A CRITICAL TANTRISM3 prajiijiiiina-abhi!fka (fdltli~r.lnt. the consecration to acqmre prajiiii-
wisdom or acquire wisdom through prajiiii, a woman)
4 caturtha-abhi!jeha cmgg!IW:. the fourth consecration)
The first is the usual consecration to become a master. It is also called kalasa-
abhi!feka (the consecration with a pitcher), in which water gathered from the five
oceans of the world, symbolizing the five kinds of wisdom (1i~) which consti-
tute the dharmahiiya of Vairocana, viz. bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment),
is poured from a pitcher on the top of the head of a disciple so as to implant the
five kinds of wisdom within him.
The second is said to be the original consecration of the Guhyasamiija-tantra.
The master (iiciirya) who is identified with Vajrasattva ('adamantinebeing' who
is both the absolute reality itself and a concrete being) practises sexual yoga
with a beautiful girl of sixteen years old (mahiimudrii, the material aspect of the
entire mm:u!ala and at the same time a woman) who was dedicated to him by the
desciple during her menstruation. The master drops the bodhicitta, the mixture
of his semen ( upiiya) and the menstrual fluid of the girl (prajiiii), into the mouth
of the disciple whose eyes are bound with a cloth, and thus implants the bod-
hicitta within him.
The third is thought to be the original consecration of the Buddhist immigrants
to the cult of cemetery, and is performed in conformance with the idea of the
structure of the human body, thought to be borrowed from the cult of cemetery.
There are two veins (niiqi) on both sides of the central or spinal vein
Avadhiiti, viz. Lalanii, (left) and Rasanii (right). Lalanii conveys prajiiii and
Rasanii conveys upiiya. Through the sexual yoga, bodhicitta, the mixture of
prajiiii and upiiya, occurs at the confluence of these two veins. Through yogic
practice, the yogin makes this bodhicitta ascend through the central vein
Avadhiiti. Avadhiiti runs through four cakras (similar to nerve centres), viz.
nirmiil}a-cakra, dharma-cakra, smnbhoga-cakra and mahiisukha-cakra which
are imagined to be located in the navel, in the heart, in the throat and in the head
as sixty-four petalled, eight petalled, sixteen petalled and thirty-two petalled
respectively. As the bodhicitta passes through these four cakras in regular suc-
cession, the four kinds of pleasures, viz. iinanda (usual sexual pleasure),
paramiinanda (the supreme pleasure), viramiinanda (pleasure no longer sexual)
and sahajiinanda (the innate pleasure) are experienced. The last of these four,
which is experienced when the bodhicitta attains to the cakra in the head, viz.
mahiisukhacakra (the cakra of the great pleasure) is the great pleasure (mahii-
sukha :k~) which is an aspect of the ultimate reality and is nothing other than
the state of enlightenment.^44 This idea of mahiisukha as the state of enlighten-
ment or as an aspect of dharmahiiya obviously corresponds to the aspect of
iinanda of brahman, the universal reality of Brahmanic Philosophy, which is
equipped with three aspects, viz. sat (substantiality), cit (spirituality) and ananda
(pleasure).
In the prajiiiijiiiina-abhi!feka, the master (iiciirya) makes the disciple practice