American mindfulness has a reduction problem. Especially white American mindfulness. We love to trim things down. Clean it up. Take the parts that feel scientific or soothing and leave the rest behind. Mindfulness without karma. Meditation without lineage. Buddhism without gods, spirits, spells, or mystery.
We call it “rational.” We call it “non-religious.” But what it really is, a lot of the time, is colonial. Because the truth is: Buddhism has always been enchanted.
Across Asia, Buddhist practice has included spirit work, protective amulets, weather rites, healing incantations, and death magic. These weren’t side rituals tacked on to the “real” Dharma. They were part of the tradition. Part of how the teachings lived in communities. Part of how people survived.
And erasing that because it doesn’t match a modern Western worldview isn’t sophistication. It’s spiritual whitewashing.
Which brings me to Buddhist Magic, a book by Sam van Schaik. Drawing on 10th-century Tibetan texts and living traditions across the Buddhist world, van Schaik shows us what the mainstream mindfulness movement forgot.
Tucked into monasteries, chanted in the dark, buried in old manuscripts and whispered through centuries, there is another stream: Buddhist magic.
Yes, magic. As in: protection spells, divination rites, healing rituals, spirit work.
And not from the fringes, but right from the heart of living Buddhist cultures.
Drawing from Buddhist Magic by Sam van Schaik, here are 7 examples that show how magic is not just compatible with Buddhism—it’s part of its living lineage.
1. Mantra as Spellwork
Where: Tibet, India, Southeast Asia
How: Recitation, inscription, visualization
In magical Buddhism, mantras aren’t just devotional, they’re spells. Specific syllables are used to summon protection, break curses, increase luck, or bind demons. The Heart Sutra becomes an incantation. Om mani padme hum becomes a shield. Even writing mantras on cloth or paper and wearing them can be protective magic.
2. Divination by Dice (Mo or Deu)
Where: Tibet
How: Using dice, books, or pebbles to receive answers from enlightened beings
Tibetan monks often consult divination manuals that assign meanings to combinations of dice rolls. These systems, like the Mo tradition, offer guidance on health, travel, ritual timing, and spiritual choices. The belief? That enlightened beings like Manjushri or Tara can speak through randomness when approached with intention.
3. Binding Spells and Exorcisms
Where: Tibet, Bhutan, Sri Lanka
How: Chanted rites, thread crosses, ritual daggers, wrathful deity invocations
Buddhism has its own demonology. Protective deities like Mahākāla, Vajrapāni, or Palden Lhamo are invoked to subdue harmful forces, whether spirits, psychological disturbances, or communal misfortune. Some spells use thread crosses (namkha) or effigies to “bind” a spirit and escort it out of a person or place.
4. Healing Through Magical Texts
Where: Dunhuang (10th-century Tibet-China), Thailand
How: Recitation of spells, use of herbal remedies with dhāraṇī, sacred diagrams
The Dunhuang manuscripts contain dozens of healing rituals that blend Buddhist incantations with folk remedies. Monks functioned as spiritual healers, offering cures through sound, intention, and prayer. In Thailand today, sak yant tattoos carry similar powers, etched prayers believed to confer strength, health, and spiritual resilience.
5. Protective Amulets and Talismans
Where: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
How: Blessed metals, written charms, sacred tattoos
A monk might inscribe a prayer on a tiny scroll, wrap it in gold foil, and seal it into a pendant. Or bless a cloth with yantra designs, which is sacred geometry infused with spells. These amulets are worn for protection, luck, or love. Many are created after intense retreats where the practitioner fasts and chants for days or weeks.
6. Weather and Nature Magic
Where: Nepal, Bhutan, pre-modern Japan
How: Rainmaking rites, mountain offerings, storm pacification
In tantric lineages and village Buddhism alike, monks and ritual specialists are sometimes called upon to invoke or calm weather. Offerings might be made at sacred springs or stupas. In Japanese Shugendō, mountain ascetics use chants and mudrās to commune with nature spirits and call down rain.
7. Dream and Death Magic
Where: Tibetan Buddhism, Burmese nat traditions
How: Dream interpretation, guided afterlife rituals, protective sleep rites
The Tibetan Bardo Thödol (Book of the Dead) is one of the most famous examples of Buddhist esoteric ritual. It guides consciousness through the stages after death with mantras, images, and intentions. Dreams, too, are understood as liminal spaces that are ideal for communication with deities, ancestors, or unresolved karma.
Magic as Dharma in Disguise
Van Schaik’s point is clear: this is not “folk” magic bolted onto Buddhism, it is part of Buddhism. Embedded in sutras, preserved in monastic practice, used to meet the needs of suffering beings. In other words: magic was never separate from the path.
Just like in witchcraft, these Buddhist practices aren’t about controlling the world, they’re about aligning with it. Healing what hurts. Protecting what matters. Invoking the sacred through symbol, chant, and act.
And for those of us walking a hybrid path—Buddhist witches, spell-casting meditators, ritualists in robes or ripped jeans—this is a reminder: We’re not making things up. We’re remembering.
In spiritual solidarity,
🧿 Constant Craving ✨