128 CHAPTER SIXadvocate the violation of sexual, dietary, and sanitary taboos. In particular, all
the major Tantras of this class advocate that the best form of sexual union for
the purpose of empowerment is that with a partner from another caste, in de-
fiance of one of the strongest Hindu social conventions. In addition, some of
them violate specifically Buddhist taboos. For example, the Guyhasamiija rec-
ommends visualizing Buddhas and then either smashing them or verbally abus-
ing them.
Later commentators maintained that the objectionable elements in these
Tantras were not to be physically practiced, but were only to be imagined, as a
way of overcoming dualistic thinking in terms of pure and impure, sacred and
profane. However, a large body of evidence indicates that at least the original
authors of these Tantras were writing from the experience of physical practice.
To eradicate dualistic thinking, these Tantras advocate a regimen of mental
training to accompany the sexual rite. The yogin and yogin! are to stare un-
blinkingly into each other's eyes, as would a god and goddess, creating a sense
of intersubjectivity in which the sense of "I" and "other" dissolves. The male
organ-usually equated with compassion as the "means"-is to be regarded as
the vajra, thus erasing the distinction between means and end. The union of
the male organ with the female-symbolized as a lotus-is to be viewed as
the union of compassion and wisdom; the bliss that arises from the union is to
be stripped of all limiting particulars until it becomes Great Bliss, which is
then understood as being identical with the emptiness of the Vajra Realm.
An important part of this antidualistic training is the playful attitude these
Tantras take toward language and concepts in general (see Sections 1.4.3,
2.3.1). Scholars have frequently commented on the mixture of ungrammatical
Sanskrit and local vernacialars of which these Tantras are composed, and have
attributed this linguistic hodgepodge to a lack of elite education on the part of
the authors. This may be a factor, but because it would have been easy for
later commentators to clean up the mistakes in grammar, it is more likely that
the language is intentionally unconventional. Similar to Lewis Carroll's Jabber-
wocky, the Tantras seek to tap inchoate meanings on a prelinguistic level of the
mind. In addition, the terminology makes use of sandhyabhii$ii ("twilight" lan-
guage), in which key terms are used as a code with several levels of meaning,. any of which may be valid depending on the context. In some cases, symbol-
ism is deliberately reversed. Thus the Cakrasa111vara Tantra turns the basic sym-
bolism of the rite around by equating the vajra with understanding, and the
lotus with compassion. All of this is to help loosen the student's attachment to
the idea that words have "right" and "wrong" meanings, or that any one in-
terpretation can encompass reality.
This sense of playfulness is also reflected in the ease with which these
Tantras mix Buddhist doctrines with Brahmanical and Saivite doctrines of a
Creator God, a Universal Self, a Great Breath (Mahapra!).a) of which the cos-
mos is made, and so forth. Furthermore, their mandalas mix Buddhist and
Saivite iconography so thoroughly that it is difficult t~ distinguish which of
the two traditions is dominant. Ak~obhya, as the chief Buddha of the family of
Wrath, takes the center of the ma!).<;lala, with Vairocana/Sakyamuni moved off