VAJRAYANAsisya's eyes in a symbolic removal of the blindness of ignorance [anjanavidhi],
and shows him a mirror. All phenomena, he explains, are like reflections and the
deity Vajrasattva, who rests in the heart of all beings, is the mirror in which they
appear. The sisya should recognize that no entity has any instrinsic reality [svab-
hava] and should act with this knowledge for the benefit of others
[darpm;adarsanavidhi]. Finally the guru shoots arrows in the various directions
to remove all obstacles from the new officiant's path [saraksepavidhi].
Candidates for the highest and most esoteric mantra-cults, those of the Y oginl
tantras must now receive a series of further empowerments whose bizarre and
apparently sinful nature has been the cause of much controversy in India and
Tibet. The following account, like that of the rest of the ritual of empowerment
described here, summarizes the Vajravali of Abhayakaragupta, a mahiipm;cjita
of the great Vikramaslla monastery around the tum of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, and the Kriyasamuccaya of Darpal)acarya, a work of uncertain date
based on the Vajravali. The rituals of Vajrayanist initiation still practised by the
Newars of the Kathmandu valley in Nepal and found in handbooks which
combine the text of a Sanskrit liturgy with glosses and instructions in Newari,
are based on these same sources, though they have completely removed all that
might be compromising in these rituals.
After the rituals described so far have been completed a Tantric ritual feast
[samayacakra] is served. A candidate for these higher empowerments must
leave the feast with the girl who will be his consort, go in to the guru, give her to
him, and return to the group outside. The guru copulates with the girl. The can-
didate is then led in by an assisant [karmavajrin]. He kneels down and offers a
flower. The guru them gives him his semen, which the sisya must place on his
tongue and swallow, thinking of it as the embodiment of all the Buddhas. The
female rises and gives him from her sex 'a drop of the pollen of all the Tatha-
gatas.' He must swallow it in the same way. This is termed the 'secret empower-
ment' [guhyabhiseka]. The guru then returns the girl to the disciple, or gives him
another who is bound by the pledges and vows, or is at least endowed with
beauty and youth. He unites with her and experiences the four blisses [iinanda].
This is 'the consecration of the knowledge of wisdom' fprajnajnanabhiseka].
Finally the sisya requests what is termed 'the fourth empowerment'
[caturthabhiseka], so called because it is the fourth if all the empowerments up
to that of the Vajra Master are counted as one 'vase-empowerment' [kalasab-
hiseka]. It takes the form of the guru's reciting an exposition of the nature of the
four blisses, consisting for the most part of quotations from the esoteric Tantras
and of Apabhraq1sa and Sanskrit verses attributed to Siddhas.
The guru then joins the hands of the couple and ties them together with a
garland of flowers. He calls the company to be witnesses in the presence of the
mal)dala that this woman has been bestowed on this man before the eyes of the
Buddhas. He must never abandon her [ vidyavratadanavidhi]. The guru then
gives the vajra into the disciple's right hand [ vajravratavidhi].
The guru now gives the implements needed for the performance of the