# Southern Esoteric Buddhism

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Southern Esoteric Buddhism and Borān kammaṭṭhāna ('former practices') are terms used to refer to certain esoteric practices, views and texts within Theravada Buddhism. It is sometimes referred to as Esoteric Theravada or Tantric Theravada due to its parallel with tantric traditions (although it makes no reference to tantras); or as Traditional Theravada Meditation. SEB can best be described as a list of practices and traditions built off of the Pali Tipitaka but not directly referenced in the suttas alone.
L.S. Cousins defines it as "a type of Southern Buddhism which links magical and, ritual practices to a theoretical systematisation of the Buddhist path itself". One specific kind of Southern Esoteric Buddhism is termed the Yogāvacara tradition. It is most widely practiced today in Cambodia and Laos and in the pre-modern era was a major Buddhist current in Southeast Asia.
Over the past two centuries, the Boran tradition has been marginalized by colonial governments and the "Protestant Buddhist" movement, Buddhist reformers who emphasize a "Pali Tipitaka only" sola scriptura, with a low opinion of local traditions that supposedly were not in line with scriptural orthodoxy.
In the west, the study of Southern Esoteric Buddhism was pioneered by professor François Bizot and his colleagues at the École française d'Extrême-Orient with a particular focus on the material found at Angkor.

## History
### Sri Lankan Beginnings

Historically, the Buddhists of the Abhayagiri vihāra in Sri Lanka are known to have practiced Vajrayana and this might have had an influence on Southeast Asia through their missionary work in Java. According to Cousins, it is possible that Southern Esoteric Buddhism developed within the "orthodox" Mahavihara tradition of Sri Lanka, citing the 5th century Buddhist scholar Buddhaghosa's mention of secret texts (gulhagantham), those being texts that can only transmitted through a guru-disciple relationship, as well as other textual evidence from the Pali commentaries. This shows that esotericism was prevalent in Theravada prior the 5th century AD.
One can also trace the tradition of paritta chanting in Lanka to tantric traditions practiced by mendicants of the Abhayagiri Vihara.
Cousins concludes that "It is quite possible that present-day Southern Esoteric Buddhism contains ideas and practices deriving from more than one of these sources. Nevertheless it is certainly premature to assume that it has its origins in unorthodox circles."

### Southeast Asian Influences

Ari Buddhism was a form of Buddhism practiced in the Bagan kingdom of Burma which also contained Tantric elements borrowed from India and local Nat (spirit) and Nāga worship. In many of Bizot's works there is some suggestion that the Buddhism of the Mon may have influenced the later Yogāvacara tradition. Southeast Asian Theravada was heavily influenced by the practice of Vajrayana Buddhism which flourished in the region during the time of the Khmer Empire and Srivijaya, but it's most likely that Vedic esoteric practices may have already been present in these regions due to the Indianization of Southeast Asia.

### Flowering

The Yogāvacara tradition was a mainstream Buddhist tradition in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand well into the modern era. An inscription from Northern Thailand with esoteric elements has been dated to the Sukhothai Kingdom of the 16th century. Kate Crosby notes that this attestation makes the esoteric tradition earlier than “any other living meditation tradition in the contemporary Theravada world.”

### Expansion (18th century)

During the reign of Rama I, the Thai Yogāvacara master Kai Thuean [th] (1733-1823) was invited to Bangkok to be head of the meditation tradition there and was later made Sangharaja (head of the religious community) by Rama II of Siam in 1820. In Sri Lanka, a revival of Buddhist meditation in the 1750s saw a proliferation of Yogāvacara teachings and texts by Thai monks from the Ayutthaya Kingdom, one of which is the Yogāvacara's manual.
After the re-establishment of the Sri Lankan sangha by the venerable Upali Thera, Monks of the Siam Nikaya practiced and spread these teachings, establishing several monasteries around Kandy. As late as the 1970s, Yogāvacara practices such as the rapid repetition of Araham were recorded in Sri Lanka.

### Decline (19th-20th century)

The decline of Southern Esoteric Buddhism began in the 19th century with the rise of reformed Buddhism, particularly the establishment of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya by King Rama IV (1851–1868) of the Thai Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1833. This reform movement emphasized the Pali Canon as the main authority for monastic practices and sought to eliminate superstitious and folk religious elements. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya was later introduced into Cambodia, then a protectorate of the Thai kingdom, further contributing to the decline of esoteric traditions.
The textual foundation of this reform movement was rooted in the Sri Lankan Mahavihara school, which had undergone its own reforms in the 12th century under Parakramabahu I. This school, heavily influenced by the works of the 5th-century scholar Buddhaghosa, was regarded as the orthodox interpretation of Theravāda Buddhism and viewed other Buddhist practices as unorthodox. The reforms reinforced monastic discipline, leading to a decline in esoteric Buddhist practices and the production of non-canonical texts.
Further suppression occurred under the French colonial empire, which ruled Cambodia and continued the policy of marginalizing pre-reform Cambodian Buddhism. Despite these efforts, traditional esoteric practices persisted in rural areas. However, the devastation caused by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and religious repression in Communist Laos inflicted additional damage on these traditions.

### Legacy

Among the last mendicants to be initiated into the Boran Kammatthana tradition in Sri Lanka was Doratiyāveye Thera who lived around 1900.
Southern Esoteric Buddhist influences may be present in the practices and views of the modern Thai Dhammakaya movement. Though Wat Dhammakaya's claims of an "inner, true self" existing in the Dhammakaya are their own and do not come from any historical esoteric lineage.
Among the practitioners of Boran Kammatthana in the West are Samatha Trust, an organization dedicated to promoting the older Samatha tradition of meditation.

## Practices

Unlike Vajrayana traditions, Boran Kammatthana lacks tantra. However they do have meditation manuals.
Cousins sees the practice of Southern Esoteric Buddhism as being defined by the mapping of inner and outer worlds, and calls it 'tantro-kabbalistic' mysticism. By this he means "a form of mysticism which utilizes a rather elaborate map of correspondences -between the human body, the cosmos and some kind of higher reality or knowledge. In the process it draws on the full resources of the widely-dispersed traditions of magic and the occult - letter, sound and number symbolism together with the use of structured patterns of shape or gesture."
It contains certain South Asian religious practices such as the use of protective tattoos and amulets, the singing of protective Gathas, Thai astrology and the invocation of spirits and ghosts (such as Somdej Toh and Mae Nak). Today, magicians and forest monks using these techniques are most prevalent in the banks of the Mekong in Cambodia and Laos; they are believed to have magical powers, the divine eye and the ability to communicate with spirits. They practice Kasina meditation, mantra recitation, and ascetic practices (dhutanga). Thai forest monks such as Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo were also influenced by esoteric practices as is exemplified by his text "The Divine Mantra."
The practices of the Burmese Buddhist Weizza ("Wizards") who follow an esoteric system of occult practices (such as recitation of spells, samatha and alchemy) which are believed to lead to supernormal powers and a life of immortality might also be related to Southern Esoteric Buddhism.
Two of the most widely used sacred mantras in Yogāvacara texts are Namo Buddhaya ("Homage to the Buddha") and Araham ("Worthy One"). Here is an example of esoteric interpretation of the letter and number symbolism of Namo Buddhaya:
* NA, symbolizes the twelve virtues of the mother;
* MO, the twenty-one virtues of the father;
* BU, the six virtues of the king;
* DDHA., the seven virtues of the family;
* YA, the ten virtues of the teacher.
The recitation of these sacred phrases was used as a meditation practice. Robert Percival (in Ceylon from 1796 to 1800), described Buddhist mantra meditation thus: "To their girdles they wear suspended strings of beads made of a brownish or black wood; and mutter prayers as they go along."
In one text studied by Bizot, meditation includes the use of visualization of colored lights paired with sacred syllables located throughout the body and visions of the Buddha and a stupa at the top of mount Sumeru. Another text called the Ratanamala uses the itipi so formula for various purposes including spiritual protection, magical 'worldly' uses which are termed "left-hand", the transformation of the body into a kayasiddhi, a spiritual body, as well as for the pursuit of nirvana (termed "right-hand path").
Several studies by Bizot have also looked at certain "rebirthing" rituals which seem to have been common in pre-modern Cambodia. They included symbolic sacred syllables, the entrance into a cave which symbolized the womb, meditation on embryonic development, and the belief that this meditation would allow one's body to be reborn as the Dhammakaya. Another practice studied by Bizot was the use of yantras or sacred diagrams, which were made with Pali words and phrases and used as tattoos and on clothing.
In his study of the Saddavimala, a Yogāvacara text which was widely circulated in Southeast Asia (with over two hundred extant manuscripts), Bizot gives an outline of Yogāvacara practice:
"The yogavacara must:
* memorise the stages of the embryonic development (with their alphabetic equivalents) which form the stages of his own formation;
* through these stages build himself another body using the organs and constituents that are the letters, i.e. the portions of the Dhamma;
* become conscious that this new body which he is going to produce outside of himself, first takes form within him, in his stomach at the level of the navel, taking the form of a Buddha the height of a thumb;
* pursue and achieve in this life the construction of this immortal vehicle because it leads the person who possesses it to Nibbana, in that it takes the place of the spent physical form at the moment of death."
In contemporary Southern Buddhism, these practices are sometimes termed Boran Kammatthana (former practices) and are most widely seen in Cambodian Buddhism. They usually involve "the physical internalisation or manifestation of aspects of the Theravada path by incorporating them at points in the body between the nostril and navel."
Features of Yogāvacara and Boran Kammatthana practice include:
* Chanting of parittas for protection.
* Energy centers & channels like cakra/marma & nadi
* Use of encoded language and esoteric interpretation of Buddhist words, objects, myths, numbers and the Abhidhamma Pitaka texts
* The importance of initiation by a Guru (master)
* The use of the symbolism of embryology
* The practice of a type of meditation in which one visualizes and gives birth to a 'Buddha within' and the Dhammakaya.
* Chemistry of mercury as model for ongoing process of purification
* The practice of magic for healing, longevity, protection, etc.
* Alchemy
* Worship (puja) of Buddhas, Devas and Spirits
* A path which is open to all, monastics and lay persons
* Internal/external applications (Right hand-left hand)
* The importance of ritual and Sādhanā.
* Use of Yantra symbols along with Khom Thai script.
* Use of amulets

### Texts

Texts in the Boran Kammatthana tradition include:
* The Divine Mantra
* Dhammānudhammapaṭipatti
* Yogavacara's manual
* Saddavimala
* Ratanamala
* Piruwana Poth Wahanse
* Saddhammopāyana
* Saddharmarathnakaraya
* Amatākaravaṇṇanā (c. 18th century) - According to Kate Crosby, this is one of the most extensive manuals of Esoteric Theravada meditation and was compiled by Kandyan Sinhalese students of Thai esoteric meditation masters.
* Uṇhissavijaya sutta
* Mahādibbamanta
* Jinapañjara gatha
* Dhammakāyānussati gathā

## Major Figures in Borān kammaṭṭhāna

* Bo Bo Aung
* Bo Min Gaung
* Kyaikhtisaung Sayadaw
* Linn Nhyo Taryar
* Setkya Min
* Shin Iza Gawna
* U Khandi
* Phra Malai
* Upali Thera
* Luang Pu Thuat
* Kai Thuean
* Somdej Toh
* Khruba Siwichai
* Phra Khuva Boonchum
* Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro
* Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro

## Southern Esoteric Traditions

* Thai Forest Tradition
* Weizza
* Rishi