The Scriptural Text of the Ritual of the Great King of the Teaching the Adamantine one with Great Compassion and Knowledge of the Void

"The Hevajratantra, the well-known Anuttarayogatantra, about 'unsurpassed yoga', is a direct successor of the Tattvasamgraha, a Yogatantra. It was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in the eleventh century. The Tibetan version dates from that same period. During the Yuan Dynasty in China (1279-1368), the Mongol emperor Qublai was initiated into this tradition. The Tibetan Sa-skya school, for which the Hevajratantra is a central text, was the leading Buddhist school during the Yuan period. The present book is a first translation of the Chinese text into English, shedding light on the Chinese version of a well-known Indo-Tibetan text. The mantras contain Apabhramsa, and the text seems at times quite different from the Sanskrit original. The Chinese translators offer a text which remains true to its contents, but which is at the same time acceptable to the Chinese milieu of the eleventh century. This diplomatic effort explains many discrepancies, which were no problem to the initiate." (jacket)

The Chinese Hevajratantra: The Scriptural Text of the Ritual of the Great King of the Teaching the Adamantine one with Great Compassion and Knowledge of the Void, Ch. Willemen. Motilal Banarsidass Pub., 2004, 208 p., $14.95

Charles Willemen, M.A. in Classics (Latin and Greek), M.A. and Ph.D. in Oriental Studies, all in Belgium, where he has been a fulll professor since 1977. He is a lifelong member of the Belgian Roayl Academy of Sciences, and visiting professor in many universieites. He has written extensively about the spread of Buddhism from India to East Asia, both in books and in such periodicals as the Indian international Journal of Buddhist Sudies, etc.

Contents:

Introduction.

I. Introductory chapter : the one of the Adamantine family.

II. Spells for ceremonies with the group of Dakinis.

III. The deities who are body, speech and mind of all the Tathagatas.

IV. The section on divine consecration.

V. The great reality.

VI. The performance. VII. The explanation of secret signs.

VIII. The great associated circle.

IX. Symbolization.

X. Consecration. XI. The king of the ritual. The perfect realization of Vajragarbha Bodhisattva.

XII. Perfection, ascertained by numerous Dakinis.

XIII. The explanation of means.

XIV. A collection of parts from all rituals.

XV. The manifestation of the Adamantine king.

XVI. The way of making a painting of the Adamantine one with knowledge of the void and of the numerous Dakinis.

XVII. Feasting.

XVIII. Instructing.

XIX. On reciting.

XX. The meaningfulness of the simultaneously-arisen.

Bibliography.

Chinese-Sanskrit Glossary.

Chinese Text.