The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism

Vajrabodhi deemed Baosiwei's edition incomplete almost forty years later.

“Almost forty years later, Vajrabodhi from South India deemed this edition incomplete.”

Medieval Chinese Buddhist, Daoist, and Buddho-Daoist texts often intertwine worldly concerns with soteriology in rituals and methods for protection from demonic attack.

“medieval Chinese Buddhist, Daoist, and Buddho-Daoist texts often intertwine such “worldly” concerns with questions of soteriology in the formulation of rituals and other methods for protection from demonic attack.”

Thanks to Wang Jianchuan, Song Jun, and Fan Chunwu, a much larger number of printed and manuscript editions of the Sutra is now available in printed source compilations and online.

“Thanks to the efforts of the Taiwanese scholars Wang Jianchuan 王 見 川 , Song Jun 宋 軍 , and Fan Chunwu 范 純 武 , a much larger number of printed and manuscript editions is now available in printed source compilations as well as online. 5”

In Buddhist healing practices during the Six Dynasties, the use of dharanis was conspicuous.

“In Buddhist healing practices, the use of dhāraṇī s ( tuoluoni 陀羅尼 ), which were usually Chinese transliterations of Sanskrit words or syllables, was conspicuous.”

Many eminent monks utilized dharanis to cure patients and solicit followers; the foreign words were believed to carry occult power enabling communication with buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other higher beings.

“Many eminent monks at the time utilized dhāraṇī s to cure patients and solicit followers-the exotic foreign words were believed to carry occult power that enabled communication with buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other higher beings.”