Jīngāngdǐng yújiā zuìshèng mìmì chéngfó suíqiú jídé shénbiàn jiāchí chéngjiù tuóluóní yíguǐ 金剛頂瑜伽最勝祕密成佛隨求即得神變加持成就陀羅尼儀軌

Vajraśekhara-Yoga Most-Excellent Secret Buddhahood-Realisation Following-Wishes-and-Immediately-Attaining Spirit-Transformation Empowerment-Accomplishment Dhāraṇī Ritual Manual by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)

About the work

A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric ritual manual translated by Amoghavajra (不空, 705–774). Colophon: 特進試鴻臚卿大興善寺三藏沙門大廣智不空奉詔譯. The text functions as the yíguǐ (ritual procedure) companion to the Mahāpratisarā sūtra-cycle KR6j0371 (T1153) and KR6j0373 (T1154), specifying the visualisations, mudrās, mantras, and procedural steps for the operative rite.

Abstract

The text opens with Cuīèqù Bodhisattva (滅惡趣菩薩, Apāya-vidhvaṃsana-bodhisattva, “Bodhisattva-Who-Destroys-the-Evil-Destinies”) rising from his seat in the great assembly of Vairocana Buddha (毘盧遮那佛) and addressing the Buddha: he wishes to expound, on behalf of the beings of evil destinies in the future latter-dharma defiled-mixture world (當來末法雜染世界惡趣眾生), a dhāraṇī of sin-destroying-and-Buddhahood-realising (滅罪成佛陀羅尼). The Buddha grants permission. The text then presents the full ritual sequence: enthronement of Mahāpratisarā in the Vajraśekhara mandala system, the eight mudrā-cycle, the mantra sequence, the visualisation-procedure, and the siddhi-application for both worldly fulfilment and supramundane Buddhahood-realisation. The text systematically integrates the Mahāpratisarā formula into the Vajraśekhara-mandala framework that defines Amoghavajra’s mature Esoteric synthesis. It belongs with KR6j0371, KR6j0373, KR6j0375, KR6j0376 and KR6j0377 in the cluster of Tang–Liáo–Sòng material on the Mahāpratisarā cycle.

Translations and research

  • Hidas, Gergely. Mahāpratisarā-Mahāvidyārājñī: The Great Amulet, Great Queen of Spells. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2012.
  • Copp, Paul. The Body Incantatory. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.
  • Goble, Geoffrey. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
  • CBETA T20n1155
  • 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.