Pílúzhēnà wǔzì zhēnyán xiūxí yíguǐ 毘盧遮那五字真言修習儀軌
Ritual Manual for the Practice of the Five-Syllable Vairocana Mantra by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle ritual manual by Bùkōng 不空 (不空, Amoghavajra) on the practice of the five-syllable Mahāvairocana mantra — the bīja-arrangement A-vi-ra-hūṃ-khaṃ (अविरहूंखं), which represents the five elements (pañca-mahābhūta: earth, water, fire, wind, space) as the dharmakāya nature of Mahāvairocana. The text is one of the most widely-transmitted short Esoteric practice manuals.
Prefaces
The colophon gives “三藏不空金剛詔譯” — “Translated by imperial decree by Tripiṭaka-master Bùkōng-Jīngāng.” The text opens with practical preparatory instructions: cleansing the practice site with gomaya (cow-dung paste, 瞿摩夷), aspersing with scented water, burning incense, scattering flowers, donning fresh robes, and assuming the padmāsana posture. Direction-of-facing for the four ritual purposes (息災 śāntika — facing north; 增益 pauṣṭika — facing east; 敬愛 vaśikaraṇa — facing west; 降伏 abhicāruka — facing south, in the squatting abhicāra posture) is specified.
Abstract
The Wǔzì zhēnyán xiūxí yíguǐ is one of Amoghavajra’s principal contributions to the Tang Esoteric corpus, codifying the practice of the five-syllable bīja mantra of Mahāvairocana. The five syllables map onto the five elements and onto the five points of the body (head, throat, heart, abdomen, knees) in the visualisation, integrating the dharmakāya doctrine of the Mahāvairocanasūtra with the body-meditation practice of Esoteric yoga.
The text covers: (i) the four ritual orientations corresponding to the four karman (śāntika, pauṣṭika, vaśikaraṇa, abhicāra) — pacification, augmentation, subjugation, and conquest — each with its specific posture, direction of facing, and visualisation; (ii) the visualisation of the pañca-mahābhūta mandala in the body, with the five bījas and their colours and positions; (iii) the mudrā-mantra-visualisation sequence for the central sādhana; (iv) the merit-dedication. The text’s portability and its integration of dharmakāya doctrine with practical body-meditation made it one of the most widely-transmitted Esoteric practice manuals.
The work was a foundational reference for the later Vairocana five-element body practice in both Chinese Tángmì and Japanese Shingon traditions. The bracket 746–774 reflects Amoghavajra’s documented Chángān period.
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia UP, 2019.
- Yamasaki Taikō. Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala, 1988. — Discusses the five-syllable mantra practice in the Shingon tradition.