Dà Pílúzhēnà chéngfó shénbiàn jiāchí jīng lüèshì qīzhī niànsòng suíxíng fǎ 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經略示七支念誦隨行法
Brief Exposition of the Seven-Limb Recitation Practice from the Mahāvairocana-sūtra by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A short ritual manual in one fascicle by Bùkōng 不空 (不空, Amoghavajra, 705–774), the third of the Three Great Tang Esoteric Masters. The text presents an abridged practice based on the Mahāvairocanasūtra, organised around the seven limbs (七支 qīzhī) of Buddhist devotional practice — homage, offering, confession, rejoicing, bodhicitta-aspiration, parinama-merit-dedication, and request-for-teaching. Each limb is here unfolded as an Esoteric mudrā-mantra-visualisation triplet rather than as the conventional Mahāyāna devotional act.
Prefaces
The text opens with the imperial-title-inscription colophon for Amoghavajra: “kāifǔ yítóng sānsī tèjìn shì hónglúqīng Sùguógōng … Dà Xīngshànsì sānzàng shāmén Bùkōng fèng zhào yì” 開府儀同三司特進試鴻臚卿肅國公食邑三千戶賜紫贈司空諡大鑒正號大廣智大興善寺三藏沙門不空奉詔譯 — the full set of court titles conferred on Amoghavajra (Kāifǔ Yítóng Sānsī, etc.), confirming his status as Tripiṭaka-master of the imperial Dà Xīngshànsì 大興善寺 in Chángān and the imperial commission for the translation. The text proper opens with a verse-invocation: Jīshǒu wúài zhì / Mìjiào yìshēngzǐ 稽首無礙智、密教意生子 (“Homage to the unobstructed wisdom / of the Esoteric Teaching’s mind-born sons”).
Abstract
The Lüèshì qīzhī niànsòng suíxíng fǎ — sometimes called the Seven-Limb Recitation Method — is one of Amoghavajra’s many ritual manuals systematising the Mahāvairocana practice. Its seven-limb structure draws on a classical Mahāyāna devotional schema and recasts each as an Esoteric ritual unit: each limb has a specific mudrā, mantra, and visualisation, designed for daily practice in compressed form. The work served as a portable practice manual for monastics or laity who could not commit to the full multi-day Garbhadhātu sādhana but wished to maintain regular Esoteric devotion.
The dating bracket (746–774) reflects Amoghavajra’s documented period of imperial-translation work in Chángān after his return from Sri Lanka. Amoghavajra’s titles (“Kāifǔ Yítóng Sānsī” with the rank of tèjìn 特進, “Lord of Sùguó” 肅國公, the posthumous ranks “司空” Sīkōng and the shi “Dàjiàn Zhèngháo” 大鑒正號) include posthumous titles, confirming the colophon as a post-774 editorial composition giving Amoghavajra his full posthumous honors.
The text shows characteristic features of Amoghavajra’s late-Tang ritual style: clear, relatively brief instructions; emphasis on portability and daily practicability; integration of the Mahāvairocana tradition (Garbhadhātu) with Vajradhātu elements (his principal lineage). It became a widely-circulated short Esoteric practice manual.
Translations and research
- Orlando, Raffaello. A Study of Chinese Documents Concerning the Life of the Tantric Buddhist Patriarch Amoghavajra (A.D. 705–774). PhD diss., Princeton, 1981. — Foundational study of Amoghavajra.
- Orzech, Charles. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scripture for Humane Kings in the Creation of Chinese Buddhism. University Park: Penn State Press, 1998. — On Amoghavajra’s career.
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition. New York: Columbia UP, 2019. — The standard recent monograph.