Editing Vajrayana (section)

===Korean ''milgyo''===
Esoteric Buddhist practices (known as ''milgyo'', 密教) and texts arrived in [[Korea]] during the initial introduction of Buddhism to the region in 372 CE.<ref name="congress.aks.ac.kr">{{Cite web|url=http://congress.aks.ac.kr/korean/files/2_1358319390.pdf|title=Georgieva-Russ, Nelly. Esoteric Buddhist Ritual Objects of the Koryŏ Dynasty (936-1392)|access-date=2017-09-01|archive-date=2017-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901201145/http://congress.aks.ac.kr/korean/files/2_1358319390.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Esoteric Buddhism was supported by the royalty of both [[Unified Silla]] (668–935) and [[Goryeo Dynasty]] (918–1392).<ref name="congress.aks.ac.kr" /> During the Goryeo Dynasty esoteric practices were common within large sects like the [[Korean Seon|Seon school]], and the [[Hwaeom]] school as well as smaller esoteric sects like the Sinin (''mudra'') and Ch'ongji (''Dharani'') schools. During the era of the Mongol occupation (1251–1350s), Tibetan Buddhism also existed in Korea though it never gained a foothold there.<ref name="Sørensen 2006, pp. 55-94">{{cite journal |last= Sørensen |first= Henrik H. |date= September 2006 |title= Esoteric Buddhism under the Koryŏ in the Light of the Greater East Asian Tradition |url= https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1221a2941036d5de61c2a9db01d57053367fc595 |journal= International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture |volume= 7 |pages= 55–94}}</ref>

During the [[Joseon dynasty]], Esoteric Buddhist schools were forced to merge with the Seon and Kyo schools, becoming the ritual specialists. With the decline of Buddhism in Korea, Esoteric Buddhism mostly died out, save for a few traces in the rituals of the [[Jogye Order]] and [[Taego Order]].<ref name="Sørensen 2006, pp. 55-94" />

There are five esoteric Buddhist schools in modern day South Korea: [[Jingak Order]], Jineon Order, Chongji Order, Jisong Order, and Cheonhwa Buddhism.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Kim (김/金) |first= Bang-ryong (방룡/邦龍) |date= 1998 |title= 한국불교계 신생종단의 성립과 사상 |url= https://www.dbpia.co.kr/IssueList?voisId=VOIS00569210&totCnt=55&pubId=15443&pId=&selPid=&isView=N |trans-title= Establishment and Thoughts on New Sects of South Korean Buddhism |volume= 23 |journal= Hanguk Jonggyo (한국종교) |language= Korean |location= [[Iksan]] |publisher= Wonkwang University Research Center of Religions (원광대학교 종교문제연구소) |page= 204 |quote= 密敎系 종단으로는 1) 大韓佛敎眞覺宗 2) 大韓佛敎眞言宗 3) 佛敎總持宗 4) 眞言佛敎持誦宗 5) 天華佛敎 |trans-quote= The estoteric Buddhist sects (in South Korea) are Jingak Order, Jineon Order, Chongji Order, Jisong Order, and Cheonhwa Buddhism.}}</ref> According to Henrik H. Sørensen, the Jineon and Jingak Orders, "have absolutely no historical link with the Korean Buddhist tradition per se but are late constructs based in large measures on Japanese Shingon Buddhism."<ref name="Sørensen 2006, pp. 55-94" />