The knowledge of the world is often a joke. A joke does not
mean that it is untrue. The true nature does exist. All and every
Dharma is in the existence.
The esoteric method of the Esoteric School is truly mystical.
The mystical is in the common sense of cultivation. The mind does
the visualization with the heart not in disorder. Mudra and mantra
are transmitted in the heart.
Since the merging of various teachings that gave birth to the
esoteric method and the purification of the teachings from the
mixed to the pure Esoteric School, esoteric practice had been very
popular in ancient India at the time.
The Kaiyuan’s Three Great Enlightened Masters came to China
in AD 716 - 720. First to come was Subhakarasimha who spread the
virtue of MahaVairocana, but did not establish a school. Next,
Vajrabodhi and his disciple, Amoghavajra, entered the Eastern Land
and carried forward the thunderbolt of MahaVairocana. They had
overcome the hindrance of the Confucian and the Taoist teachings,
and had also absorbed the essence of the two teachings. The
Esoteric School instantly flourished; everyone from the court to
the commoners was practicing.
As the saying goes, “Good things are often turned about.”
The immeasurable, virtuous Dharma had encountered defamation,
which had dimmed the sun and the moon, and brought ruthless
cold frost to the Esoteric School, the school which has the
Buddhist lineage and also the essence of the Confucian and
Taoist teachings. The situation worsened to the point that
even Amoghavajra’s most famous disciple, Huiguo, was
rumored to go eastward with the famous Japanese monk, Kukai.
Since then, it is said that the Esoteric School was lost, but who would
have known that the lineage has continued in China. It is only for
avoiding the severe cold that the Esoteric School has been shaped
into a single master per generation for many generations.
It is well said that the drinker shall know for himself whether
the water is cold or warm.
Dechan Jueren's
Brief Talk On Chinese Esoteric Buddhism