The Cult of Tara

252
MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
At last the tongue of the corpse protrudes from its mouth. The
critical moment has arrived. The sorcerer seizes the tongue with
his teeth and bites it off. The corpse at once collapses.
Failure in controlling the body after having awakened it, means
certain death for the sorcerer.
The tongue carefully dried becomes a powerful magic weapon
which is treasured by the triumphant magician.
The Tibetan who gave me these details described most vividly
the gradual awakening of the corpse: the first conscious look
which brightened its glazed eyes and its feeble movements slowly
growing in strength until he became unable to prevent the agitation
of the jumping monster and needed all his strength to hold it.
He described his sensations when he could feel the tongue issuing
from the mouth of the corpse and touching his own lips, and
realized that the terrible moment had come when, if he failed to
conquer it, the horrible being would kill him.
The particular middle-class attainments, on the other hand, are
specifically the eight great magical attainments as found in the
Indian Buddhist texts. Here Dragpa jets'en takes as the source
for his list a verse from the fourth chapter of the Tantra of the
Diamond Pavilion:
Eye ointment, foot ointment,
sword, dominion over the underwold,
magic pill, walking in the sky,
invisibility, alchemy,
holding the mantra, universal sovereignty,
and summoning the holy maiden:
by receiving these a practitioner
gains the diamonds of the magical attainments.
This list differs slightly from that given above, and moreover the
verse actually gives eleven items, which Dragpa jets'en must somehow
combine into eight. He gives the following glosses:
1) If the practitioner puts the eye ointment upon his eyes, he
can see the entire triple world.
2) If he puts the foot ointment upon his feet, his feet become
swift.
3) If he puts the sword in his mouth, he can mount into the
sky.
4) If he gains dominion over the underworld, he can lift
treasure out from underground and give to beings whatever
they desire.
5) If he puts the magic pill into his mouth, no one can see him.
Like a no/i/i-spirit he can take whatever form he wishes, and