真言宗

The True-word or Shingon sect, founded on the mystical teaching 'of all Buddhas,' the 'very words ' of the Buddhas; the especial authority being Vairocana; cf. the 大日 sutra, 金剛頂經; 蘇悉地經, etc. The founding of the esoteric sect is attributed to Vairocana, through the imaginary Bodhisattva Vajrasattva, then through Nāgārjuna to Vajramati and to Amoghavajra, circa A.D. 733; the latter became the effective propagator of the Yogācāra school in China; he is counted as the sixth patriarch of the school and the second in China. The three esoteric duties of body, mouth, and mind are to hold the symbol in the hand, recite the (sa) dhāraṇīs, and ponder over the word 'a' 阿 as the principle of the ungenerated, i.e. the eternal.