ON THE CONCEPT OF SAHAJAWe are, first of all, warned that as to the actual experience of sahaja,
(1) it is ineffable,
that is to say, words convey no accurate idea of what it is: "it surpasses the
scope of words" (I.viii.51 ). Hence "By no other may it be told, and from no-one
may it be received" (I.viii.36). Thus it can only be "experienced by oneself'
(svasarpvedya)^146 (I.viii.46,51; ix.3; x.8), and may in this way be "known intu-
itively" (I.viii.36). The experience is said to be "like a maiden's (first experience
of) sexual bliss"^147 or "like the dream of a fool" (II.v. 70)-both very apt images,
the first pointing to the difference between this experience and anything experi-
enced before, the second to the impossibility of giving a satisfactory, coherent
account of it.
Yet here, as in all other religious traditions, we find that in fact quite a lot has
been said about that which is claimed to be beyond words. The most guarded
expression, perhaps, is that "like the sky it is pure and void" (I.x.9), or that it is
"calm" (nistaraiJ.ga, lit. "without waves") (I.x.34, 36) and "undifferentiated"
(I.x.36). But more frequently, positive statements are made, for instance to the
effect that
(2) it is blissful.
This is underlined by the very term sahajananda, "Simultaneously-arisen
Joy", which we have already discussed. It is also referred to as "Great Bliss"
(mahasukha) (I.viii.5, 46; II.ii.34, 59; iii.2, 22; v.68)-a term which is extremely
common in other texts. It is referred to simply as "bliss" (saukhya, sukha)
(I.v.21), or as "the highest delight" (paramarati) (I.x.33). In this connection we
may also note the various passages, translated above, discussing the relationship
between the bliss experienced in the course of the first three consecrations and
the Simultaneously-arisen bliss.
Not only is it blissful, but like that instant in profane life in which love
reaches its climax,
(3) it is timeless,
or, which amounts to the same, eternal. "Seeking after the Great Symbol, he will
gain thereby that eternal state (satatyam)" (I.viii.43); "This is ... the great bliss,
perfect and eternal" (II.ii.59). - In M 4.1 the Great Seal is explicitly stated to be
kala-rahita, "unconnected with time". -Time being abolished, there is nothing
one may not know; hence
(4) it is a state of omniscience.
This fact is expressed in various ways. It is "knowledge" (jfiana) (I.viii.49;
x.32), "great knowledge" (mahajfiana) (I.i.l2; II.iii.24), "perfect knowledge of
all elements-of-existence" (sarvadharmaparijfiana) (I.viii.44), or it is said to
consist of "the knowledge that pertains to the Omniscient Ones", i.e. the
Buddhas (sarvajfiajfiana) (l.viii.51 ). Hence "the Simultaneously-arisen is called
Awakening (bodhi)" (I.x.l7).
What is the object of this knowledge, or, to employ a word which carries
SOmething of the same religious implications as jfiana (and is derived from the
same Indo-European root), of this "gnosis"? Properly speaking, it has no object,