TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)ST (p. 21 ), on the other hand, mentions the characteristics which render a
woman unfit to function as mudra:
She who is timid, or whose mind is confused, who ... (?)^26 , who is
under the dominion of another, who is afflicted by disease or who has
recently given birth, who is short-tempered, arrogant, or desirous of
wealth, who delights in falsehood or strife, who has some bodily defect
or who is impure^27 - in the Consecration of Wisdom these should be
avoided by one's skilful preceptor, o king!What, then, were the procedures of the rites in which the mudra took part? On
the whole, the texts are reticent. The reason is of course the esoteric character of
the rites involved, which were to be performed "at night beneath a lonely tree or in
a cemetery ... or in some unfrequented spot" (HVT l.vi.6); "In a garden, in a
lonely place, or in one's inner apartment" (HVT II.xi.ll, cf. also I.x.3 ). The desire
to avoid public censure may have been a reason to keep the rites secret; but the
basic motive was beyond doubt the belief, so often repeated in the tantras, that if
the rites were performed by those who were unqualified to do so, the results would
be disastrous. In the words ofHVT II.iv.71: "If he drinks strong poison, the simple
man who does not understand it, falls senseless. But he who is free from delusion
with his mind intent on the truth destroys it altogether". In other words, the rites
imply two diametrically opposed possibilities: not only the liberation of the
enlightened, but equally the bondage of the ignorant, which the rites were believed
to perpetuate if practised for any other purpose than the attainment of mystic
insight. Hence, "Those things by which men of evil conduct are bound, others tum
into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence" (HVT II.ii.50?^8.
I shall postpone until the following chapter the discussion whether the rites
were, as far as can be understood, intended to be performed according to their
literal description. For the moment we shall simply study the ritual itself to the
extent that it can be reconstructed on the basis of the texts, without entering into
its various implications. As in the case of the minor consecrations, it is ST, HSP
and CMT which provide the most detailed accounts. FBT will also be quoted,
although it should be borne in mind that this late text consistently provides each
initiation with an "interiorized" interpretation (see chap. II).
The Consecration of the Jar
That which first of all is the touching of the glorious Wisdom on the
breast, that indeed^29 is the Consecration of the Jar. (ST p. 21)
In the first consecration a beautiful maiden, trembling^30 , free from
the flaw of confusion etc., twelve years old and in all respects perfect,
should be entrusted by the disciple to his preceptor .... Thereupon he
addresses an entreaty to his preceptor. Thereupon the preceptor, being
satisfied, lets him touch, concealed from public view, the breasts of his
Seal-thereby this is the Consecration of the Jar (ST p. 22)