In the Shingon school 眞言宗, these five types of samaya are compared with the five levels of abhiṣeka 五部灌頂 outlined in Amoghavajraʼs 不空 ritual manual, the 金剛王菩薩祕密念誦儀軌. The corresponding five levels are (1) maṇḍala rites 曼荼羅供, binding abhiṣeka 結緣灌頂, abhiṣeka of obtaining vidyā 受明灌頂，abhiṣeka of dharma transmission 傳法灌頂, and abhiṣeka in oneʼs own mind 以心灌頂.

In the Tendai esoteric school 台密, these five levels of samaya are equated with the five-fold contemplation of achieving the body of Vairocana 五相成身. 〔 T 2396.75.437b14〕 . Commentators such as Ennin 圓仁 also compared this term with the path of the five types of samaya (or samādhi) 五種三昧道. The Commentary on Mahāvairocana Sutra 大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 defines this term as a synonym for the ten realms 十界 in which the six destinies 六道 constitute one type of samaya called mundane samaya世間三昧, and the realms of buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas 聲聞, and pratyekabuddhas 緣覺 are each a distinct type of samaya collectively called supramundane samaya 出世三昧. The correlation of the ten realms and the five levels of samaya was instrumental to Enninʼs theory that it was possible to achieve buddhahood in a single lifetime 一生成佛. 〔 T 2223.61.16c29〕