1 Introduction

As the hoard of manuscripts from Dunhuang (敦煌) is slowly but steadily more studied, and the community of concerned scholars are in closer contact than hitherto, it is fair to say that overall progress in research is proceeding more effectively and rapidly than before. On the flipside of this is the fact that the current large number of scholars working in the field also diminishes the chances of discovering new and paradigmatic materials and of re-discovering the significance of material that has been previously overlooked. In contrast, new findings regarding and new approaches to the manuscripts and votive paintings are now more likely to occur because of the combination of both reading the material from new angles and taking new approaches to the available data. Even so, once in a while there are manuscripts (and more rarely paintings) that have somehow fallen through the ‘mesh of the scholarly sieve’, and which—when met with discerning eyes—are brought forth in the light of day. One such case happened to yours truly during the early summer of 2020, when perusing the French catalogues of the Dunhuang material, but as usual, for some entirely unrelated reason. In actual fact, the ‘finding’ took place as a by-product of research into other manuscripts, and I only paid notice to the manuscript in question because the French catalogue’s description of the text was strangely oblique and enigmatic. Nevertheless, the description was sufficiently interesting to capture my fancy. The item in question is the manuscript S. 6897Vº,¹ which features a hitherto unidentified Esoteric Buddhist text.² I cannot, of course, claim that my taking notice of S. 6897Vº (or the other copy of it as found in P. 2649Vº) constitutes a true discovery, that is, one that no one else has ever seen before. Of course, the manuscript has been available and, I presume, reasonably well-known for some time, but it appears that its contents and the context in which it was produced have never been worked on to any great extent. For those reasons at least, I consider the encounter with S. 6897Vº (and P. 2649Vº) a kind of discovery, and in what follows, I share what I found when I began working my way through it.

First, I provide a brief description of the manuscript itself, followed by a fully annotated translation. Next, I discuss the contents in some detail, and in that process, identify the salient topics presented in the text and try to contextualise them, in both the context of Buddhism in Dunuang during the late medieval period and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism more broadly. A modern, annotated edition of the complete manuscript is given as an appendix.

2 Discussing S. 6897Vº

The concerned text does not occur as an individual stand-alone manuscript, but forms part of what appears to be a ritual compendium. Thus, it appears together with a number of other Buddhist texts. The recto side of S. 6897Vº is taken up by parts of the first chapter of the Ghanavyūhasūtra (T. 681.16), while the verso side consists of a collection of primarily ritual texts.³ Both S. 6897Vº (5) and P. 2649Vº follow directly after the text of the Shi e’gui shi bing shui zhenyan yin fa 施餓鬼食並水真言印法 [Mantra and Mudrā Methods for Bestowing Food and Water on the Hungry Ghosts].⁴ The two versions of the text are not vastly different, but there are more lacunae and oddities—including inversions—in the manuscript of P. 2649Vº. For this reason, I choose to rely on the text of S. 6897Vº (5), as it affords a better read and appears to have fewer formal errors and omissions. Even so, there are indications here and there that this manuscript also has mistakes and omissions. The relationship between the two versions of the text is not entirely clear. However, it is certain that they both refer back to the same source, a master copy, and also P. 2649Vº may be further removed from a supposed Urtext because it is a more uneven text with more errors. However, this is also not entirely certain. Both texts feature the same abbreviations for ‘bodhisattva’ and ‘nirvāṇa’ that are common to many Buddhist manuscripts from Dunhuang; both lack the text of the same spell, and both feature a noteworthy passage regarding the Vairocana painting in the Western Temple (西寺) of Tingzhou (庭州), to the north of Turfan in the Tarim Basin. All in all, this shows that both manuscripts derive from the same source text. As for the discrepancies between them, we may, therefore, consider them scribal errors. It should be noted that P. 2649Vº also has a number of corrections, including an interlinear insertion in smaller characters of an entire section that the copyist had evidently overlooked. However, what is perhaps the most important point with regard to the text of these two manuscripts, is that they indicate a local origin. It is evident from the manner in which the manuscript is written that Faxing (d.u., 法興)⁵ should not be considered the author of the text, but probably its transmitter in Dunhuang. As such, the ritual-cum meditation text forms part of what appears to be a sort of Buddhist text collection, most probably meant for personal or private use. The text’s reference to the Vairocana image in Beš Balık, i.e. Beiting (北庭) in Tingzhou, mentioned above, indicates that the author of the text had an intimate knowledge of the Buddhist sites in Central Asia along the Silk Road, and also that he was a practitioner of Esoteric Buddhism of the type associated with Amoghavajra (704–774).

The manuscript under discussion consists of a total of 93 lines of text (see the Appendix). The calligraphy of the text is even, but of middling quality. Despite the fact that the beginning of the text appears to be incomplete—there is neither title nor formal introductory opening, as is otherwise common for this type of Esoteric Buddhist work—the manuscript itself is, nevertheless, in a good state of preservation. Moreover, its overall and reasonably adept calligraphy affords a consistent and straight-forward reading, which means that there were few problems preparing the critical version on which my translation is based.⁶

In terms of the content, the text features a set of interlinked meditations. Through the meditations, the practitioner first transforms the four great elements (Chin. sida 四大)⁷ that make up his own body in an elaborate visualisation purifying process involving the use of so-called seed syllables (Skt. bīja, Chin. zhongzi zi 種子字). This practice is meant to transform the ‘coarse’ elements into holy elements, that is, the very stuff of the dharmakāya Buddha Vairocana. The outcome of this is a self-identification between the practitioner and the cosmos, as represented by this buddha. A dhāraṇī is uttered in various phases of the visualisation, including in the process of self-empowerment (Chin. jiachi 加持, Skt. adhiṣṭhāna).⁸ The practitioner then continues with the visualisation, transforming his ordinary consciousnesses into the four wisdoms (Chin. sizhi 四智), whereby the practitioner is said to perfect the three bodies (Skt. trikāya, Chin. sanshen 三身).⁹ This phase in the practice mainly involves focusing on the seed syllable A (Chin. a 阿) (more on this in the following). In a following phase in the practice, the meditator directs his visualisation towards the salvation of beings suffering in the hot and cold hells. Through a series of special, internal visions involving an imaginary ocean of milk, he first alleviates the suffering of sentient beings, including animals and insects, by emptying the hells of their denizens and transporting them all to rebirth in the pure land of Amitābha Buddha.

Typologically, the text of S. 6897Vº is a combination of an instruction in meditation and a ritual text, even though its performative ritual aspects are entirely internalised and effectuated through the practice of meditation alone. For these reasons, I consider the text an interesting example of a meditation text that combines both an internalisation of the cosmos and, at the same time, a contemplative, outward-reaching, and active agenda of salvation. Its overall concern with the liberation of sentient beings is, of course, in full alignment with standard Mahāyāna and contemporary Daoist ideology.¹⁰

As will be clear in the discussion below, one gradually realises that the text is, indeed, a unique one, which has so far not appeared in the extant canonical material transmitted in the Chinese language. However, this does not mean that its overall message, description of practices, nor basic terminology are so. The text actually conveys concepts and ritual elements that are familiar from the literature of Esoteric Buddhism, broadly stated, but here imagined and internalised.

3 Translation (S. 6897Vº)

If one desires to visualise the three-thousand great thousand-fold worlds, as well as the worlds in the ten directions, one must first enter the signless meditative absorption [(Skt. samādhi)] of the Mahāyāna. One should begin by making holy the four great elements. Then, in the quiet of the night, at midnight, and in the three watches of the night, one must rise well-rested and sit correctly [in meditation], with an erect body. Restrain and pacify [(Chin. shoushe 收攝)] the six roots and the six consciousnesses [(Skt. ṣaṭvijñāna)], only leaving the thought consciousness [(Skt. manovijñāna)]. Then this thought consciousness is called the wondrous observing wisdom. [Then one should] gaze straight down and visualise a space disk on top of which one places the seed syllable letter HE [(Chin. he 訶)]. It is of dark colour, and emits a dark light, fully transforming the Vairambha wind, which is extensive and limitless, extending sixteen lakh. Then visualise on top of the space disk, a water disk. Place in the middle of it the letter FU [(Chin. fu 縛)] as the seed syllable. It is of white colour and emits a white light which transforms and completes the water disk, and which has a depth of eleven myriads and twenty-thousand yojanas and eight lakhs. Complete the golden disk. On the golden disk is placed the letter A. It is of yellow colour, and emits a yellow light, transforming the golden disk. Above the golden disk, extend [the visualisation] to the place where one’s own body sits. Visualise oneself sitting on top of the golden disk, [with] one’s own body sitting on the ground. [Then] visualise the letter OṂ [(Chin. an 唵)] as the seed syllable, which transforms and completes a firery consumption of the impure four great elements. In the space of a moment, they are completely transformed into ashes and cinders, all pure. If one sees one’s own body and all of the bones, then one combines empty nothingness of suffering and constant no self, and visualises the four elements [(Chin. sixing 四行)],¹¹ in which one contemplates the truth of suffering [(Chin. kudi 苦諦)] burning the four great elements.¹² It is not necessary to destroy the mind’s consciousness [in the visualisation].¹³ [Because] if the mind’s consciousness is being destroyed, the wondrous contemplative wisdom will also be destroyed. Therefore, if the nature of consciousness is destroyed, it follows that one will be unable to have contemplative wisdom, thus making the [entire] affair incomplete. It will simply be a colourless realm. At the time of burning at the end of the kalpa, the fire will not be able to burn sentient beings. Therefore, the consciousness of your own mind will be like this as well. It will not be burnt in the fire completely [in the meditation], and as that is the case, place on the above ashes [of the consciousness] the letter A as the seed syllable. Then this A letter, as well as the ashes, will of themselves transform into the pure dharmakāya of Vairocana, the essence of which is signless. Proceeding from this, one reaches the knees, where one places the letter A as the seed syllable. It transforms [the element] earth. It is of intense yellow colour, [emitting] a yellow light. Proceeding from the knee to the waist, one places the letter FU as the seed syllable, transforming the [element of] water. It is of an intense white colour and [emits] an intense white light. Proceeding from the waist [and up], one reaches the shoulders, [where one places] the letter OṂ as the seed syllable, transforming [the element of] fire, which is of an intense red colour, [emitting] a red light. Proceeding from the face one reaches the chignon, [where] one visualises the letter SVĀ [(Chin. suofu 娑縛)]¹⁴ as the seed syllable. It transforms the element of wind into an intense purple colour, which emits a purple light. On top of the crown of your head, visualise the letter HE as the seed syllable, which transforms [the element of] space with an intense dark colour, [emitting] a dark light. These, then, are the four great holy elements. They are the essence of the Great Sun, the World-Honoured Vairocana Buddha’s dharmakāya. Following this, proceed from the crown of the head to the feet, limb by limb, joint by joint, and visualise in all [of them] the letter A as the seed syllable. All should be empowered with the [following] dhāraṇī when making the visualisation. One must also utter: “Namo samanta buddhanaṃ (‘Praise to the Universal Buddha’).”¹⁵ When the [letter] A is placed on the crown of your head, [the visualisation] is complete. Then [one proceeds with the visualisation] from the top knot of your head and down to your feet, and for self-empowering the crown of one’s head, one uses the Yiqie rulai xin tuoluoni 一切如來心陀羅尼 [Heart Dhāraṇī of all the Tathāgatas] to empower it [(Chin. jiachi 加持)]. This, then, is the method for perfecting one’s body. The dhāraṇī goes, […].¹⁶ With this dhāraṇī, one empowers the crown of one’s head, as well as both shoulders, chanting it once for each of them, while at the same time visualising your own body seated on the extensive full moon disk. The moon disk then becomes your complete mirror-like wisdom. Then, in its brilliance, behold the three-thousand great thousand-fold worlds as in your own body. Proceeding from the top of the head down to the chest, this is the form realm of the twenty heavens [(Chin. ershi tian 二十天)]. Continuing [the visualisation] from the chest [on down], one reaches the lower abdomen, where one visualises the six heavens of desire [(Chin. liuyu tian 六欲天)], Mt. Meru [(須彌山)], the great oceans [(Chin. dahai 大海)], and the four continents [(Chin. sizhou 四洲)]. Proceeding from this, one reaches the feet, where one should visualise all the sentient beings [stuck] in the three evil paths [(Chin. san’e dao 三惡道)].

This [visualisation] compares with the wall in the Western Temple of Beiting [(庭西寺)], on which there is a painting of Vairocana Buddha, etc., and is no different from that. Having situated the three-thousand great thousand-fold worlds in oneself, then at that time, you should, with [both] mind and mouth, utter as follows: “Letter A, adorn my body!” Limb by limb, joint by joint, all the parts of one’s body are transformed [so that] the letter A becomes my body, and the letter A becomes my life force, which is also due to the power of empowerment of my upholding of all the tathāgatas’ mind. “This, my present body, is the dharmakāya. Its essence is the same as the dharma realm and no different from the dharmakāya of all buddhas.” By refining the eight consciousnesses, one perfects the four wisdoms. The four wisdoms [in turn] perfect the three bodies [(Skt. trikāya)], the pure dharmakāya of Vairocana, which is formless in essence, illuminating the worlds of the ten directions. This meditative absorption is called the Śuraṅgama Samādhi.¹⁷ At that time the sambhogakāya [i.e. the bliss body] dwells in meditative absorption. If one wishes to attain merit, one should give rise to the four immeasurable states of mind [(Chin. si wuliang xin 四無量心)].¹⁸ First, visualise the ocean of milk in the lower abdomen, and visualise the letter A in the ocean, with the letter A becoming the root syllable. Proceeding from the letter A, visualise a golden lotus flower extending from the navel. Within the flower, visualise the letter A changing into a complete altar. On the altar, place the white-coloured letter VA as the seed syllable. It transforms into a moon disk with a great and precious Bhilaṅka Pearl [(Skt. śākya bhilaṅka maṇi ratna)].¹⁹ Proceeding [with the visualisation], the precious pearl on the full moon disk emits a thousand rays of purifying light that issue forth, streaming into the ocean of milk. When the frosty stream of rays enters the ocean of milk, it then cools. Its cold milk runs in six streams into the eight hot hells, completely extinguishing and exhausting the fire there. This milk then flows into the mouths of all the evil and sinful people there, all of whom will surely be satiated, and they will surely all be relieved from their sufferings. Furthermore, visualise that from your body, one hundred million rays of light emanate, which illuminate the bodies of the evil people, and upon which all their karmic hindrances will surely be eliminated and exhausted. Moreover, inside all of the rays, visualise all evil people being transformed. In each of them can be seen transformed people. When beholding this, all the transformed people extol Amitabha’s name. Due to the power of invoking the Buddha, they will go for rebirth in Amitabha’s paradise after they die. [Then] visualise that all the hells have become empty. Furthermore, and in your mind, visualise that there is an ocean of milk. In the ocean of milk, visualise the letter A becoming a triangular altar. On the altar, visualise the letter RA [(Chin. luo 囉)] as the seed syllable, which transforms into the sun disk and the precious pearl. Proceed from the precious pearl on the sun disk to visualise one-hundred million rays of light illuminating this ocean of milk. The ocean of milk then heats up, and its hot milk runs into the eight cold hells. The hells and their icy mountains will surely all be eliminated and done away with. Then visualise the warm milk flowing into the mouths of the evil people, upon which all of them will become fully satiated and removed from the suffering of the cold. Then emit [from your own body] thousand rays of light, which illuminate the bodies of those evil. In this light, each of them should be visualised as a transformation buddha, whereupon each one in this crowd of evil people will see these transformation buddhas, their mouths extolling the name of Amitābha. Because of the buddha’s power, with each recitation, all of them will go for rebirth in the realm of Sukhāvatī. [Then] visualise that all the hells become empty. Then visualise the milk reaching the kings and ministers in the realm [(Skt. gati)] of humans [(Chin. rendao 人道)], and from them, extending to both rich and poor people, all of whom will surely be satiated. Then extend one-million rays of light to illuminate the rich [people], etc., who will abandon suffering and be liberated upon rebirth in the paradise of Sukhāvatī. Visualise [next] travellers to distant places and those who are very sick; behold [how] their mouths become full of milk, so that they become fully satiated. Their sickness and painful suffering will be done away with, and they will [also] be reborn in the land of Sukhāvatī. Then visualise those in the realm of domestic animals, including lions, tigers, wolves, blood-sucking creep, wild beasts, oxen, donkeys, horses, etc., as well as snakes, scorpions, mosquitos, gadflies, ants, etc., all such kinds. In their mouths, they will surely all [receive the] milk and be fully satiated. Then emit [from your own body] thousand rays of light illuminating the evil peoples’ bodies. In each ray of light, each of them will appear as transformed people, and each of these delivered, and all of them will give rise to joy and be reborn in the paradise of Sukhāvatī.

[The practitioner should then] enter the four limitless samādhis. Visualise the letter A, and on the crown of one’s head, visualise the bodhi tree. In the bodhi tree, one should [next] visualise the western world of Sukhāvatī. Then visualise Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and all of their host. Next, in the muddy water [of the paradisical ponds], visualise ten-million lotus flowers. In the flowers, visualise ten-million youths of transformed rebirth. Your own body then transforms into one of them. [Next], visualise your eyes beholding Amitabha Buddha. Afterwards, one enters the four limitless samādhis and may access the three-thousand great thousand-fold worlds. This is referred to as the mirror-like wisdom of the nirmāṇakāya. Above, one should behold names of the small thousand-fold worlds. The mirror-like wisdom of sambhogakāya can be seen as the middle thousand-fold worlds. If the dharmakāya Vairocana’s entire great and complete mirror-like wisdom body is seen as above, it is referred to as the great thousand-fold worlds. Moreover, it extends in the four cardinal directions, above, and below the three-thousand-fold worlds of the ten directions, which are all illuminated. Therefore, he is called Vairocana Buddha in Sanskrit. In Chinese, this means ‘All Illuminating One’. He is explained as the essence of the great complete mirror encircling the dharmadhātu. Hence, without the latter there will be no illumination, and without this, it (i.e. the light) can not reach everywhere. The former two bodies [(i.e., the saṃbhogakāya and nīrmānakāya)] also will not reach everywhere. The third, the dharmakāya, is able to illuminate and is all-pervading. When one reaches this stage of abandonment, then one abides in the wisdom of the nature of equanimity. Its essence has three types of equanimity. The first is to see life and death as fully even, and one neither enters nor leaves them. The second is to see the nine worthy ones²⁰ as the same, without there being high or low. The third is to see suffering and bliss as the same, without choosing and without rejecting. Then the essence of this wisdom of equanimity is your own [basic] ground. One may then receive and use the two in one’s sambhogakāya. Then, like above, they may be referred to in meditative absorption as the thought consciousness, which is called the wisdom of wondrous contemplation and introspection. Vigorously exiting from meditative absorption, one will afterwards discourse on the teaching, transforming people, [so that they will have] correct dispositions and correct views. Their thoughts will not give rise to confusion when seeing and hearing, as the signs of the six consciousnesses, feeling, knowing, etc., will correspond to wisdom. This is termed the perfected wisdom. This, then, is your own nirmāṇakāya. Furthermore, this priceless treasure will fulfill all of what one prays for. These dhāraṇī-manifested seed syllables [used in the] contemplation method of Mahāyāna reveal themselves as the buddha’s expedient means [(Skt. upāya, Chin. fangbian 方便)]. Without exaggeration, they may be referred to as a thousand pieces of gold. Do not transmit them [lightly]!

This is the so-and-so essential method of constant practice. With all of the four limitless states of mind united, one cultivates the practice of the previous meditative absorption, which is the great wisdom. Next are the four limitless states of mind, which are [expressions of] great compassion. With compassion and wisdom unified, one will quickly obtain the Buddha’s way. This, then, is the complete teaching of Mahāyāna.

If one desires to seek the fruits of the Buddha’s sambhogakāya, it is necessary to have equanimity of one’s own inner mind. When the inner and outer mind are both in balance, it is not necessary to attend to the three buddhakāyas. Worldly fellows hold on to false liberation and [consequently] sink in the rounds of birth and death, unable to obtain liberation, without which there will be no escape. Therefore, it is important that one gets rid of all śrāvaka attachments and the error of emptiness of birth and death in order to enter the fruits of emptiness. [If one fails to do so] one destroys forever the unborn, so that one can not obtain the buddha fruit. Hence, it is essential to seek that which is, and not to hold on to empty existence, whereby one will not remove oneself from empty existence, but [instead], will enter the gate of non-duality [(Chin. ru buer men 入不二門)]. Even if one remains in saṃsāra, one is not contaminated by worldly phenomena. It is like a lotus flower growing in [muddy] water. Although one obtains liberation, one does not seek extinction.²¹ One does not discard the vow of compassion to exert oneself in benefitting with bliss sentient beings in the future. Hence, one should not hold on to empty existence.

The disciple Faxing’s book.

4 Text and Context of S. 6897Vº

Having read the text of the manuscript and accessed the scope of its practice-oriented discourse, let us now proceed to a more detailed analysis of the contents and their implications.

There are a number of salient features in the text that are characteristic of Esoteric Buddhist practice and belief, such as the visualisation of seed syllables, the self-identification with the deity, the ritual destruction of the hells, the non-dual teaching of equanimity, the special three body concept, the manner of defining the Buddhist wisdoms, the ubiquitous use of spells for effectuating the practice, etc. That being said, it is also clear that there are important aspects of Esoteric Buddhist practice that are not present here. They include the absence of any mention of the five Buddha families²² although an altar for fire offering (Skt. homa) is referred to, neither its name nor the practice itself occur in the text. Moreover, although spells seem to play an important part in S. 6897Vº, only one mantra is actually given in full. Likewise, mudrās, a standard element in Esoteric Buddhist ritual practice, are entirely absent from the text. Of course, this could be because everything in the text deals with visualisation practice, but even so, normally mudrās are used in tandem with both chanting spells and visualisations in standard Esoteric Buddhist practice as part of the three mysteries (Chin. sanmi 三密), that is, the mysteries of body, speech, and mind. As it is, all of these features appear in other Esoteric Buddhist scriptures from Dunhuang, including the celebrated Tanfa yize 壇法儀則 [Altar Methods for Ritual Proceedings (abbreviated title)].²³

Since the manuscript is essentially a meditation text, the main practice of which revolves around a series of visualisations, we need to come to term with these visualisations in order to understand the context from which they derive. The meditation and visualisation process set forth in the text can be broken into the following constituent parts:

• (1) The meditation on the four elements;

• (2) The meditation on the merger with the divinity;

• (3) The visualisation of the four wisdoms;

• (4) The visualisation of the ocean of milk and the cold and hot hells;

• (5) The visualisation of the liberation of the all sentient beings;

• (6) The visualisation of Sukhāvatī;

• (7) Accessing the four limitless samādhis.

It makes sense to try to pinpoint the immediate textual origins of these practices that occur in the text in the canonical Esoteric Buddhist literature. Indeed, as we shall see, a number of them can readily be traced in that material.

Beginning with the first visualisation, one of the earliest, if not the earliest, occurrence of meditation on the four elements in one’s own body within the context of Esoteric Buddhist practice is found in the Mahāvairocanasūtra (T. 848.18). The short verse in question reads:

The mantrin [(Chin. zhenyanzhe 真言者)] first places the complete altar in his own body;²⁴

[Proceeding] from the feet up to the navel, it constitutes the great disk of vajras;

From there, and reaching the heart, he should visualise a water disk;

Above the water disk, there is a fire disk, and above it a wind disk.

Next, he should consider the supporting ground and draw the host of images [for the maṇḍala].²⁵

This brief instruction on visualisation of the elements in one’s body is, of course, much more rudimentary and simplistic than the lengthy and elaborate instructions found in the text of the manuscript. However, in the context of the Mahāvairocanasūtra, this is simply a template for visualising the elements, and as such, is a standard ritual feature that can be shifted and used in different ritual settings.²⁶ Note that the short verse above does not mention five elements (Chin. wuda 五大, Skt. pañca mahābhūtāni),²⁷ which constitute a standard group in mature Esoteric Buddhism, but only four, as is also the case in S. 6897Vº.

A later and somewhat obscure work, the Jingangding putixin lun lüeji 金剛頂菩提心論略記 [Abbreviated Record of the Treatise on Bodhicitta according to the Vajraśekhara], features a discussion of the four elements and the four wisdoms as the unfolding of Vairocana’s self-enlightenment, and states: “These four letters [(i.e., the seed syllables)] are the holy wisdoms deriving from Vairocana Buddha’s self- enlightenment” (ZZ 777.46, 199c).²⁸ However, this source does not mention the elements’ relationship with the Buddha’s three bodies. One can not, therefore, argue that this scripture in itself could have inspired the visualisation text. What it does show, however, is that some of the doctrinal and practice-related concepts that constitute the conceptual underpinning of the meditation process given in our manuscript were expounded in other Esoteric Buddhist contexts in East Asia during the same period or slightly after.

The visualisation practices involving the so-called seed syllables appear prominently in the Mahāvairocanasūtra (T. 848.18: 31a, 34b, 35b, 48c, etc.) and in the corpus of related scriptures and commentaries. The instructions on the visualisation of the letter A (Chin. a zi men 阿字門) may be especially important in this regard.²⁹ An extended discussion of seed syllable meditation, including on the letter A, is found in the Tae Piroch’ana kyŏng kongyang ch’adung pŏp so (Da Piluzhena jing gongyang cideng fa shu) 大毘盧遮那經供養次第法疏 [Outline of the Progressive Methods for Making Offerings According to the Mahāvairocanasūtra] (T. 1797.39: 799a–800a), authored by the Unified Silla (668–936, 新羅) monk Pulga Saŭi (fl. first half of 8th c., 不可思議), who was one of Śubhākarasiṃha’s (637–735) Korean disciples.³⁰ Again, this reveals that this type of visualisation was central to mature Esoteric Buddhism in China and East Asia from the 8th century onwards. Moreover, the inherited lore surrounding both the Vajradhātu and Garbhadhātu maṇḍalas feature entire maṇḍalas made up of seed syllables only, indicating the exceptionally close relationship between divinity and the concept of sound that characterises this stage in the development of Esoteric Buddhism.³¹

None of the works mentioned above actually offers a close textual match with our text. However, there is one Esoteric Buddhist work that is very similar in its discussion and treatment of almost all the same major topics. This is the Foding zunsheng xin po diyu lun yechang chu sanjie bimi sanshen foguo sanzhong xidi zhenyan yigui 佛頂尊勝心破地獄轉業障出三界祕密三身佛果三種悉地真言儀軌 [Ritual Proceedings of the Budoṣṇīṣavijaya’s Heart for Destroying the Hells, Overturning Karmic Obstructions, and Escaping the Three-fold Worlds, the Secret Three Bodies’ Buddha Fruits of Three Kinds of Siddhis with Mantras] (T. 906.18).³² It is attributed to Śubhākarasiṁha (637–735, Chin. Shanwuwei 善無畏), but it is doubtful that he actually had anything to do with it. It is a ritual text like S. 6897Vº that features a soteriological discourse on the elements—in this case, we have five of them, which is characteristic of mature Esoteric Buddhism’s fully developed five buddhas template—including their respective seed syllables, their visualisation in a meditation, the wisdoms, the three bodies, etc. Furthermore, it also addresses the destruction of the hells and the metaphor of the divine sea of milk, although in a different manner than S. 6897Vº. We can, therefore, say that while it retains the feel of an orthodox text, perhaps one that is more systematic in a formal sense, it is, nevertheless, a ritual text with a similarly oblique history and pedigree.

There are a number of other manuscripts from the Buddhist milieu of Dunhuang that feature seed syllable meditation and visualisation. A noteworthy one is the Jingangzang pusa sanzi guanxiang 金剛藏菩薩三字 觀想 [Vajragarbha Bodhisattva’s Contemplation of the Three Syllables], (P. 3835Vº).³³ Vajragarbha’s meditation text, or rather, a shortened version of it, is also included in the important Esoteric Buddhist ritual compendium, the Altar Methods for Ritual Proceedings, mentioned previously.³⁴ Another Dunhuang manuscript featuring bīja visualisation is the Dasheng si wuliang anxin rudao fayao lüe 大乘四無量安心入道法要略 [Abbreviated Dharma Essentials of the Four Immeasurable Calming States of the Mahāyāna for Entering the Way] (S. 522).

Another salient feature of mature Esoteric Buddhism is the practice of self-identification with the deity, in this case, Vairocana, as part of the process of effectuating universal salvation. Identification with the deity is found in several important Esoteric Buddhist scriptures, and again, the Mahāvairocanasūtra is probably the most important source for this. The sūtra’s twelfth chapter explains the results of the visualisation practice, which culminates in the union of the practitioner and Vairocana as the apex of Esoteric Buddhist cultivation and transcendence (T. 848.18: 31a). The model for the merger between practitioner and deity is found in a variety of ritual and meditation practices throughout mature Esoteric Buddhist Tang literature, and of course, after the 8th century, it appears in the practice of evocations (Skt. sādhana) of fully developed Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, where it is a standard element.³⁵

Concepts from the Pure Land tradition abound in the text, which places its discourse of salvation in late medieval Chinese Buddhism. In this connection, mention can be made of the vision of the Pure Land Triad—Amitābha Buddha and the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta—and the transformed beings born from lotuses in Sukhāvatī’s ponds. All of this imagery clearly originated in the cycle of scriptures focusing on Amitābha Buddha’s Western Pure Land.³⁶ Moreover, the only buddhas who actually appear in the text are Vairocana and Amitābha. Hence, it is clear that whoever composed the text had a good understanding of the Pure Land tradition in its own right. In spite of these features, the text should, in my view, only partly be taken as an example of Esoteric Buddhist and Pure Land integration. Although it does construct a soteriological discourse involving both forms of Buddhism, this essentially takes place under the doctrinal conceptions and practices of Esoteric Buddhism.

The text’s description of the liberation of beings suffering in the hells represents a reduction of more developed scenarios into a conceptual formula or template, involving essentially the hot and cold hells only. The often-graphic descriptions of the suffering of the Buddhist hells that one encounters in many other sources from Dunhuang are largely absent. This abbreviated treatment of an otherwise popular topic in the Dunhuang material corresponds to the visualisation process described in the text. Hence, the whole idea of the divine ocean of milk discussed above, which alternately heats and cools the hells, is carefully matched with the process of salvation of beings in the hot and cold hells. Since the hot and cold hells stand centrally in the visualisation practice set forth in the text, it is clear that the hell theme is important to its overall conceptualisation.³⁷ On a more general level, the concept of liberating those suffering in hell relates to the same ideas as the literature on breaking (Chin. po 破) or emptying the hells (Chin. kong diyu 空地獄).³⁸ This text also has certain conceptual similarities with the various ritual texts for making food offerings (Chin. shishi 施食), including the Foshuo jiuba yankou e’gui tuoluoni jing 佛說救拔焰口餓鬼陀羅尼經 [Buddha Speaks the Scripture of the Dhāraṇī for Liberating the Burning Mouth Hungry Ghosts] (T. 1313.21), the Shi zhu e’gui yinshi ji shuifa 施諸餓鬼飲食及水法 [Water Method for Providing All Hungry Ghosts Drink and Food] (T. 1315.21), and Amoghavajra’s seminal Yuqie ji jiu Anan tuoluoni yankou guiyi jing 瑜伽集救阿難陀羅尼焰口軌儀經 [Scripture on the Ritual Proceedings of the Yoga for Saving Ānanda with the Dhāraṇī for the Burning Mouths] (T. 1318.21), all texts which typologically presage the later important Water and Land (Chin. shuilu 水陸) manuals of the Song Dynasty (960–1279, 宋).³⁹ It so happens that the Water Method for Providing All Hungry Ghosts Drink and Food appears among the Dunhuang manuscripts in a slightly variant form, under the title Shi e’gui shi bing shui zhenyan yin fa 施餓鬼食幷水真言印法 [Method with Mantra and Mudrās for Feeding the Hungry Ghosts and [Giving them] Water] (S. 6897 (5), S. 2685, etc.).⁴⁰

In terms of the specific doctrinal aspects of the text, it sets forth a relatively elaborate and integrated three bodies doctrine, which, as I read it, is a clear address to the Amoghavajra tradition of Esoteric Buddhism. The same is true for the theory of the four elements and the four wisdoms, mentioned above. All of these reflect developments in mature Esoteric Buddhism under the mid-Tang.

Although not of direct relevance to Buddhism in Dunhuang, the reference in the text to the painting of Vairocana in the Western Great Temple at Beiting is noteworthy information that adds to our knowledge of Uyghur Buddhism. This temple is located in present-day Jimsar county (吉木萨尔县) in present-day Northern Xinjiang and formed part of the Uyghur royal town of Beš Balık (Beiting), which was built at the site of an earlier Chinese settlement, the Beiting protectorate (北庭都護府), set up in Tingzhou during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (685–704, 武則天).⁴¹ The Western Great Temple at Beiting is documented in various historical records and appears to have been established when the Turfan region was still under Tang control, prior to the Uyghurs’ arrival in the course of the 9th century.⁴² The present ruins of the temple still feature remains of wall paintings that date from the time of the Western Uyghur Kingdom (second half 9th c. to 13th c.). A number of Buddhist painted clay images have also been found, most severely degraded by weathering. It is, of course, not possible to establish the date of the Vairocana wall painting mentioned in the S. 6897Vº manuscript, but I am inclined to see it as having been made under the Uyghurs, given that all the extant Buddhist paintings in situ derive from their presence in the region.⁴³ The Dunhuang manuscript’s reference to a major Buddhist temple and its religious art in the Western Uyghur Kingdom underscores the close relationship that existed between these two cultural centres. As such, it indirectly indicates that knowledge of religious art in other Central Asian regions and cultural nodes was commonly transferred between nodes along the Silk Road, in this case, knowledge regarding iconographical models and themes.

A final element of the text that relates to Esoteric Buddhist practice is the reference to a triangular altar (Chin. sanjie tan 三角壇). Altars of this kind are normally used for fire offerings, especially those of the destructive type (Skt. ābhicāraka), and in this case, it is visualised as part of the meditation process.⁴⁴ Although the text does not mention fire offerings per se, the reference to a triangular altar does indicate that altars of this kind were familiar to the Buddhist practitioners of Dunhuang during the late medieval period.

S. 6897Vº (6) features a number of metaphors and tropes that link it with scriptures belonging to mature Esoteric Buddhism. I will not deal with all of these tropes and metaphors here, but will focus on a few of the most important ones. First, there is the ocean of milk, which occurs in a variety of discourses and contexts, most notably in the cycle of scriptures associated with the Vajraśekharasūtra (or Tattvasaṃgraha), the primary source on Vairocana and the vajra realm (Skt. vajradhātu), which derives from mature Esoteric Buddhism in the mid-Tang.⁴⁵ In spite of this metaphor’s relatively frequent appearance in Vajraśekharasūtra, none of those contexts match how it is used in S. 6897Vº (6) (or P. 2649Vº).

5 Conclusion

It should be clear that S. 6897Vº represents a point in the development of Esoteric Buddhist discourse and practice when the topic of universal salvation occupied an important position. Although the text in this case deals entirely with what may be called ‘internal practice’, it may be read as reflecting developments towards the later important Shuilu rituals that came to dominate Buddhist and Daoist rituals during the middle and later parts of the Song Dynasty.

S. 6897Vº also represents a unique piece of Chinese Esoteric Buddhist literature. It bridges the categories of ritual performance and meditation, and belongs to a special category of ritual texts that have a strong meditative element and share many of the same soteriological and eschatological features, including the attainment of buddhahood, the emptying or destruction of the hells, universal salvation, and rebirth in the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī. As the text prominently features the themes of ‘emptying the hells’ and ‘destroying the hells’ (Chin. po diyu 破地獄), it has a certain connection with the shishi and yankou literature of medieval Chinese Buddhism, on the conceptual level at least. As such, it links up rather well with a number of the central scriptures translated or produced by Amoghavajra.

Regarding the text’s relationship with Esoteric Buddhist practice in Dunhuang, it is clear that, although no identical copies of the text have been found, there are a fair number of similar or related texts. Thus, it is an example of a particular type of Buddhist ritual text of salvation. Here, I am primarily thinking of the numerous and varied ritual texts that have so far been identified in the manuscript hoard. It is not unlikely that this text was produced locally and that salient parts of it could, in principle, derive from other texts and scriptures. In other words, it may easily be seen as part of the large body of hybrid scriptures found at Dunhuang, many of which were composed of material lifted from other texts.

Given that there is no identical text in any of the Chinese canons available today, and the fact that, so far, this is the only known copy, one could speculate on the degree of its local importance. What is clear, however, is that S. 6897Vº (or the original it was copied from) was the personal copy of a practitioner of Esoteric Buddhism, and that it most likely served as a guide to that person’s practice of meditation. Moreover, while it cannot be said to be fully representative of Amoghavajra’s tradition, it contains enough elements to point to mature Esoteric Buddhism of the Tang as its most likely inspiration.

The internal reference to Uyghur Buddhism at Beš Balık indicates that whoever compiled or wrote the text was reasonably knowledgeable of Buddhist developments in the regions to the west of Dunhuang during the 10th century. This also excludes the possibility that the type of meditation discussed in the manuscript originated in the context of Tibetan Buddhism or otherwise bears any direct references to it.

Finally, S. 6897Vº gives an indication of the extent to which many important Buddhist scriptures were lost in the transition from manuscript culture to printed book culture around the turn of the 10th–11th centuries. While this uniforming development had a lasting impact on Buddhist scriptures in China, including the rich apocryphal literature, it is no exaggeration to see this as having had the most severe consequences for the transmission of ritual manuals and Esoteric Buddhist arcana more broadly defined, such as is represented by this text and other non-canonical Esoteric Buddhist scriptures and compilations from Dunhuang.