Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

I NITIATION
gods to hold the ceremony. The preparatory day also
included the performance of a fire ritual (homa) for the
sake of purity and auspiciousness. After the mandala
was constructed and consecrated by the master, the
candidate would be prepared by some teaching. After
being presented with a piece of kusha or other variety
of grass, the candidate would be told to place the consecrated
grass under the pillow and to remember whatever
dreams might occur in the night. Auspicious dreams
(e.g., a sunrise or a view from the pinnacle of a high
mountain) would mean that the candidate was appropriate;
conversely, inauspicious dreams (e.g., imprisonment
or losing one’s way in a unknown place) might
convince the master than the candidate was inadequate
to the task, and cause the consecration to be canceled
or postponed.
On the day of the consecration, the candidate would
be brought in, sometimes blindfolded, to relate the
dreams. The blindfold or screen would then be removed
and the mandala revealed. The master would
then have the candidate throw a flower into the mandala
to determine which of the five families (buddha, vajra,
ratna, padma, or karma) the person belonged to, so
that the appropriate MANTRA and form of the buddha
could be conferred. The candidate was then consecrated
by anointing from a pot of water, by conferring
a vajra-scepter, by bestowing a ritual bell, by placing a
crown on the candidate’s head, by entrusting a buddha’s
mantra to the candidate, and by granting the candidate
a new name. Other subsidiary consecrations
could be added as well, but the above were standard,
although the order in which they were granted would
vary with the event or lineage. The candidate was instructed
especially in the proper use of the mantra and
in the ritual of contemplation on the buddha, and was
further granted the authority (in some traditions) to
become a teacher. Vows of secrecy were essential to
this process, even though the content of the secrets
continued to change as the understanding of the ritual
and its literature progressed. Other vows would include
nonrepudiation of mantras, acquiescence to the
authority of the buddhas, and acquiescence to the
authority of the candidate’s master (who was the buddhas’
representative), all allied with the general commitment
to cultivate the attitudes associated with the
Mahayana. Increasingly, the candidate was instructed
to visualize himself as the buddha or bodhisattva on
whom the flower fell during the mandala rite. Finally,
the candidate was granted the authority to perform rituals
(especially fire rites) associated with pacification,
accumulation, subjugation, and destruction; these
were traditionally exercised on behalf of patrons and
so represented the newly consecrated master’s potential
source of income.
By the late eighth century, the development and institutionalization
of the new “perfected” (siddha) figures
in Indian Buddhism led to a change in some of
the initiatory rituals. In siddha-inspired literature, the
above rites all came to be subsumed into the category
of the “jug” or “ewer” consecration, since the candidate’s
aspersion from a pot was its hallmark. Added to
this were three new forms of consecration, derived
from siddha rituals, for ascension to kingship over celestial
sorcerers (VIDYADHARA): the secret consecration,
the insight/gnosis consecration, and the fourth consecration.
The first was secret, for the master was to copulate
with a woman (often a prostitute), and the
candidate was instructed to consume the ejaculate. In
the insight/gnosis consecration, the candidate himself
copulated with the consort, experiencing great bliss as
a symbol of liberation. The fourth consecration was
the revelation of a symbol to the candidate, who was
expected to understand its significance.
These new rituals were not introduced without
comment, for they represented a dramatic reorientation
toward the fundamental values of Buddhist clerical
celibacy. Although multiple opinions on their
desirability or necessity were voiced throughout the
ninth to twelfth centuries, they were eventually enacted
almost exclusively in a visualized form, rather than the
literal enactment seen earlier. Over time, the new consecrations
were combined with new forms of yoga
developed from non-Buddhist analogs and a new set
of vows and sacraments (samaya) were added to provide
a framework for the yogin’s subsequent behavior.
See also: Mahasiddha; Tantra
Bibliography
Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History
of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2002.
Lessing, Ferdinand D., and Wayman, Alex, trans. Mkhas Grub
Rje’s Fundamentals of the Buddhist Trantras. The Hague,
Netherlands, and Paris: Mouton, 1968.
Snellgrove, David L. “The Notion of Divine Kingship in Tantric
Buddhism.” In La Regalità Sacra: Contributi al Tema dell’
VIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia delle Religioni. Leiden,
Netherlands: Brill, 1959.
Snellgrove, David L. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists
and Their Tibetan Successors, 2 vols. Boston: Shambhala,
1987.
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