Miàojíxiáng píngděng yújiā mìmì guānshēn chéngfó yíguǐ 妙吉祥平等瑜伽祕密觀身成佛儀軌
Ritual Handbook for Becoming-Buddha-in-this-Body through the Secret Body-Visualization of the Mañjuśrī Equality-Yoga by 慈賢 (Cíxián, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle ritual handbook (yíguǐ) extracted from the Mahā-samaya / Mañjuśrī Equality cycle, paired with KR6j0418 (T1192, the parent sūtra) and KR6j0420 (T1194, the homa extract). Translated by Cíxián (慈賢) under the Liáo court. Colophon: 宋大契丹國師中天竺摩竭陀國三藏法師慈賢譯.
Abstract
The text is the practical vidhi for the central visualization of the Mahāsamaya / Mañjuśrī Equality cycle: becoming-Buddha-in-this-very-body (sōku-shin-jōbutsu / jí-shēn chéng-fó) through the secret aṅga-yoga of identifying the practitioner’s body with Mañjuśrī’s jñāna-sattva. It opens with the Eight Great Vows (八大願) and the corresponding refuge-and-vow mantra:
唵 沒騰達囉𤚥 左 僧伽左 怛哩囉怛曩誐囉 麼努怛𠻴 母兔唧黨 迦嚕弭也扇 娑嚩鉢囉刺闥…
(oṃ buddha-traṇaṃ ca saṃghaṃ ca tri-ratna-graṃ manotaranaṃ mūla-cittam karoti me sarva-prabhāvataḥ… — a refuge-vow formula in the Mahā-samaya register).
Following the refuge-vow, the text gives the practical sequence:
- Pre-rite preparation — purification of altar, water, incense; deity-summons;
- Body-mandala generation (kāya-maṇḍala-utpatti) — the practitioner generates Mañjuśrī’s body in his own through a series of bīja-syllable visualizations;
- Three secrets (三密) — the integration of body (mudrā), speech (mantra), and mind (visualization);
- Self-identification as Mañjuśrī — the deva-yoga climax of the rite;
- Dissolution and dedication of merit.
The text is the most practical of the three Cíxián Mañjuśrī-Equality translations and the primary working manual for the cycle. It reflects the same Anuttara-yoga-tantra milieu as KR6j0418 and shares the parent sūtra’s deity-list and mantra-cycle.
The dating bracket follows Cíxián’s Liáo-period activity (1030–1080).
Translations and research
- Strickmann, Michel. Mantras et mandarins: le bouddhisme tantrique en Chine. Paris: Gallimard, 1996. Chapter on Liáo Esoteric Buddhism.
Links
- CBETA T21n1193
- Kanseki DB
- 慈賢 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (1000) — 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.