Augmenting the Life Account
Augmenting the Life Account
This chapter examines the talismans found in the Sūtra to Increase the Account (Yisuan jing), which has been labeled an apocryphal, or “suspect” sūtra in Buddhist catalogues since the end of the seventh century. It has continued to be classified as such by specialists down to the present day. One of two Taoist Yisuan jing printed in the Ming Taoist Canon evidently served as the model for the Buddhist sūt tra, which replicates it almost to perfection. More than a classic apocryphon, therefore, the Sūtra to Increase the Account may be rightly described as an appropriation, even an outright copy of a Taoist work. The Taoist Yisuan jing and its Buddhist “clone” consist in essence of an invocation of the Generals of the Six jia, a list of the stars and planets, a litany for personal protection, and fifteen talismans. The aim of all of this is to assure the health and welfare of the faithful so that they may surely reach, without adversity, the full term of existence, whose optimal span is estimated at 120 years.
Keywords: talismans, Sūtra to Increase the Account, sutras, Buddhism, Taoism, medieval China, Yisuan jing
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