126 CHAPTER SIX5.4.4), aroused him from his concentration and conducted his mind-made
body to the highest heaven. There they gave him a preliminary consecration
followed by five mantras of self-consecration. Each of these mantras sponta-
neously gave rise to visions in his heart that he developed in stages until he was
able to visualize himself as Vajrasattva, the personal aspect of the Vajra Realm,
the principle underlying all Buddhahood. At that point, he requested all the
Buddhas to empower him. They complied with his request, and as they en-
tered him, he gained complete Awakening to the wisdom of the essential same-
ness of all Buddhas. Thus he became Mahavairocana, The Great Resplendent
One (see Section 5.5.5), the central Buddha of the Vajra Realm mal).<;lala. After
attaining his goal, he preached the Yoga Tantras on Mount Meru, the mytho-
logical mountain at the center of the cosmos, and then returned to the Bodhi
Tree to do battle with Mara, essentially as a show for beings with inferior pow-
ers of understanding.
As this story indicates, the Yoga Tantras introduced a new account not
only of the means to Awakening, but also of the nature and content of the
Awakening itself. Following the pattern of the Saivite dance rituals, Awaken-
ing is viewed as a performing art, vivified by direct access to the underlying
source of all Buddhahood. Rather than the three knowledges reported in the
earlier texts (see Section 1.4), the wisdom of Awakening here consists of real-
izing one's identity with all the Buddhas of the Vajra Realm. The actual con-
secration rituals dictated by the various Yoga Tantras vary from text to text,
but the preceding story demonstrates the basic dynamic, a combination of co-
ercion and supplication, in which the initiate assumes identity with the Bud-
dhas and then asks for their empowerment to seal the identity. Once both
sides have participated, the initiate gains access to the wisdom of all Buddhas
and may view the identity as permanent.
The theory underlying this ritual is virtually the same as the emanation
theory underlying the Saivite practice of deva-yoga. Through the sound of
the mantra, the motion of the mudras, and the power of visualizations, one
establishes a direct conduit to the unmanifest reality-here called the Vajra
Realm-from which all beings come. This conduit enables one to attain iden-
.tity with all other beings emanating from that element, at the same time en-
abling them to enter into oneself. This theory is reflected in the standard Vajra
Realm mal).<;lala, which postulates five families ofBuddhas, all of which are
emanations ofVajrasattva, headed by Mahavairocana in the center, Ak~obhya
(see Section 5.5.3) of the Vajra family in the east, Ratnaketu (Gem Headdress)
of the Gem family in the south, Amitabha (see Section 5.5.4) of the
Dharma/Lotus family in the west, and Amoghasiddhi (Infallible Success) of
the Karma family in the north. (For a variant form of these families, see Strong
EB, sec. 5.5.5.) Each of these Buddhas, in addition to representing aspects of
Vajrasattva, also supervises specific classes of subsidiary rituals. Ratnaketu, for
instance, is responsible for rituals dealing with material wealth and prosperity.
From these Buddhas emanate 4 Buddha goddesses, 16 Bodhisattvas, 8 Vajra
offering goddesses, and 4 Vajra door guardians, filling the mal).<;lala with a sym-
metrical array of 37 beings in all, apparently meant to represent the 37 Wings