Mahayana is a prelude to the Vajrayana, for the latter
is an advanced practice. Accordingly, one of the more
important of the tantric scriptures, the Guhyasamaja
Tantra,proclaims that the reason it had not been
preached before was that there were no beings suffi-
ciently advanced to hear it. It became revealed in the
world once bodhisattvas with advanced practice arose
to receive it. This means that the Vajrayana is not just
another, albeit faster, method but is inherently supe-
rior to normative Mahayana and not to be revealed to
those of inferior faculties. In this way, the awakening
conferred by the Vajrayana was also different, for while
the Mahayana led to the tenth or eleventh stage of the
bodhisattva path, the citadel of the Eternal Buddha Va-
jradhara was said to be on the thirteenth stage, far ad-
vanced over the Mahayanist idea of buddhahood.
The sorcerer’s discipline
As the sorcerer’s discipline (vidyadharasamvara),
the Vajrayana is laid out on a hierarchy of practice.
The neophyte begins with the monastic discipline
(pratimoksasamvara), which may be formally that of
the monk or of the devout layman (upasaka) who has
taken refuge and the five vows of the LAITY. Con-
comitantly, the views of the ABHIDHARMAand SAU-
TRANTIKAschool may be studied. Once this practice
is correctly established, then the practitioner may take
the precepts of the bodhisattva (bodhisattvasamvara)
and study the views of the YOGACARA SCHOOLand
MADHYAMAKA SCHOOL. Finally, the precepts of the
sorcerer may be taken through the rite of INITIATION,
and they qualify the yogin to become the universal
conqueror of the sorcerers (vidyadharacakravartin) so
long as the PRECEPTSare scrupulously maintained.
There are different lists of the precepts for the sor-
cerer’s discipline, but the two most frequently en-
countered are vows to guard against the fourteen root
transgressions:
- Contempt for the teacher.
- Transgressing the message of the Tathagata.
- Anger at members of the feast family.
- Abandoning loving kindness.
- Rejecting the thought of awakening.
- Abusing the three vehicles.
- Revealing secrets to unprepared people.
- Disparaging the victor’s body of instruction.
- Doubt about the pure-natured dharma.
10. (Improper) love or dispassion toward evil peo-
ple.
11. Imposition of other than nonduality upon real-
ity.
12. Disparaging those with faith.
13. Not relying on the sacraments and vows.
14. Disparaging insight-filled women.
and the eight gross transgressions:- Seeking to take a consort who is without sacra-
mental preparation. - Relying on unauthorized sacraments.
- Arguing in the tantric feast.
- Showing the secret dharma.
- Teaching another dharma to those of faith, caus-
ing confusion. - Staying with s ́ravakas for seven days.
- Claiming the status of a mantrinwithout suffi-
cient realization. - Teaching secrets to the unprepared.
The sorcerer’s PRECEPTSwere considered superior
to those of the monk and bodhisattva, so that they took
precedence in a hierarchy of value. If a yogin deter-
mined that observance of the sorcerer’s precepts re-
quired the abandonment of one of the others, then
some authorities considered this to be without fault,
and many of the siddha hagiographies feature instances
of exactly this behavior. Like other issues, though, this
position was disputed, and much effort was expended
by commentators to arrive at resolution of these prob-
lems. This question had a social component, for if the
householder siddha was superior to the monk, then the
latter should bow to him, despite the fact that pros-
trating before any layman is a clear violation of the
monastic precepts.
The above analyses of the Vajrayana reveal much
inconsistency and a variety of opinions, which is not
surprising for a complex and multifaceted system con-
tinuing to evolve over several centuries. As a result,
among the many controversies that stirred discussion
and polemical debate was whether the buddhahood of
the Mahayana and the buddhahood of the Vajrayana
were in fact the same, or whether the latter was supe-
rior, with many subtle alternatives expressed. The re-VAJRAYANA