Duōlìxīn púsà niànsòng fǎ 多利心菩薩念誦法
Recitation Method for the Heart of the Bodhisattva Tārā by 跋折羅菩提 (集撰)
About the work
A one-fascicle (1卷) Esoteric ritual manual for the niànsòng 念誦 (recitation-meditation) practice of the bodhisattva Duōlìxīn 多利心 (“Tārā-Heart” — the heart-essence of the Indian female bodhisattva Tārā) within the Lotus Family (Liánhuábù 蓮華部 / Padma-kula) of the Vajrayāna pantheon. Composed by Báshéluópútí 跋折羅菩提 (Sanskrit: Vajrabodhi; conventionally Sinified as Jīngāngzhì 金剛智, 671–741), the South-Indian trepiṭaka and first Vajradhātu patriarch in Tang China. Preserved as X59 no. 1054 in the Xùzàngjīng. Source title-line: Liánhuábù Duōlìxīn púsà niànsòng fǎ. Nántiānzhú sānzàng Báshéluópútí jízhuàn kōuyào niànsòng mén 蓮華部多利心菩薩念誦法。南天竺三藏跋折羅菩提集撰摳要念誦門.
Abstract
The manual integrates Tārā devotional ritual with the Sānmèiyē tán 三昧耶壇 (samaya-maṇḍala) ordination and the bodhisattva-śīla (precepts) framework: “If one wishes to attain primarily the Duōlìxīn púsà but [the practice] also extends through all the various Families (Vajra, Lotus, Karma, Tathāgata, etc.), if one practices in a Family other than the Lotus, then one must consult the master of the [appropriate] method-region and let him correct or modify the zhòu-and-mudrā formulae. Otherwise let nothing be added or subtracted. This method-gate harmonizes-and-knots with all the Sūtra method-gates and Yoga method-gates, in order that those of beginning mind seeking liberation may attain the bodhisattva-stages, and so for them this practice is to be cultivated.”
The first ritual prerequisite is entry into the Mahā-samaya-maṇḍala and the receiving of the bodhisattva precepts; the practice then proceeds through the standard Esoteric soteriological program — generation of Mahā-karuṇā mind, upekṣā (dāna of body, life, possessions for the welfare of beings), single-minded turning toward Buddhahood, and so forth. The work is a representative early-Tang Esoteric Tārā devotional manual and confirms the foundational role of Tārā practice within the early Tang Vajrayāna milieu. Composition window: 720s (after Vajrabodhi’s arrival in China in 719) – 741 (his death).
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.