The Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i in Sinitic Buddhist Context: From the Tang Dynasty through the Contemporary Period

This dissertation examines the Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i, one of the most popular and important dharan&dotbelow;i in Chinese Buddhist communities, from the Tang dynasty to the present. Named after the Suram&dotbelow;gama Sutra and contained in the seventh fascicle of that text, the dharan&dotbelow;i gained great popularity among its users primarily due to its association with the sutra text, an influential yet controversial Buddhist scripture in East Asia. Since its first appearance in Tang China, the Suram&dotbelow;gama Sutra has been widely studied and promoted by almost all Chinese Buddhist schools. Although the text and its authorship have been extensively studied by both ancient and modern Buddhist scholars, the dharan&dotbelow;i it contains has not received much scholarly attention.;This study explores the actual practice concerning the Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i in sinitic Buddhist communities. It also develops the thesis that the Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i is not limited to its association with the Suram&dotbelow;gama Sutra. A comparison and investigation of its affiliated texts revealed that the dharan&dotbelow;i has been interpreted and used by Chinese Buddhists in divergent ways independent of its initial inception as part of a Yoga-tantra transmission. These independent uses have evolved in conjunction with Chinese social, political, cultural and religious needs.;The first part of this dissertation introduces the use of the Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i in sinitic monasteries over time. It then explores how the dharan&dotbelow;i became the core of liturgical and ritual practice during the Song dynasty and into the contemporary period. The supporting research includes the examination and analysis of three types of sources---liturgical manuals, monastic codes, and daily recitation books. The second part of this dissertation focuses on Master Boting Xufa's (1641--1728) commentary on the Suram&dotbelow;gama Dharan&dotbelow;i, the Lengyan zhou guanding shu. In his commentary he examines the Yoga-tantric qualities of the dharan&dotbelow;i that have been ignored since the Tang dynasty. I examine this material in the context of the Vajradhatu Man&dotbelow;d&dotbelow;ala and explore the dharan&dotbelow;i's primary properties of apotropaism and the ability to assist the practitioners to achieve samadhi. In Appendix A, I provide partial and annotated translation of Xufa's text, a summary of his commentary regarding the meaning of the dharan&dotbelow;i, and my own analysis of Xufa's interpretation of the dharan&dotbelow;i.