Virtuosity in chanting spells and working miracles—particularly those associated with healing, protection, and other aspects of personal welfare—was an important quality for a monk to develop.

A nuanced view of “spells” during the Sui Dynasty period through the end of the Tang, roughly 500–907 C.E focusing on three Chinese intellectuals—Jingying Huiyuan (523–592), Daoshi (596–683), and Amoghavajra (705-774)—asking how these figures would have understood Dhāraṇī in those days before the development of Buddhist Tantra.