Lüèshù jīngāngdǐng yújiā fēnbié shèngwèi xiūzhèng fǎmén 略述金剛頂瑜伽分別聖位修證法門
Brief Account of the Method of Cultivation-Verification of the Distinguished Sage-Stages of the Vajraśekhara-yoga by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric doctrinal exposition by Amoghavajra (不空) systematising the stages of cultivation-attainment (xiūzhèng 修證) within the Vajraśekhara-yoga tradition. The text is one of Amoghavajra’s principal doctrinal-systematic compositions distinct from his pure translations: a summary articulation of how the Esoteric sādhaka progresses through distinct stages of attainment.
Prefaces
The text opens with a substantial prose preface:
夫真言陀羅尼宗者。是一切如來祕奧之教。自覺聖智頓證法門。亦是菩薩具受淨戒無量威儀，入一切如來海會壇，受菩薩職位，超過三界，受佛教勅三摩地門，具足因緣，頓集功德廣大智慧，於無上菩提，皆不退轉。
— “The Mantra-Dhāraṇī school is the secret-profound teaching of all Tathāgatas, the dharma-gateway of self-awakened ārya-prajñā sudden attainment; it is also the [way by which] the Bodhisattva fully receives the pure precepts and infinite īryāpatha (deportments), enters the abhiṣeka-altar of the assembly of all Tathāgatas, receives the position of a Bodhisattva, transcends the three realms, receives by the Buddha’s command the samādhi-gateway, accumulates merit and great wisdom in completion of causes-and-conditions, and is irreversibly established in supreme awakening.”
Abstract
The Lüèshù xiūzhèng fǎmén is one of Amoghavajra’s principal doctrinal compositions, articulating the soteriological structure of the Vajraśekhara-yoga path — the fēnbié shèngwèi (“distinguished sage-stages”) that the practitioner traverses. The exposition integrates the Indian daśabhūmi (ten-stage Bodhisattva path) with the Esoteric Vajradhātu pañcābhisaṃbodhi (five-stage Vajra-attainment), producing a coherent Esoteric soteriological framework.
The text is an important doctrinal supplement to the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (KR6j0024) and the Eighteen Assemblies outline (KR6j0035): together, the three texts give the canonical Tang Esoteric framework of (i) the foundational scripture, (ii) the larger Indian-tantric horizon, and (iii) the systematic soteriological structure.
The composition dates from Amoghavajra’s mature Chángān period (746–774). The work was widely cited in the Japanese Shingon and Tendai-Esoteric scholastic traditions.
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia UP, 2019.
- Orzech, Charles. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scripture for Humane Kings. University Park: Penn State Press, 1998.