Multiple copies of a particular clay sealing bearing the Buddhist Bodhigarbhālaṅkāralakṣa-dhāraṇī (mantra) inscription were discovered in Gua Berhala—a cave in Perlis, Malaysia. These sealings can be roughly assigned to the tenth century and they appear to have been stamped with an identical seal. However, critical reading of the textual rendition of the dhāraṇī had not yet been done despite several attempts to study it. Therefore, based on several fragments of these sealings, this article provides a detailed reading and translation of the dhāraṇī and considers the cultural significance of their production. The article also examines the textual structure of this Perlis dhāraṇī and compares it with similar dhāraṇīs preserved in a palm-leaf manuscript and other materials found across Asia. This includes a survey on the wider transmission of the dhāraṇī in the continent. In this comparative exercise, the physical characteristics of the Perlis sealing appear to be unique and express a distinct artistic style, while its textual tradition is slightly compressed compared with others, with no identical equivalent found elsewhere. This observation suggests that Perlis, with its proximity to the Bujang Valley, participated in the wider network of dhāraṇī culture rooted in Eastern India and was just not a passive recipient of this practice.

This article brings together various textual materials relating to the worship of Prajñāpāramitā in mediaeval Monsoon Asia. In particular, it covers sources from South Asia, mainland Southeast Asia (Angkor), maritime Southeast Asia (Java and Bali), and Southern China (Yunnan). The aims of this critical survey are twofold. On the one hand, the article argues for the importance of ritual language within wider discussions on cultural and linguistic cosmopolitanism within and beyond the so-called ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’. These discussions have too often focused on royal epigraphic eulogies, neglecting religious literature. On the other hand, it highlights the key role of Prajñāpāramitā as a protective deity, and the transregional heritage of her invocatory texts. These texts strike one for their traditional choice of imagery and associations, thus reminding of the importance of exoteric traditions within the history of Southeast Asian Buddhism.

Emerging adulthood (age 18–25 years) is a distinct developmental phase, characterized by multiple life changes, transitions and uncertainties, associated with significant risk of mental ill health in vulnerable individuals. Identity exploration and development is key during this phase, and the development of an eating disorder during this time can significantly impact on this process. This single-case study details the treatment of an 18-year-old female outpatient with first episode, recent onset anorexia nervosa. Using the Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment in Adults (MANTRA), focus was placed on identity exploration and development as a tool to reduce the dominance of anorexia nervosa and increase recovery focus. Outcome measures at end of treatment and 6-month follow-up showed significant sustained improvement in BMI and EDE-Q scores. The patient gave detailed positive feedback suggesting that this was a highly acceptable and effective intervention. The case study is discussed with reference to limitations and some reflections on the utility of incorporating identity work in the treatment of anorexia nervosa in emerging adulthood.

This article examines a group of ten Indonesian inscriptions citing a range of gāthās, mantras and dhāraṇīs. The texts, contextualized and in some cases read and identified for the first time, underline the pan-Asian character of Buddhism and the integral place the Indonesian archipelago once held in the ancient Buddhist world. The identification of the sources of several of these texts in known Sanskrit scriptures raises the question whether some of these texts, none of which survives as such in the archipelago, were once transmitted there in manuscript form.

This paper examines two tenth-century woodblock prints from Dunhuang acquired by Sir Aurel Stein. They are registered under the numbers Ch.00151 and Ch.00152 at the British Museum. The first, Ch.00151, is dedicated to Avalokiteśvara and the second, Ch.00152, to Amitābha, both with magical formulas written in Siddham characters in square or circular fashion around the central image of the respective deity. Editions, translations and identifications of the texts are presented along with a study of the Chinese inscriptions on the side of the xylographs. It is shown that these two objects were apparently produced to serve as amulets.

This article is one of a series that reassesses the dhāraṇī texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The article seeks to examine dhāraṇī texts by using the linguistic tools of pragmatics, especially historical pragmatics, to assist the understanding of their statements. Rather than the meaning of the term dhāraṇī as a subject term, the domain of truth-conditional semantics, this paper examines statements in texts labelled dhāraṇī. Pragmatics examines meaning in context, and the categories of speech acts developed by Searle has been especially helpful in mapping out differences within such texts and the formalization of statements across texts. The grammaticalization of specific speech elements, especially interjections, in the context of mantra-dhāraṇīs is also discussed.