Guān zìzài dàbēi chéngjiù yújiā liánhuábù niànsòng fǎmén 觀自在大悲成就瑜伽蓮華部念誦法門
Method of the Lotus-Family Recitation Yoga for Accomplishing the Great Compassion of Avalokiteśvara by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric ritual manual by Amoghavajra (不空) for the practice of the Liánhuábù 蓮華部 (Lotus-family) yoga, oriented toward Avalokiteśvara as the central deity. CANWWW alt-title: Liánhuábù xīnsòng fǎmén 蓮華部心誦法門. The text is one of the principal liturgical manuals of the Liánhuábù — one of the three (later five) “families” of the Tang Esoteric Vajraśekhara maṇḍala system.
Abstract
The Esoteric kula-system (Chinese bù 部, Sanskrit kula “family”) organises the deities of the maṇḍala into three (later five) families, each headed by a Buddha and including subsidiary bodhisattvas, vajra-deities, and protector-figures. The Lotus-family (Padma-kula / 蓮華部) is the prajñā (wisdom) family, headed by Amitābha with Avalokiteśvara as its central bodhisattva. The present manual provides the ritual practice for the Lotus-family yoga, focused on Avalokiteśvara as the embodiment of mahā-karuṇā (great compassion). It belongs to a series of Avalokiteśvara-focused ritual manuals that Amoghavajra produced — including KR6j0229, KR6j0230, and KR6j0231 — that together form the principal Tang-period ritual literature of the Avalokiteśvara cult within the Esoteric framework. Listed at Nanjio 1413.
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia UP, 2019.
- Yü Chün-fang. Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara. New York: Columbia UP, 2001.
Links
- CBETA T20n1030
- Kanseki DB
- 不空 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (750) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.