, all the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, appear in a vision and promise the realization of desired goals. These goals are also often described in distinctly Buddhist and otherworldly terms, such as rebirth in a Buddha land or attaining supernatural knowledge.Footnote 3
Over time, spells came to be affiliated with specific deities: either the deity who taught the spells, or the deity who appeared in the culminating visions to confirm the efficacy of practice. Earlier accounts of the simpler practice of reciting spells focus on such visions and do not mention images. But the practice quickly came to be combined with image worship. Images came to be made with distinct iconographies, as in the case of Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara, and the practitioner was instructed to recite the spell in front of the image. The success of recitation was now demonstrated in an image miracle. The image shakes, emits light, and speaks in a loud voice, promising a successful outcome. A large body of instructions for such image rituals, affiliated with a variety of deities, came into being.
In my view, esoteric Buddhism acquired a more distinct identity when a carefully constructed ritual of initiating its specialists, or ācāryas, was introduced. In the earliest known account of this ceremony, called the “All gathering maṇḍala ceremony”, the entire pantheon of esoteric Buddhist deities is invited to their seats on the maṇḍala, and candidates are initiated in front of them. This general initiation qualified the ācārya to perform the wide range of rituals affiliated with each of the deities. With this ceremony the idea of a distinct esoteric Buddhist pantheon was introduced, though the list of deities included in the esoteric pantheon would evolve and expand over time. A distinct group of esoteric Buddhist ritual specialists also emerged.Footnote 4
These basic scenarios of esoteric Buddhist rituals are clearly spelled out in early records preserved in Chinese translation, but these earlier records seldom mention visualization. I understand visualization practice to involve deliberate mental construction or contemplation of deities or other figurations and distinguish it from the spontaneous visions mentioned in early dhāraṇī instructions. Visualization in this sense was introduced later. Yet it quickly came to dominate esoteric rituals and transformed both rituals for individual deities and maṇḍala initiation ceremonies.
Four distinct ritual scenarios of dhāraṇī recitation may be distinguished: dhāraṇī recitation without a vision (scenario 1); recitation which culminates in a vision but does not involve image worship (scenario 2); dhāraṇī recitation in front of an image (scenario 3); and mental visualization, accompanied by dhāraṇī recitation, of the deity and ritual actions (scenario 4). Some recorded ritual instructions follow only one of these scenarios, but in many dhāraṇī sūtras multiple scenarios appear side by side. These scenarios are not mutually exclusive, and dhāraṇī sūtras may follow one scenario in one passage while introducing another elsewhere.
In this paper I focus on scenarios 1 and 2, namely dhāraṇī practices with and without visionary confirmation. The visionary scenario became an integral part of some dhāraṇī recitation practices at an early date and this appears fully worked out in the earliest datable example of dhāraṇī sūtras (T. 1011 dated to the third century as discussed below). By the time the Chinese translations of dhāraṇī sūtras appeared these two scenarios (recitation with and without visionary confirmation) co-existed side by side. The introduction and popularity of scenario 2 did not lead to the exclusion of scenario 1.
In many cases dhāraṇī sūtras are preserved in multiple translations spanning many centuries, each presumably based on its own Indic original. The different translations of any single dhāraṇī sūtra are remarkably consistent in describing the dhāraṇī recitation either with or without visions, suggesting that these scenarios were recognized as distinct from each other by the compilers and translators of these sūtras; the non-appearance of a vision in a sūtra is thus not random, but reflects a distinct ritual scenario. Although it is not possible to determine how and when the scenario of visionary confirmation was introduced, the examples below offer glimpses of the way in which the preoccupation with visions affected the overall ritual dynamics. Of particular interest is the broadening of the scope of dhāraṇī recitation practice. References to distinctly soteriological goals appear more prominently in instructions that mention visions.
I. Dhāraṇī practice without visions
I will begin by looking at two sūtras that present dhāraṇīs for recitation. Visionary confirmation of their efficacy is not mentioned (thus scenario 1). In the first sūtra, past Buddhas and other deities present their own distinctive dhāraṇīs. This is a scheme that appears repeatedly in other sūtras. The list of benefits emphasizes protection, though the sūtra also speaks of attaining knowledge of one's past lives. Supernatural knowledge of past lives often marks progress towards salvation, but no other soteriological benefits are mentioned in this sūtra. The second example is a composite work. In its core narrative section, dhāraṇī practice is presented as a strategy for securing protection against demonic forces. An elaborate pantheon of protective and demonic deities appears. In this section visions are not mentioned. These examples suggest that visionary confirmation was not an indispensable part of dhāraṇī recitation rituals; a well-developed dhāraṇī sūtra could exist without it, framed around the simpler scenario and the sūtra's distinctive and often elaborate core narrative. (Examples in which the recitation of dhāraṇīs culminates in visions are taken up below.)
Ia. The Agrapradīpa Sūtra
This sūtra survives in different versions in different periods or, in other words, the text varies depending on its date. Tuoluonibo jing 陀隣尼鉢經 (Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra, T. 1352) is attributed to Zhu Tanwulan 竺曇無蘭 (Dharmarakṣa) who translated in Yangdu during 381–395.Footnote 5 A work entitled Chiju shenzhou jing 持句神呪經 (The Divine Spell of Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra, T. 1351) is attributed to an earlier translator Zhi Qian 支謙 (first half of the third century) but this attribution is questionable.Footnote 6 Jñānagupta's 闍那崛多 translation Dongfang Zuishengdengwang tuoluoni jing 東方最勝燈王陀羅尼經 (The Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Supreme Lamp King of the East) exists in two versions, T. 1353 and 1354. T. 1354 is dated to the Kaihuang period of the Sui dynasty (580–600).Footnote 7 There is also the later translation by Dānapāla, Shengzuishangdengming rulai tuoluoni jing 聖最上燈明如來陀羅尼經 (The Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Holy Tathāgata Supreme Lamp, T. 1355). Dānapāla translated during the period 982–1017.
These versions share a core narrative. The Buddha was staying at the Jetavana garden surrounded by a large number of monks and bodhisattvas. Two bodhisattvas, called Infinite Light and Bright Light, arrived from a very distant Buddha land. The Buddha Supreme Lamp (Agrapradīpa) of that Buddha land had sent them. The Buddha Śākyamuni instructed Ānanda to receive the spell. Śākyamuni described its protective powers and explained that this was an unfailing spell that numerous Buddhas had taught in the past.
The narrative of the Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra/Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Supreme Lamp King of the East continues as several deities present their own dhāraṇīs one after another, first bodhisattva Maitreya or Ajita and at the end the Buddha [Śākyamuni] himself. In the versions Jñānagupta translated, Mañjuśrī, following Maitreya, also presents a dhāraṇī,Footnote 8 and the presentation of dhāraṇīs concludes with the spell offered by the Four Heavenly Kings.Footnote 9
The framework of this narrative, in which different deities present their own dhāraṇīs, each explained as spells numerous Buddhas had taught in the past, is strikingly similar to the framework of the Divine Spells of the Great Dhāraṇīs Taught by Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas, T. 1332, from the late fourth to early fifth century. This sūtra, it is to be recalled, in contrast to the Agrapradīpa sūtras, has both visions and soteriological benefits. In the Agrapradīpa sūtras, the benefits of the dhāraṇīs are described formulaically. In Zhu Tanwulan's Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra, for example, the Buddha describes to Ānanda the benefits of reciting the spell brought by the two messengers first as “knowing seven past lives”,Footnote 10 and then as a series of protections: from demons, humans, non-humans, snakes, lizards, vipers, scorpions, poison, sorcery, weapons, kings and angry gods.Footnote 11 With the spell given by Maitreya, one can know fourteen past lives and receive protection, which is described in very similar terms.Footnote 12 With the spell given by the Buddha himself, one comes to know an infinite number of past lives.Footnote 13 While travelling, if one is attacked by bandits or wild animals, or falls into water, or commits offences against kings and local governments, one is instructed to recite the dhāraṇī. With the power of this dhāraṇī dead trees will come back to life, growing fresh leaves, flowers and fruits. All illnesses can be cured with this dhāraṇī.Footnote 14 The benefits are described similarly though sometimes more elaborately in the later versions attributed to Jñānagupta (T. 1353 and 1354).
The Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra lists supernatural knowledge of past lives as a benefit obtained through dhāraṇī recitation, but mentions no other otherworldly or supernatural benefits. The Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas Sūtra mentions that the spells taught by these deities confer knowledge of past lives.Footnote 15 However, it also lists a variety of unambiguous markers of progress on the soteriological path, such as the removal of sins, prediction of future Buddhahood, rebirth in Buddha lands, and acquiring supernatural knowledge or the “four fruits” of the path of śramaṇas.
No references to visions, removing of sins from past lives, or samādhi appear in the Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra. Again, these are distinctive features of the dhāraṇī practices in the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas Sūtra and other early dhāraṇī sūtras. Their complete absence from Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra / The Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Supreme Lamp King of the East appears thus to be significant. These features were clearly not an indispensable part of dhāraṇī practice, although their early incorporation may well have affected the distinctive directions in which this practice subsequently evolved.
Ib. The Sūtra of the Great Divine Spells of Auspiciousness: Dajiyi shenzhou jing 大吉義神呪經 T. 1335
The examination of the existing version suggests that this sūtra must have undergone several stages of revision and expansion.Footnote 16 Though they are not marked explicitly, I detect five distinct sections in the present version of the sūtra. Over time new materials appear to have been added, sometimes in parallel versions, as the sūtra expanded. The core message of the sūtra appears in section 3.Footnote 17 Sections 1 (568a[-24]-[-3]) and 2 (568a[-2]-569a29), closely affiliated with each other, appear to have been introduced later as its preface. Sections 4 (571c7–579a29) and 5 (579b1–580c11) mention a different name for the sūtra, The Spell Sūtra of Marking Ritual Boundaries. Section 5 introduces image worship and is explicitly framed as an address to Ānanda, who is not mentioned in the earlier part of the sūtra, except once in a passage at the very end of section 3. This last passage appears to have been added, possibly along with the long section 4, when the sūtra was expanded and reconstituted at a later stage.
This reading suggests that section 3 represents the earliest form of the Sūtra of the Great Divine Spells of Auspiciousness: this section presents the spells around the narrative of the battle between the gods and demons (asura).Footnote 18 I note that no reference to any vision appears in this part of the sūtra. The spells that the Buddha gave the gods established boundaries that no beings could cross; the cosmic scope of the boundary then was indicated by listing all the many beings that observe and protect the spell and the boundary. A schematic listing of gods, demons and other beings, a pantheon of gods and supernatural and demonic beings, emerged from this idea and was further elaborated in sections 1 and 2. It was at this stage that the dhāraṇī was named as jiyi, which I suspect translated svastyayana, used to describe a daily ritual of protection for kings.Footnote 19 The next stage of elaboration in sections 4 and 5, in which the sūtra is identified by a new name, was also largely framed around this same scheme. The spells introduced in this sūtra in all of these stages were offered to control and contain demonic beings.
Section 1
The sūtra begins with an elaborate list of deities.Footnote 20 The passage begins with the speaker paying respect to the seven Buddhas, i.e. the past six Buddhas and the present Buddha Śākyamuni, and then to the future Buddha Maitreya, who is surrounded by an assembly in Tuṣita heaven. Then the speaker (“I”) takes refuge in all the past, future, and present Buddhas, the Dharma and the Saṃgha. The speaker continues to take refuge in a long list of deities:
I take refuge in Maheśvara who resides in the Supreme Heaven of the Realm of Desire (Akaniṣṭha, highest in the Realm of Form). I take refuge in Śuddhāvāsa gods (the second highest), all deities of the Path of no-return (Anāgāmin, Fourth Dhyāna). I take refuge in Brahma king, the ancestor of worldly beings (First Dhyāna in the Realm of Form). I take refuge in the Heavenly King Who Enjoys the Creation of Others (Tahuazizai tianwang 他化自在天王 or Paranirmitavaśavartin, highest in the Realm of Desire). I take refuge in the Heavenly King Who Delights in Creation (Huale tianwang 化樂天王 or Nirmāṇarati, the second highest). I take refuge in the Heavenly King “Contented” (Tuṣita)(the third). I take refuge in Heavenly King Xuyāma (Xuyemen tianwang 須耶門天王, in the fourth Yāmā heaven). I take refuge in the deity Śakra (in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods, fifth highest in the Realm of Desire). I take refuge in the Four Heavenly Kings (sixth highest). I take refuge in all demonic deities of the earth. I take refuge in all dragon deities and Gandharvas, other kings of the Realms of Desire.Footnote 21
Here in the list of other deities, one called Yintuolou 因陀樓 (Indra?) is first named. Other obscure and indecipherable names follow.Footnote 22
it appears that a distinctive pantheon is identified here, beginning with the naming of deities in the different levels of the heavens in the Realm of Form through the Realm of Desire. Certain distinctive deities, such as Maheśvara, Indra and others are placed within this scheme. We might note, however, that this pantheon, organized around a familiar Buddhist cosmology, is very different from the pantheon of esoteric Buddhist maṇḍalas in which deities are organized in groups such as Buddhas, Avalokiteśvara deities, Vajra deities and heavenly deities.
After taking refuge in these deities, the speaker obscurely refers to two holy men (xian 仙), and then teaches a spell called Accomplishment of All Auspiciousness (yiqieyijicheng 一切義吉成) which he attributes to these holy men.Footnote 23 This must be the Great Divine Spell of Auspiciousness (Dajiyi shenzhou 大吉義神呪) in the title of this text. The identity of the two holy men remains obscure, though a later passage appears to explain the relationship between one holy man and the spell in greater detail.Footnote 24
A description of the spell's benefits follows. The spell produces a realm of immortality and accomplishes a wide range of (“five hundred”) objectives. It causes everything one does to end successfully (“auspiciously”). It cuts off the efficacy of all evil black magic spells. It protects all beings in the world. It makes all evil spirits and demons flee. It removes all invaders [into one's realm]. It makes everything one does turn out well and causes fear in evil doers.Footnote 25 This list of benefits appears to be glossing the name of the spell given earlier.
Section 2
The instruction for reciting the spell follows (section 2).Footnote 26 The practice takes the form of making offerings to the series of deities mentioned earlier, starting with the Buddhas, including the past seven Buddhas and the future Buddha Maitreya and proceeding through the gods of the different heavenly realms, deities on the beach, in the ocean and of the location. For the Buddhas, offerings of fragrance, flower garlands, incense, jewel umbrellas and banners, and musical performances are mentioned. In the offerings to other deities fragrance and burnt incense are emphasized. The ritualist makes a wish that the fragrance reach the distant realms of the deities. The expression “transporting fragrance” (yunxiang 運香), in this physical sense, and the expression “activating the mind” (yunxin 運心), presumably in the sense of visualizing the offering reaching the deity, appear side by side. For each offering a specific spell is given in transcription. The relationship between these spells and the spell that the two holy men had given in section 1 is not explained.
Instructions for visualization as a deliberate mental exercise appear relatively late in the evolution of esoteric rituals and need to be treated separately from the accounts of spontaneous visions that appear in early dhāraṇī sūtras.Footnote 27 References to this practice in this section of the sūtra thus suggest that this part of the sūtra may well have been appended later.
The ritual of offerings is carefully constructed around the pantheon of deities mentioned at the outset of the sūtra: the Buddhas;Footnote 28 Heavenly King Maheśvara;Footnote 29 Māra king (the ruler of the Masters of the Creation of Others Heaven);Footnote 30 Heavenly Beings Who Take Delight in Creation;Footnote 31 Heavenly King Master Who Enjoys the Creation of Others;Footnote 32 King of the Tuṣita Heaven;Footnote 33 Heavenly King Xuyāma;Footnote 34 Śakra of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods;Footnote 35 Heavenly King of the eastern direction Dhṛtarāṣṭra;Footnote 36 of the southern direction Virūḍhaka;Footnote 37 of the western direction Virūpākṣa;Footnote 38 of the northern direction Vaiśravana;Footnote 39 the ruler of rākṣasas in the city Lanka in the ocean Bishana 毘沙拏;Footnote 40 King of asuras who resides on a coast Vemacitra;Footnote 41 dragon king Kāḷa who resides in the ocean;Footnote 42 the earth deity.Footnote 43 However, the deities below the Four Heavenly Kings are named differently here from the opening section. As we shall see, the list of deities that appears after the Four Heavenly Kings varies in each section and often a more detailed list of specific categories of beings appears. Nevertheless, these lists in which more or less the same pantheon is mentioned appear to have been carefully composed following a single basic model.
Section 3
The same scheme of deities appears again in the long section that follows,Footnote 44 but a distinct new narrative framework is introduced. At the time the gods and asuras (demons) fought, Śakra's army lost a battle and fled into the city. Śakra then thought of seeking help from the Buddha.Footnote 45 At that time the Buddha was at Mt. Upananda, surrounded by five hundred monks and a thousand nayuta of bodhisattvas, engaged in the uposatha ceremony on the fifteenth day of the month.
In response to Śakra's request, the Buddha spoke of the Buddhist rite of securing the ritual space with a spell for protection.Footnote 46 If someone hears of this instruction to mark the ground, upholds it and teaches it to others, sincerely recites [the spell] and practises according to this teaching, because of the power of the spell, swords will not injure him, poison and fire will not harm him, enemies are kept away and there will be no calamities and troubles for an area of one hundred yojanas. Gods, asuras and spirits will not be able to cross the boundaries marked by the spell to harm [those inside the area]. For this reason, the Buddha says that the heavenly deity Śakra should receive this teaching of marking the boundary with a spell, read and recite it sincerely, and should never forget it.Footnote 47
The long text of the spell is then given. This spell is said to protect rulers, removing all of their difficulties completely. This passage concludes with a transcribed text of the spell, but as I indicated earlier, the spell is not identified by any specific name here.
The organization of the passages which immediately follow is somewhat unclear.Footnote 48 A long passage on dragon kings appears here, followed by another spell, but this passage has nothing to do with the larger narrative: I suspect that it was inserted later. The narrative resumes after this second spell. When the spell was pronounced (possibly referring to the first spell immediately preceding the dragon king section), the earth shook in six ways and demons and spirits were frightened, saying that Gautama of great reputation taught this spell to the gods and liberated them.Footnote 49 The Buddha tells Śakra that if the spell master (zhoushi 呪師) recites this spell and marks the spell boundary (zhoujie 呪界) throughout the Three Realms, no beings will be able to transgress that boundary.Footnote 50
At this point the scheme of heavenly deities and other supernatural beings that we saw in sections 1 and 2 reappears. The powerful heavenly beings such as Maheśvara, Mahābrahman, the Evil One Māra, Heavenly King Who Enjoys the Creation of Others, Heavenly King Who Delights in Creation, the King of the Tuṣita Heaven, King of the Yāmā Heaven, the deity Śakra, the Four Heavenly Kings are listed first. Other supernatural beings are also enumerated, concluding with the eight dragon kings, eight asura kings, and gandharava kings. The Buddha declares for each of these beings formulaically that they cannot overstep the boundary. The Buddha concludes this part of the instruction by attributing the power of the spell he is presenting to the fact that an astronomically large number of Buddhas have taught it before. We see here how the original core narrative gave rise to the listing of different categories of supernatural beings. This list, a nascent pantheon, serves as a unifying trope as new materials were added to the text.
The core narrative concludes at this point, but the Buddha continues his instruction to Śakra. Three other spells are introduced. After each spell is given, the earth is said to have shaken in six ways; spirits were frightened, recognizing the spells to be those of the Buddhas, and they screamed in pain.Footnote 51
The scheme that begins with Maheśvara, as in the preceding passage, appears again, concluding with the eight dragon kings, eight asuras, gandharava and yakṣa kings. This part of the Buddha's instruction contains many parallels to the preceding passage, though the spells are given differently.Footnote 52 Two competing accounts that had existed separately may have been preserved side by side in this synthetic sūtra.
After giving the second spell that appears in this largely redundant passage, the Buddha is said to have explained to Śakra how he had received the spell from a holy man innumerable eons earlier.Footnote 53 This too appears to be an attempt to explain the efficacy of the spells, going further back in time. In a very distant past when Śākyamuni Buddha had first given rise to the thought of enlightenment, a holy man called Good Sound lived in a mountain called Fragrant Hill. He used the spell the Buddha was teaching for protection. Then the holy man moved to a different place. He did not mark the boundary with the spell, and numerous yakṣas, rākṣasas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanās, piśācas and particularly one huge and harmful rākṣasa watched the holy man as he engaged in ascetic practice. But because the holy man remembered the spell, the rākṣasa did not dare to harm him. The passage concludes with the Buddha teaching another spell and the demonic spirits and yaksạs screaming in pain.Footnote 54
In the course of this passage a somewhat jarring explanation appears. The Buddha says to Ānanda that that holy man was the Buddha himself.Footnote 55 The narrative of this part of the text has so far mentioned Śakra as the person to whom the Buddha is offering instruction.Footnote 56 Ānanda has not been mentioned. Later, in the last section of the text Ānanda again appears as the person to whom the Buddha offers the instruction for reciting the sūtra in front of a Buddha image.Footnote 57 These shifting references again suggest that the text may have undergone a complex process of compilation and rewriting.
In this part of the sūtra, which I mark as section 3, we see how the core narrative of the spell that protects ritual and military boundaries was closely tied to an elaborate schematic classification of supernatural beings. The exceptional power of ritual boundaries is highlighted in the story about the holy man Good Sound. The kernel of ideas clumsily worked out here is systematically spelled out in the following long section.
Section 4
The long section that follows, and occupies the main body of the text, is organized around the same pantheon of deities that appeared at the beginning of the sūtra.Footnote 58 The narrative of securing the ritual boundaries that appeared for the first time in section 3 is maintained, and in fact this large section may be read as an expanded version of the two passages that precede it, each listing the different beings throughout the universe. The recurrence of this list suggests that the central purport of this text was to identify the deities who are to protect the boundaries marked by the spells and to teach these spells.
In this version each deity is said to have come to the Buddha and uttered a set of verses praising the Buddha. They were then each given a long and elaborate spell. Shorter spells have been mentioned in relation to each deity in section 2 of this text (as reviewed above), but these spells given for more or less the same set of deities in section 4 are entirely different from the earlier ones. In several passages a new name for the sūtra appears; it is now called the (Great) Spell Sūtra for Marking Ritual Boundaries (Jiejiedazhou jing 結界大呪經).Footnote 59 The simpler version that appeared earlier in section 2 of the sūtra appears to have been rewritten into a much more elaborate account.
Section 5
The final section of this text describes an elaborate ritual.Footnote 60 What is distinctive in this section is that the ritual now involves images. Again one is led to suspect that this portion of the text may have undergone its own complex stages of development. As noted above, the Buddha is said here to offer the instruction to Ānanda, and this might suggest a separate origin for this part of the sūtra.
In this last instruction images of deities are arranged as if in a maṇḍala (though the term does not appear). Images, as drawings, of the same set of deities that are mentioned throughout the sūtra are prepared, and different types of incense are offered to each deity.
The practitioner burns incense in front of the images of heavenly deities and recites the spell [for that deity] 108 times. Seven “spell grounds” (zhouchang 咒場) are prepared and the practitioner makes a vow to devote himself to the Buddhas of the Three Ages on these spots. As he wishes the Tathāgatas to remember him, his body becomes indestructible like vajra. The practitioner throws himself on the ground to pay respect to the Buddha and then recites the spell. Then he throws sesame seeds in all four directions. As he recites the spell 108 times the deity Sudṛśa of Śuddhāvāsa heavens appears,Footnote 61 with a golden body, and the deities enter into their respective images.Footnote 62 The deity Sudṛśa says: “Well done. Well done. You successfully recited the Sūtra for Marking Spell Ritual Space and now we will become your servant and serve you”. This is said to be the accomplishment (chengjiu 成就) phase of the rite.Footnote 63 The recitation of the spell should take place on the fifteenth day of the month or on the full moon day.
Detailed instructions for different uses of the spell follow. The sūtra concludes with the Buddha's instruction to Ānanda regarding worshipping the sūtra after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa. A series of otherworldly benefits are listed: attaining the bodhisattva path (“path of enlightenment”); for pratyekabuddhas and śrāvakas, stopping defilements (āsrava); for lay people, rebirth as a universal monarch, Śakra and Brahma king.Footnote 64
The Sūtra of the Great Divine Spells of Auspiciousness appears to have undergone a long and complex development; earlier layers of material were extensively rewritten and the earlier and later materials were preserved side by side. Though the newest material, in what I marked as section 5, speaks of images and visions, and lists otherworldly benefits, earlier passages, and particularly the core narrative in section 3, speak only of reciting specific spells to mark boundaries as a way of protection. In the two dhāraṇī sūtras examined above, visions do not appear to have played any role, at least as described in the earlier layer of the sūtra. We also note that these sūtras describe the benefits of dhāraṇī recitation largely, though not exclusively, in this-worldly and practical terms, such as personal protection and defending borders.
II. Dhāraṇī practice with visions
I will now turn to examples in which recitations of dhāraṇī are said to result in visions. Buddhas and bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara appear in a vision and confer benefits. The vision may itself be understood as a salvific event, while the benefits are also typically described in explicitly soteriological terms. I have already mentioned the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas Sūtra. This sūtra and the Dhāraṇī Verse Sūtra /The Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Supreme Lamp King of the East discussed above follow a similar format, but frequently the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas Sūtra mentions visions and familiar marks of progress in the Buddhist path leading to liberation – for example, removal of sins, rebirth in a Buddha land, acquiring supernatural knowledge and “the four fruits”. Here I will first examine another dhāraṇī sūtra for which several translations are preserved. As noted above, in the earliest of these translations, dated to the third century, the benefit is described in exclusively soteriological terms and its attainment is confirmed in a vision. The examination of translations of this sūtra from the third to the eighth centuries shows how dhāraṇī practice was understood by these Chinese translators. I will then turn to a different sūtra closely affiliated with bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. In this sūtra a different relationship between dhāraṇī recitation and visions appears. In its core narrative Avalokiteśvara appears in a vision and confers dhāraṇīs, but I will argue that the same connection between visions and soteriological benefits may also be discerned in this sūtra.
IIa. Anantamukhanirhāra dhāraṇī
One example of a dhāraṇī practice that was supposed to bring about visions of innumerable Buddhas and result in the removal of sins committed in a large number of past kalpas is the Anantamukhanirhāra dhāraṇī that Zhi Qian 支謙 first translated in the third century and others translated later in the fifth–eighth centuries. Chinese translators were initially unfamiliar with the idea of a dhāraṇī that is to be recited in Sanskrit, and the teaching was understood as a doctrinal discourse. It was only in the fifth-century translation by Gongdezhi 功德直 and Xuanchang 玄暢 (T. 1014, dated 642) that the more familiar practice of transliterating the dhāraṇī appeared.
Nine translations of this sūtra are preserved:
• Wuliangmen weimichi jing (or) 無量門微密持經, T. 1011 translated by Zhi Qian, third century. This work is also called Chengdao xjiangmo deyiqiezhi 成道降魔得一切智.
• Chusehng wuliangmenchi jing 出生無量門持經 T. 1012 is translated by Buddhabhadra 佛陀跋陀羅 (359–429), dated 408–429.
• Anantuo muqu niheli tuo jing 阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀經 T. 1013 by Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅 (394–468), dated 435–443.
• Wuliangme poma tuoluoni jing 無量門破魔陀羅尼經 T. 1014 Gongdexuan 功德直 and Xuanchang 玄暢 (416–484), dated 462.
• Anantuo muqu niheli tuolinni jing 阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀隣尼經 T. 1015 Buddhaśānta 佛馱扇多, dated 525–539.
• Shelifu tuoluoni jing 舍利弗陀羅尼經 T. 1016 Saṃghabhara 僧伽婆羅 (460–524), dated 506–520.
• Yixiang chusheng pusa jing 一向出生菩薩經 T. 1017 Jñanagupta 闍那崛多 (523–600), dated 585 or 595.
• Chusheng wubianmen tuoluoni jing 出生無邊門陀羅尼經 T. 1018 Zhiyan 智嚴, dated 721.
• Chusheng wubianmen tuoluoni jing 出生無邊門陀羅尼經 T. 1009 Bukong 不空 (Amoghavajra, 705–774).
These parallel translations, produced over the period extending from the third to the eighth centuries, offer an unusual opportunity for studying the reception of dhāraṇī sūtras in China, where this type of teaching was new and unfamiliar to some Buddhists. Here we see how the dhāraṇī sūtra was first received and translated, and how this understanding evolved over time. In the earlier translations by Zhi Qian and Buddhabhadra, T. 1011 and 1012, the term dhāraṇī was simply translated as chi 持, and the phonetic transcriptions tuolinni 陀隣尼 or tuoluoni 陀羅尼 do not appear. The text of the dhāraṇī was translated and not transcribed as in later translations and dhāraṇī sūtras. In the translations by Zhi Qian and Buddhabhadra the Buddha praises Śāriputra and mentions the name of the dhāraṇī. The dhāraṇī is translated and discussed further in doctrinal terms that emphasize negation.Footnote 65
In later translations the Buddha's answer begins by presenting the text of the dhāraṇī.Footnote 66 In Guṇabhadra's translation T. 1013 the Buddha tells Śāriputra that those who wish to obtain the Anantamukhanihāra dhārani, Anantuo muqu niheli tuoluoni 阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀隣尼 should first master forty-eight names and the names are then given in translation. This list of names in fact appears to be a translation of the dhāraṇī. The content of the list of the translated “names” loosely parallels the translated dhāraṇīs in the translations by Zhi Qian and Buddhabhadra, and is again followed by a prose passage that expounds on the dhāraṇī. The same forty-eight names also appear in Buddhaśānta's translation T. 1015, where the names are transcribed with interlinear notes that explain the meaning of each name, using the same terms as Guṇabhadra's translation.Footnote 67 Otherwise, the translations of the entire sūtra in T. 1015 and T. 1013 are virtually identical.
The text of the dhāraṇī is given explicitly as such in other translations.Footnote 68 Though not identical, these texts of the dhāraṇī closely parallel the transcribed text of the forty-eight names in T. 1015. I suspect that in T.1015 the text of the dhāraṇī was misconstrued as a list of names of deities.
The reference to forty-eight names in Guṇabhadra's translation T. 1013 appears abruptly, and the forty-eight terms translated there do not appear to be names. T. 1015 which gives these names in transcription appears to have been aware of this irregularity in T. 1013. The reference to forty-eight names disappears in later translations, and the dhāraṇī in slightly expanded form is presented in transcription. While Zhi Qian may not have understood the distinct character of the dhāraṇī as a magical spell, Guṇabhadra did, and he attempted to capture this fact by presenting it as a set of “names”, presumably of deities or demons whose names are intoned in magical rituals.Footnote 69
This sūtra summarizes its central message in an extended verse section.Footnote 70 The verse begins by stating the familiar message of emptiness: empty dharmas cannot be “obtained” and one cannot “practise” [these dharmas] as one wishes [assuming that these practices are real?]. [The approach of] single-mindedly honouring the sūtra and reciting the dhāraṇī is offered as the alternative. Through the latter path of wisdom one attains enlightenment (chengdao 成道). If a bodhisattva receives this dhāraṇī and practises it diligently, that bodhisattva will hear the teachings of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions. If he accepts and does not forget all these teachings, he will understand their meaning as if illumined by the sun, engage in the subtle and marvellous practice as desired and attain the ultimate goal (enlightenment). The one who practises this path is a prince of the dharma. Such a one will protect the dharma and, deeply loving the sūtra, will be valued by bodhisattvas and loved by the Buddhas of the Ten Directions. He will enjoy a reputation that spreads everywhere in the world.
The practice of dhāraṇī recitation is described in considerable detail: if a person practises this path, he will see an infinite number of Buddhas appear at the moment of death. These Buddhas will extend their hands and receive this practitioner. Evil deeds committed over the past one thousand kalpas will be removed in one month. Simply by guarding this sūtra and reciting the dhāraṇī for a day one can attain the same number of merits that bodhsattvas accumulate over koṭis (units of astronomically large numbers) of kalpas. Reflecting (siwei 思惟, meditating?) on the dhāraṇī, and turning to the source of all merits, one can achieve enlightenment without fail. Even if all beings in the Three Realms become Māras, they cannot harm this practitioner. When I (the Buddha) once received the prediction for attaining Buddhahood from Dīpaṃkara, I saw the Buddhas as many as the sands of the Ganges. As I heard their teachings I understood them. One should simply practise the teaching of this sūtra. If one wishes to decorate the Buddha land and join the group of disciples there, endowed with haloes and counted among their family, one can accomplish this through this sūtra. If a person removes uncontrollable thoughts and concentrates (meditates?) for seven days, eight koṭis of Buddhas will appear and together confer this dhāraṇī. One attains the dhāraṇī only if one stops [reifying] thought, no thought, or thinking. One should reflect deeply on this sūtra, not forget the right path, and obtain this dhāraṇī as if [it is a treasure] in the middle of the ocean. Do not work for wealth. If one brings peace to all gods and men, all wishes will be realized without difficulty. This is how the path is realized. One should simply practise the correct path.Footnote 71
In this dhāraṇi sūtra the efficacy of the dhāraṇī is described exclusively in soteriological terms. The recitation of the dhāraṇī removes all bad karmas (sins) and leads one to enlightenment. The crucial moment is a vision in which innumerable Buddhas appear and teach the sūtra.Footnote 72 These Buddhas also appear at the moment of death, presumably to ensure good rebirth.Footnote 73 Zhi Qian's translation of this sūtra goes back to the third century. Though the dhāraṇī practice is not understood correctly in this translation, its early date suggests that visionary confirmation had become by then an integral part of the ritual scenario of some dhāraṇī practices.
The scenario of dhāraṇī recitation followed by a vision appears repeatedly in dhāraṇī sūtras and later esoteric sūtras. In the Dafangdeng dhāraṇī sūtra, translated in Gaochang in Central Asia between 402 and 432, the transmission of the dhāraṇī itself is closely tied to visions.Footnote 74
IIb. Dhāraṇī spell sūtra of requesting Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara to dissolve and overcome poisons and harms
Qing Guanshiyin pusa xiaofu duhai tuoluoni zhou jing 請觀世音菩薩消伏毒害陀羅尼呪經, T. 1043, was translated by Zhu Nanti 竺難提, or Nandi in 419 ad.Footnote 75 Visions of deities appear prominently in this sūtra. The sūtra is framed around a core narrative of an epidemic in Vaiśālī, a story that appears elsewhere in the canon.Footnote 76 At one time, while the Buddha was staying at the lecture hall in Āmra garden in Vaiśālī, a great epidemic raged in the city. An elder called Yuegai 月蓋, accompanied by five hundred elders, came to the Buddha, asking for help.
The Buddha [Śākyamuni] then spoke to them about the Buddha Amitāyus 無量壽, who resides in the western direction, and the two attending bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara 觀世音 and Mahāsthāmaprāpta 大勢至. These deities are always compassionate and, taking pity on all beings, arrive to rescue them from suffering. The Buddha instructed the elders to pay respect to these deities, burning incense, scattering flowers and meditating with the mind concentrated. They were told to ask the Buddha Amitāyus and the two bodhisattvas for help. When the Buddha [Śākyamuni] spoke these words, the Buddha Amitāyus and the two bodhisattvas were seen inside Śākymuni's halo, and these deities arrived at the gate of the city of Vaiśālī. People of the city called the name of the Three Jewells and the name of bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara three times and requested help. Avalokiteśvara then described to the Buddha the dhāraṇī and the mudrā of great compassion of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, concluding that if one recited or meditated on the dhāraṇī the Buddhas would appear for certain.Footnote 77 Avalokiteśvara then presented the spell called the Buddhas of the Ten Directions Rescuing Sentient Beings, and with the recitation of this spell, order at Vaiśālī is said to have been restored.Footnote 78
I read this as an account of a vision. The core story of this sūtra is written around a visionary account, though here the relationship between the spell and the vision is conceived somewhat differently. Unlike in other examples reviewed so far, where the recitation of spells results in visions, here it is the vision that produces the spell. The vision and the spell are very closely related to each other, and this new presentation calls our attention to the fact that the dhāraṇī that produces visions may also be given in visions.
Although this narrative is framed around a practical and this-worldly concern, namely, an epidemic in a city, the story is imbued with an other-worldly atmosphere. The elders first appeal to Śākyamuni's compassion and the Buddha Amitābha and bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāmaprāpta appear in a vision. The request that the citizens present to Avalokiteśvara speaks of letting them escape from the suffering of the “three poisons” (greed, anger and ignorance) and conferring great nirvāṇa.
The efficacy of dhāraṇī recitation was frequently still described in largely this-worldly terms even after other-worldly goals came to be associated with dhāraṇīs. In the larger perspective seen in this sūtra, the boundary between this-worldly and other-worldly benefits is blurred. In the account of the elders' appeal to the Buddha and Avalokiteśvara this-worldly benefits are framed as a part of the larger soteriological design of the Buddha. We see this even more clearly as the instructions of Avalokiteśvara continue.
The Buddha requested that the bodhisattva teach the “Dhāraṇī that Destroys the Evil Obstructions and Dissolves and Overcomes Poisons and Harms”.Footnote 79 It is this spell that appears to have given the sūtra its name. Though Avalokiteśvara is said to have given the dhāraṇī, it is the Buddha who spells out its benefits in detail.Footnote 80 In this discussion a variety of this-worldly difficulties are named, including illness, fire, drought, famine, dangerous wild animals, thieves, etc. But they are all explained as the fruition of past evil karmas. When one recites the dhāraṇī once or seven times, all such evil karmas are removed for ever, as fire burns up firewood.Footnote 81 If one recites the name of Avalokiteśvara and recites this spell, all hindrances are removed and Avalokiteśvara appears in a vision. In this way, external threats are seen as the results of sins, and it is the sins that are removed by the spell.
A further instruction on recitation follows, in which once again religious goals are highlighted. One is to uphold the rule of not eating after noon, and refrain from drinking, eating meat, and five spices and improper food. The practitioner is to cover his body with ashes and bathe. He is to avoid contact with menstruating women and continually contemplate the Buddhas of Ten Directions and the Seven Tathāgatas. Then, bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara appears in a vision. All good wishes are fulfilled. He is later reborn in front of a Buddha, and permanently takes leave of sufferings.Footnote 82
Buddha proceeds to teach two other dhāraṇīs. Avalokiteśvara plays an important role in the first of these two, but is no longer mentioned in the shorter explanation of the last. In this part of the sūtra the narrative of the epidemic in Vaiśālī is completely forgotten, and the benefit of dhāraṇī recitation is described in more general terms. Distinctly soteriological themes appear frequently. If one hears this spell and recites Avalokiteśvara's name, for example, all sins are to be removed and that person gets to see eighty koṭis of the Buddhas who confer their hands [on the crown of the person's head?].Footnote 83 Avalokiteśvara leads sentient beings out of the realm of rebirths to the Pure Land and ultimately to the shore of great nirvāṇa.Footnote 84
In this sūtra the goal of dhāraṇī recitation is first presented as a worldly benefit, freedom from illness in the narrative of an epidemic in Vaiśālī. But even there, the language of Buddhist soteriology appears. As the sūtra continues, such practical concerns are further subsumed within the sweeping soteriological language that accompanies the visions of Avalokiteśvara.
Concluding comments
It is clear that the task of unravelling the history of early esoteric practice is enormously difficult. Each text has had its own complex process of development. Nonetheless certain patterns emerge. This paper has highlighted the theme of visionary confirmations of the efficacy of dhāraṇī recitation, which appears frequently in dhāraṇī sūtras. The examples taken from sources in Chinese translation discussed here suggest that this scenario appeared early in the evolution of esoteric Buddhist rituals, and furthermore, that the incorporation of this distinctly visual element into dhāraṇī recitation may have occurred as the scope of this practice, initially closely tied to attaining tangible this-worldly goals, expanded to incorporate other-worldly soteriological attainments. Visions, no doubt, have had their own rich history, associated with the development of meditative practices. Untangling the crossing threads between recitation of dhārāṇīs, confirming visions and the visions of meditation texts is a task for the future. The task will progress slowly, for as this paper has shown, it is first necessary to unpack each text and try to understand its evolution. The next step has been to identify patterns between texts. Only then can we begin to speculate on how these dhāraṇī sūtras fit in to the larger picture of other developments in Buddhist thought and practice.
