VAJRAYANA AND LATER INDIAN BUDDHISM 127to Awakening (see Section 2.5). From the mal).c;iala, in turn, come all beings in
the cosmos.
Despite their adoption of a Saivite pattern of ritual practice, the Yoga
Tantras by and large reflect a celibate Buddhist sensibility. As with the earlier
Mahayana Sutras, they include transformed Saivite gods and their consorts
in their manc;l~las, but in a distinctly subservient capacity. The Sarva-tathagata-
tattva-smpgraha even relates an extended story ofSiva's defeat by the Buddha,
who then frees the Hindu god after placing a moon mark on the latter's fore-
head with his toe. Although the non-Buddhist deities in the mal).c;iala are pro-
vided with consorts, the Buddhas are portrayed as celibate, accompanied by
celibate Buddha-goddesses.
6.3.3 Unexcelled Yoga Tantras
(Strong £8, sees. 5.5.2, 5.5.4)With the fourth class ofTantras, however, we enter a different world. Unlike
the earlier Tantras, which are set in a recognizably Mahayana locale, many of
the Tantras of this class begin with a statement to the effect that, "Thus have I
heard. At one time the Blessed One was reposing in the vagina of the Lady of
the Vajra Realm." These Tantras, similar to the Yoga Tantras, teach deva-yoga
for the sake of Awakening, but the yoga here centers on ritualized sexual union
in which the innate state of intensified bliss attained during controlled orgasm
is equated with the Vajra Realm.
To justify this revisioning of the Path, these Tantras followed the example
of the Yoga Tantras by rewriting the story ofSiddhartha Gautama's Awakening.
According to the Gat;t4amaharo~ana Tantra, Gautama actually attained Buddha-
hood while stilllivi~g in his palace, engaged in ritual sexual intercourse with
his wife Gopa. Afterward he followed the ascetic quest, doing battle with Mara
simply for the benefit of those who would be inspired by such an example.
The theory underlying the practice of sexual yoga is that the impediments
to union with the Vajra Realm are actually psychophysical granthi (knots) in
the subtle energy channels flowing through the body. On the physical level,
these knots are blocks in the energy flow that can be overcome only through
the energy aroused by the great passion and bliss "churned" through skillful
sexual union. Thus, in this view, the arresting of passion is a sin, for it only
adds further knots to the channels. Instead, the practitioner is to use energetic
passion and wrath, consciously channeled, to work through the knots caused
by lesser defilements (Strong EB, sec. 5.5.1).
However, in addition to their physical side, these knots have their emo-:-
tional and intellectual sides as well. Emotionally, they correspond to inhibi-
tions; intellectually, to dualistic thinking. Thus the texts also advocate a
psychological program for attacking them. To eradicate inhibitions, they adopt
many of the symbols and practices of the Kapalikas, whose sexual yoga em-
bodied the principle of transgressive sacrality, or the ritual inversion of social
taboos, as a way oflaying claim to psychological and physical powers repressed
by social convention. The Hevajra and Guyhasamiija Tantras, among others,