ABSTRACT
Let me begin this essay with some general remarks on the nature of secrecy in esoteric Buddhism. In order to make clear what this type of secrecy entails, it seems useful to consider it in contrast with the ordinary personal secret. Unlike the personal secret, which ideally should be kept secret during the entire lifetime of the concerned person, the secret teachings in esoteric Buddhism must be transmitted to at least one disciple.1 In other words, the secret teachings in esoteric Buddhism have the paradoxical nature of having to be spread for them to have any value; however, if they are spread too widely, they lose their value. The difficult thing is to keep the “golden mean.” In addition, whereas for the personal secret it is ideal if even the fact that it exists remains totally unknown, a secret teaching gains in value when its existence is made known as widely as possible (this may be compared to advertising in our consumer society) while its contents are kept concealed. The secret in esoteric Buddhism is a kind of commodity that, at the same time, is a source of power and authority. In this sense, I would argue that it functions very much like treasures that fulfill wishes or relics of the Buddha.
