Fó shuō mìmì sānmèi dàjiàowáng jīng 佛說祕密三昧大教王經
Sūtra of the Buddha’s Speaking of the Esoteric Samādhi Great-Teaching-King (Skt. Guhya-samāja-tantra in possible relation) by 施護 (Dānapāla, 等譯)
About the work
A four-fascicle Sòng-period Esoteric translation by Dānapāla (施護) and his collaborators at the imperial Yìjīngyuàn 譯經院 in Kāifēng. The text is one of the principal late-tantric Vajra-tantra translations made by the Sòng Institute, treating the Esoteric samādhi Great-Teaching-King doctrine — the Esoteric yoga-uttara-tantra class material that postdates the foundational Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha tradition.
Abstract
The text presents an Esoteric yoga-uttara-tantra-style scripture — the more advanced and esoteric stage of Indian Buddhist tantra beyond the yoga-tantra of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha. The work has been tentatively identified by some modern scholars with the Guhya-samāja-tantra tradition, though the identification is not certain — the title’s mìmì sānmèi (Esoteric samādhi) corresponds well to the Guhya-samāja (Compendium of the Secret) but the textual content does not exactly match the standard Sanskrit/Tibetan Guhya-samāja recension.
The translation dates from Dānapāla’s career at the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn (982–1017). The text’s reception in East Asian Esoteric ritual practice was minimal — like other Sòng-period Esoteric translations, it was canonised but not integrated into the lived liturgical tradition.
Translations and research
- Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism. New York: Columbia UP, 2002. — On the Guhya-samāja tradition and its Chinese translations.
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003. — On the Sòng Institute.