金剛頂瑜伽金剛薩埵五祕密修行念誦儀軌

Jīngāngdǐng yúqié jīngāng sàduǒ wǔ mìmì xiūxíng niànsòng yíguǐ 金剛頂瑜伽金剛薩埵五祕密修行念誦儀軌

Cultivation Ritual Manual of the Five Esoteric Forms of Vajrasattva of the Vajraśekhara Yoga (Vajraśekhara-yoga-Vajrasattva-pañca-guhya-sādhana-vidhi) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)

About the work

A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric yíguǐ on the Five Esoteric Forms (五祕密 wǔ mìmì) of Vajrasattva of the Vajraśekhara yoga-tantra cycle, translated by Amoghavajra (不空). The “Five Esoteric Forms” — Pañca-guhya-Vajrasattva — refers to the central Vajrasattva flanked by his four bodhisattva-vidyā-consorts: Iṣṭa-vajriṇī (欲金剛, “Desire-Vajra” kāmā), Kalāpa-vajriṇī (觸金剛, “Touch-Vajra” sparśā), Rāga-vajriṇī (愛金剛, “Love-Vajra” rāgā), and Garva-vajriṇī (慢金剛, “Pride-Vajra” garvā) — the four kleśa energies (desire, touch, love, pride) transformed into Buddhist soteriological vajras. The doctrine that the four kleśas are not destroyed but transformed into vajras of liberation is the yoga-tantra-class doctrinal pivot that distinguishes this material from the simpler kriyā-tantra texts. The text is one of the most doctrinally-important Tang Esoteric yíguǐ.

Abstract

The text expounds the operative procedure for the Pañca-guhya-Vajrasattva practice: the central Vajrasattva is visualised in his Mahāsukha form embracing his consort Prajñā, surrounded by the four secondary vidyā-consorts at the four corners. The mūla-mantra of each of the five deities is given separately, and the mudrā-repertoire includes the celebrated Pañca-guhya-mudrā sequence. The doctrinal soteriology of the text is the transformation of the five kleśas (the central avidyā and the four secondary kleśas of kāma, sparśa, rāga, garva) into the five jñānas (wisdoms) of the Vajraśekhara tradition, mediated by the Pañca-guhya-Vajrasattva visualisation. The text is the doctrinal foundation of the famous 五祕密菩薩 (Five Secret Bodhisattvas) iconographic and ritual tradition of East Asian Esoteric Buddhism.

The work was particularly influential in the Tang court Esoteric establishment under Amoghavajra and remained a central reference for the Heian-period Japanese Shingon doctrinal tradition (goshu mishitsu 五種秘密 in Japanese). Doctrinally it represents one of the earliest Chinese-canonical witnesses to the anuttarayoga-tantra precursor doctrine of the transformation of the kleśas (kleśa-pariṇāmana) — a doctrine that would become foundational for the subsequent Vajrayāna development.

Translations and research

• Astley-Kristensen, Ian. The Rishukyō. Tring: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1991.
• Toganoo Shōun 栂尾祥雲. Himitsu jisō no kenkyū 秘密事相の研究. Wakayama: Mt. Kōya University, 1935.
• Sharf, Robert H. “Visualization and Maṇḍala in Shingon Buddhism.” In Living Images: Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context, ed. R. Sharf and E. Sharf, 151–197. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Links

• CBETA T20n1125
• 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.