Great-Bliss-Tantric-Sex-and-the-Path-to-Inner-Awakening

Techniques
“I am in erotic union with my consort, my essential nature peace and bliss.”
- Hevajra Tantra
Deity yoga comprises a large number of many different practices. The presentation in this
chapter principally follows The Sādhana of Secret Vajravilāsinī, but also expands upon it. The
main deity yoga practices include: 1) sādhana practice (sādhana), 2) the fire pūjā (Agni pūjā),
and 3) daily conduct (caryā). Together, these practices transform you into a deity and invite you
to see everything around you as perfect, the pure realm of the deity.
Sādhana Practice
Sādhana practice (sādhana) commonly includes: 1) praise (pūjā), 2) dissolving and arising from
emptiness (śūnyatā), 3) armoring (kavaca), 4) visualizing the pledge deity (samaya sattva), 5)
becoming the wisdom deity (jñāna sattva), 6) self-consecration (svādhiṣṭhāna), 7) dancing
(nāṭya), 8) Mantra Repetition with Wisdom Consort (mantra japa Jñānamudrā), 9) the Four
Blisses of Sexual Yoga with Wisdom Consort (Catur Ānanda Jñānamudrā), and 10) dissolution
(visarjana).
Praise
You recite words of praise (pūjā) to the deity, which develops your devotion. In The Sādhana of
Secret Vajravilāsinī, the praise is offered twice, at the start of the sādhana and at the end of the
deity yoga section. The first set of praise verses serves a preparatory role to shift your mind
devotionally for the rest of the practice. It is through the strength of your heart connection that
the deity transforms you and you attain union with it. The second set of praise verses is offered
after you have become the deity at the end of the deity yoga section, so they are self-praises,
honoring the greatness of yourself as the deity who ends all suffering. The vibrational power of
the song of praise reverberates through the universe, and is received as a divine gift to all beings.
Dissolving and Arising from Emptiness
Dissolving yourself into emptiness (śūnyatā), you realize your own emptiness and the emptiness
of all appearances. Nothing possesses substantial reality, and this liberates you from attachment.
For those whose practice may be on perceiveing all things as Mind, Essence, or the Innate, you
perform this step with that view in mind instead.
Armoring
In armoring (kavaca), you place the power of the deity’s mantra seed syllables into your own
body to prepare and strengthen your body to receive the awesome power of the deity within you.
185