TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)The basic structure of the realization of siddhi is commonly expressed as
some variant of the notion of the "union of opposites" or yuganaddha. Yuganad-
dha as a sexual union is the primary symbolism of the Anuttarayogatantras, the
union being interpreted as the conjunction of wisdom (prajiiii) and compassion
(karu1Jii) necessary for complete enlightenment.^37 Other conjunctions are also
widespread, including that between the two siddhis, the body of the basic divin-
ity and the body of the iiciirya, and between the transcendence and mastery of
the cosmos.
Characteristically, tantric siidhanas focus on the body of the adept as the
primary locus for the realization of yuganaddha. The siidhanas are structured
around notions such as the inner versus the outer cosmos, the human body and
the divine body, the samsaric cosmos and the nirvanic cosmos. These relation-
ships are established and manipulated through visualization, through the use of
mantra, and through nyiisa.^38 All of these various interpretations and homo-
logues of yuganaddha are explicitly correlated with the Two Truths.
In the performance of ritual, then, the attainment of siddhi is the realization of
a soteriology in a "recursive" cosmos. The realization of one's basic divinity is
the realization of one's own enlightenment and the simultaneous purification of
one's world. As I will demonstrate below, the ritual expulsion and subduing of
demons and epidemics is identical with the process of the elimination of klesas
and results in the attainment of enlightenment both by the demons and by the
exorcist. Certain scholars of the Vajrayana have begun to pay attention to this
dual goal in "everyday" rites and practices. Stephan Beyer's The Cult of Tiirii
demonstrates this for Tibetan rites to Tara, and the articles of William Stablein
demonstrate the process in Newar healing rituals.^39 Indeed, the Vajrayana's two
kinds of siddhi may be considered the ritual realization of the Two Truths.
If we keep this dual purpose in mind and try to banish the notion that Chen-
yen strives solely for an abstracted pursuit of enlightenment, then it is apparent
why Chen-yen exists in China primarily in a series of esoteric yet popular rituals
in which enlightenment is identified with "mundane" pursuits such as the
healing of diseases, the expulsion of enemy armies or epidemics, and the salva-
tion of ancestors and "hungry ghosts." It is, in large part, because of their overtly
mundane aims that these rites have been classified as "miscellaneous," periph-
eral, popular, or somehow less than important by scholars of Shingon. The pro-
liferation of such rites outside of established Vajrayana lineages has been used
to bolster the assertion that Buddhist esotericism was no more than an evanes-
cent moment in China. I see these rites and their classic Vajrayana structures as
evidence of the real nature of Chen-yen, of its adaptive and assimilative power.
To see the Vajrayana in China, we must bracket our taxonomies of "pure" and
"miscellaneous," of "lineage," of "elite" and "popular," and look carefully at
these rites and at the contexts they inhabit.