TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)(CMN)^100 (p. 32 1. 11)-list this Joy as third. So, in fact, does HVT in three pas-
sages where the Simultaneously-arisen Joy is stated to come "at the end of the
Joy that is Perfect and at the beginning of the Joy of Cessation" (II.ii.40; v.66,
70). This order is apparently contradicted not only by the passages quoted in
Figs. II and III (and by the very name "the Fourth"), but by the term viramiinta
(HVT l.viii.24) which is used to describe the Simultaneously-arisen Joy and
which is translated by Snellgrove as "the End of Cessation"^101 • However, this
term might just as well be translated "having Cessation at its end", in other
words, "followed by the Joy of Cessation".
The crucial point is the Joy of Cessation. If it is regarded as the third Joy, one
would, as suggested by Fig. II, a priori suspect that it may be correlated with the
third Consecration, i.e. the Consecration of the Gnosis of Wisdom. We thus
arrive at the second question, viz. the relationship of the Joys and the four Con-
secrations. We have seen (Chap. I) that the third Consecration involves the ritual
union of the disciple and the Seal. In other words, the Joy of Cessation would
appear to be connected with sexual union. This is further brought out by the
term designating the corresponding Moment, vimarda, which literally means
"rubbing". Thus HVT I.viii.31, where the third Joy is called "the Joy of coition"
(suratananda)-the preceding two Joys having been characterized as yogin and
yogin! respectively-becomes intelligible^102 •
However, in the act of sexual union all four Joys are experienced; this is
clearly stated by CMT (pp. 56-57), speaking of the Consecration of Wisdom:
Then the teacher should whisper in his ear the division of the Four
Blisses ... and embracing Wisdom ... he (i.e. the disciple) should aim
at the Four Blisses. When that is completed, he should present himself
before his teacher ...The following passage from ST (pp. 54-55) likewise serves to show that the
four Joys follow each other in one continuous process. In this passage the suc-
cession of the various Joys is seen as a result of the downward movement of the
Thought-of-Enlightenment from its reservoir in the brain^103 , through the seven
cakras or "lotuses" of the body^104 , to the tip of the Vajra (the "Vajra-Jewel"):
The coming of the sukra, consisting of the five lunar digits called
Nanda. Bhadra, Jaya, Rikta and Piill}a,^105 from the lotus with four petals
of the u~IJ.i~a^106 to the lotus with sixteen petals of the forehead, (and its)
permeation (vyapti) of both, is the First Joy.
Thereafter (follows) the Perfect Joy, in the throat and in the heart:
(the coming of the sukra) from the lotus with thirty-two petals of the
throat to the lotus with eight petals of the heart (and their) complete
permeation is Perfect Joy.
Thereupon follows the Joy of Cessation: (the coming of sukra) from
the lotus with sixty-four petals of the navel to the lotus with thirty-two