Buddhism : Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Vol. VI

ON THE CONCEPT OF SAHAJA

fingers aroused him from that samiidhi ... Thereupon he ... proceeded

to the Bodhi-tree. All the Buddhas summoned the daughter of the gods

Tilottama and revealed the method of concrete initiation ( dnos dban-du

bskurba'i chul bstan) into the third, the Insight-Knowledge Initiation.

(FBT p. 39)

The author admits that there is a discrepancy between the teachings of the
tantras and the practice as performed in his days:

Although it is stated in the Tantras and authoritative texts that there is

an initiation based on the Action SeaJ1^8 , i.e. a concrete "wisdom"^79 , this

means the initiation of the "jewel-like" individual among the candidates

for the high goal of the Anuttara[-tantra]. Here, the guru ... unites with

the vidyii ... Nowadays, a person with keen faculties has Bliss pro-

duced concretely through a conviction that the guru and the "Know-

ledge Seal"^80 have united. (FBT p. 319)

As to why this initiation is no longer conferred concretely, the author of FBT

gives the following explanation:

Nowadays, we do not find such hierophants, neophytes, along with a

vidyii, that possess the complete characteristics as have been set forth.

Hence, ... (the disciple) imagines he has been made to enter into union

on account of the vividness in his mind that the body of himself and the

vidyii is the desire-god in the sense of the "Father-Mother" union.

Thereby, in one with keen faculties, bliss is produced concretely. (FBT

p.323)

This passage, reflecting, among other things, the pan-Indian theory of cosmic

degeneration, clearly implies a nostalgia for the concrete consummation of the

consecration, believed to have been conferred, as we have seen, on the Buddha.

For the fact remains that there can be no doubt as to the actuality of the tantric

rites. This is perfectly clear from the texts we have studied, and is further sup-

ported, albeit indirectly, by the historical fact that similar movements have

played an important part in Indian religious history, for example the Vaishnava

sahajiya movement^81 or the "left-handed" Sakta ritual^82 •

The present study is not primarily a comparative one. Yet it will be useful to

examine, however briefly, some of those "hidden well-springs of Indian reli-

gious life" to which Snellgrove, quoted above, referred. Thereby it will be pos-

sible - and this I believe to be important - to see the structure and the

implications of the Buddhist tantric consecrations in a wider context.

One of the most striking features of the Buddhist tantras is the role played by

the female partners of gods as well as of men. The role of the Action-Seal, the

physical female partner, during the various consecrations is indispensable, at