Dǐlī sānmèiyē bùdòng zūn shèngzhě niànsòng mìmì fǎ 底哩三昧耶不動尊聖者念誦祕密法
Secret Recitation-Method of the Trisamaya Holy Acala by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A three-fascicle expanded Esoteric ritual manual on the Trisamaya Holy Acala, translated by Amoghavajra (不空). Compared to T1200 (KR6j0427), the present text is more comprehensive and is structured as a multi-chapter manual rather than a single-rite extract. The colophon reads simply 大興善寺三藏沙門不空奉詔譯 — Amoghavajra’s standard Cháng’ān monastic colophon.
Abstract
The text is structured as a three-volume manual organized by ritual function. The opening chapter — 底哩三昧耶不動明王本事神力息障祕要品第一 (“Inner Origin Story, Spiritual Powers, and Obstruction-Pacification Secret Essentials of the Trisamaya Acala-Vidyārāja, Chapter One”) — gives Acala’s mythological origin-story and theological significance:
“I, the Bhagavān, the Great Sun World-Honoured, expound for the practitioners of true-mantra the causes for the removal of obstructions. Although the dharmas of obstruction are immeasurable, in essence they all arise from the mind…”
The chapters that follow develop the practical programme of obstruction-removal through the trisamaya of Acala in greater depth than T1200:
- The standard four homa types adapted to Acala (śāntika, pauṣṭika, vāśīkaraṇa, abhicāra);
- The bīja-syllable cycle of Acala — hāṃ māṃ and the longer hūṃ-trāṭ mantra;
- The visualization sequences for various Acala iconographies — single-form, four-armed, multi-formed (eight, sixteen);
- The abhiṣeka protocols for transmission of the cycle.
The text is the most comprehensive Táng Acala manual, and its three-fascicle scope makes it the primary working manual of the Acala cycle for Táng Esoteric practitioners. It served as the textual basis for the elaborate Acala devotional programme that flourished under Amoghavajra’s patronage at Cháng’ān and that was subsequently transmitted to Japan via Kūkai.
The dating bracket follows Amoghavajra’s translation activity at Cháng’ān (746–774).
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
- Faure, Bernard. Protectors and Predators. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2016.
Links
- CBETA T21n1201
- 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.