Tantric libertism

"What's on a man's mind?" (optical illusion)

Reading the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra was an eyeopener to me, for many reasons. It probably is a fairly late tantra that appeared in the Nepalese Newar Buddhist milieu, but had been translated into Tibetan and incorporated in the Tibetan Canon (Kagyur) as spoken by the mouth of (a) Buddha (buddhavacana)[1].

“Of the more than one hundred extant manuscripts of the CMT, ranging in date from 1380 up to the twentieth century, all were written in Nepal, as were the only two known manuscripts of the CMT commentary, the Padmāvatī(nāmapañjikā).” 84000[2]

The author, or the person committing it to writing is unknown, although some think that he may be the same person as the author of the only extant commentary. I personally wouldn’t think so simply from a reader’s point of view, because it undermines the strength (élan) of the commented text. For the same reason I am not convinced that the whole Tantra was composed by the same singular author(s). The Tibetan translation was completed at the monastery of Sakya in the 13th-14th century with the help of an “Indian scholar” named Ratnaśrī[3] and Grags pa rgyal mtshan[4]. The deity Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa “is a sort of upgrade”[5] of the better known god Acala. Further interesting observations by Grimes & Szántó:

“Mahāsukhavajra severely attacks those who would think that the sexual imagery is merely symbolic, so he is well aware of tantric initiates who treat such practices in a subliminal and non-literal way. The vehemence of his tone suggests to us that he may have lived at a time when those with antinomian interpretations of the tantras were being pushed out by those taking a symbolic approach, perhaps as a compromise to social norms. If this was indeed the case, but we should stress that this only our impression, Mahāsukhavajra may have been a ‘purist’ attempting to revive and maintain disappearing practices.”

Mahāsukhavajra is the author of the Commentary, not of the Tantra. The latter speaks with more confidence as can be expected, since he identifies with “Lord Vajrasattva, having entered the absorption of Black Acala”. But “Lord Vajrasattva” impersonating “Black Acala” does indeed advise a “Taqiyyah” sort of attitude to his readers, with a “public” and “secret” level of training. This also seems to have been the attitude of the higher classes of Nepalese society (BA p. 394), more about that later. This attitude somehow lessens the appeal of Black Acala’s self-confidence and outspokenness, or his practicing a yogi’s identification with the deity…. A Heruka only in the evenings...

“That which has just been taught is the outward conduct;
Now, however, the secret practice will be taught.” (CMT 13.14)[6]

One may be used to the outspoken antinomian and injunctionary language of yogatantras, but the CMT is yet something else IMO. There is a certain playfulness and humour, that makes it almost look like a parody of a tantra or a pastiche, even though other tantras may share some of this too. It has all the characteristics of a tantra, sometimes against its own internal logic. I see a creative author at work, and a libertine at that, who loves women, i.e. sex with women. This could be Rabelais, Casanova, the Marquis de Sade, or another blaspheming libertine, writing under the pseudonym “Black Acala”.

Just like Daniel Defoe who tells the “true story” of Robinson Crusoe, the author of the tantra will do everything to make it look like an authentic tantra. And that’s why I can’t stop grinning reading it. The opening setting, the threats to keep it secret “To hell will he, the evil one, be led, Even if he is protected by buddhas.” Buddhas don’t box in the same category as yogis in this tantra as its readers will discover. Śākyamuni is named “The son of Māyādevī” who “abandoned his 84,000 wives and his entire harem”, “only for the sake of others”, because “it was in the female quarters, that the Buddha, Experiencing pleasure in the company of Gopā, became accomplished”, not on bank of Nairañjanā[7]. Black Acala declares:

“10.28 It is from the union of the vajra and the lotus
That true pleasure is derived.
Awakening is attained through pleasure,
And there is no pleasure in being separated from women.”

Black Acala’s partner Lady Prajñāpāramitā, who never heard of the Buddha and of his wife, inquires “Who is that blessed one, the son of Māyādevī, and who is Gopā?” she is answered by the confident Black Acala:

“10.32 I am the son of Māyādevī,
Who has now become Caṇḍaroṣaṇa.
And you are the blessed lady Gopā,
In the form of Prajñāpāramitā.”

The son of Māyādevī had to act out the twelve acts of a Buddha, because of the ignorance of  “people [ ] devoid of faith”. In other words, if the Buddha wouldn’t have behaved like a sort of saint, people wouldn’t have had faith in him.

“They do not turn their minds to the truth
I [the Buddha], for my part, have concealed it very well.”

And he did indeed, for about 1500 years, until finally the concealed “real” truth started coming out. To begin with the Guhyasamāja Tantra, the Hevajra Tantra, etc., and later “Virūpa” and his pneumatic method of liberation, claiming that without this, his method, even a Buddha would remain a simple sāṃsārika[8].Pneumatism, internal alchemy with genetic “mystical substances”, without which “full Buddhahood” was said to be impossible. And here, in the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra, without lust, love and women (any women)[9], and his harem of 84.000 women, the son of Māyādevī would never have been a Buddha. Buddhadharma has been amended through the ages, until Buddhist modernism or Protestant Buddhism of course, because that would be taking things much too far...

That being said, the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra, “taught for the sake of insatiable lovers[10]” is a very interesting text in itself. Obviously, I don’t take it as a buddhavacana, nor would I follow its method scrupulously, weighing every word like in Mahāsukhavajra’s Commentary. It’s an expression of freedom, quite creative and I am sure intentionally funny. I think the author(s) and his/their friends must have enjoyed creating an authentic tantra, including in it everything a Tantra is expected to include, and even quoting from a text about the Arts of love such as the Kāmasūtra. It is a bit ambiguous in that it mixes elements of internal alchemy (white and red bindu), usually controlled through pneuma and mind, and simple Arts of love, erotic and even pornographic material. Within the Tantric Buddhist alchemist context white (especially) and red bindu are one of the purest “concealed essences” in the Buddhist cosmos, even though conventionally considered as impure substances.

Its core message seems to be that Lust rules! Desire is indestructible, whatever the son of Māyādevī had to say about it in his day job. Therefore desire (and the pleasure arising from it[11]), is what we really are, it is the only path to liberation. Let’s not beat about the bush.

“A lover must not abandon lust,
Lest he would be living a lie.
By living a lie, evil is incurred;
And from evil, a rebirth in hell.

“He who lives a lie will meet his death,
There is no doubt.
Through this lust alone, accomplishment is won—
Only through lust—by the sons of the victorious ones. (CMT, 10.18-10.19)”

The union of Wisdom and Means, is the vajra in the lotus[12] (and not only once), a penis and a vagina and everything collateral to it. Mahāsukhavajra can get real upset in his Commentary, when people who don’t seem to get that simple message try to interpret it away. Black Acala gives it to us straight. Why not listen to him?

The author(s) of the CMT are obviously not the hoi polloi and belong to Nepalese aristoi circles, jetsetters with gold mines in Tibet (true). They are not dwelling in caves and in solitude, eating nettles and drinking water. That’s for the followers of the son of Māyādevī!

“In all the realms of the world,
Wherever one may happen to be,
There palaces will arise for him
With all desired things.

“Delightful, heavenly women,
Adorned with beauty and youth,
As numerous as stars in the sky,
Will without doubt be his. (CMT 9.13-9.14)”

His as in he and him. And don’t interpret things away, please. "Women" (mind the plural), not for women’s sake of course, but because women make his lust and desire rise, and are his (the Tantric libertine’s) sole opportunity to liberation[13]. Chapter 19 of the CMT gives all the required magical recipes to attract women and keep the desire going. Recite, rinse, repeat.

“One should blend together donkey’s semen and lotus filaments, rub this onto one’s penis, and make love to a woman. Then she will become enthralled.” (CMT, 19.4)

The Marquis de Sade preferred the Spanish fly... The Tibetan translation of this text was made at the monastery of Sakya in the 13th-14th century by a Drakpa Gyeltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan). The son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo perhaps? The “monastery” of Sakya was very busy with writing and translating in those days. ”Monastery”, because a specific feature of Buddhist vihāras was that they could be administered by dynasties of important lay upasākas. The monks in the vihāras would be practicing the public teachings of Māyādevī’s son, whereas their administrators would rather turn to his secret and concealed teachings, as was the case for the Brahmin upasāka Ratnavajra in Srinagar. His seems to have been also a model for some Tibetan vihāras. One of the main sources of the Sakya tradition was the scribe (kayastha) Gayadhara[14]. It’s with him that Drokmi is said to have translated all the texts of the Mārgaphala (lam ‘bras) cycle that are attributed to “Virūpa”. Gayadhara required gold for his transmissions and so did Drokmi, ask Marpa (BA p. 208). From another teacher, Prajñāgupta or GuhyaPrajñā, “the red master”, Drokmi learned “the karmamudrā practices of Indrabhūti's Phyag rgya'i lam skor (The Cycle of the Path of the Mudrā), which is one of the Lam skor dgu”[15]. GuhyaPrajñā was a student of Ratnavajra. This text is “the most detailed and explicit explanation of mudra practice”[16] But all these were said to initially be “oral transmissions", only to be revealed, written down and made public at the monastery of Sakya, at the time of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and his sons (12th-13th century).

To come back to the gold that was exchanged for the transmissions and the writing, editing and translating. The Bharo clan prospected gold in Tibet. During the 13th century Bharo gTsugs ‘dzin, born in Yam bu ba (or Yam bu, Kantipur or Kathmandu) left for Tibet in order to find gold and became a student of Guru Chos dbang or Chos kyi dbang phyug (1212- 1269/1270). The Bharo clan was an important Newar family devoted to Tantric Buddhism. The one-armed Bharo (tib. bha ro phyag rdum) was a famous yogi. As was the Newar Ha mu dkar po/Varendraruci (Bsod nams 'byung gnas bzang po), the “white mantrika”. These rich and devout Bharo clan members are thought to have played a big role in a transmission of Vajravārāhī (phag mo gzhung drug)[17], a method bestowed by king Indrabhūti’s sister Lakṣmīṅkārā “on the venerable Virūpa”[18], that was spread by “the great Avadhūti-pa or Paiṇḍapātika, the Great (bsod nyoms pa, alms-gatherer)”, a kṣatriya (aristoi) from Eastern Bengal. There is some confusion about the exact identity of the Paiṇḍapātika teaching the Bharo clan, because the Blue Annals mention a senior and a junior Paiṇḍapātika, the junior being called Jinadatta. Paiṇḍapātika junior is invited with an attendant by Ma he Bha ro, a member of the Bharo clan, to become the house priest, and while staying there, he met with a student of Advayavajra: Devākaracandra/ Śūnyatāsamādhivajra, another wealthy aristoi (BA p. 392-393).

This Devākaracandra met our paṇḍita Ratnaśrī (mentioned above) “and studied under him the Sampuṭa Tantra (toh. 381)" and the Hevajra Tantra. During one of the Tantric salons of the Bharo clan, Devākaracandra and Mahe Bharo required initiations from Paiṇḍapātika junior, during which many miracles occurred. After this Paiṇḍapātika junior was also invited at the home of the white mantrika Ha mu dkar po to bestow the same hot topic, the initiation with “secret precepts” to himself and a group of friends (BA p. 393-394).

“During the initiation rite, five girls were compelled to attend the rite with the help of mantras and they were made invisible (in order that) the wife of Ha mu might not see them. The wife saw only cups of wine suspended in the air and did not see the girls (who were holding the cups). She asked the teacher: "How could this be?" "I have blessed them!" replied the teacher.
At that time, in the country of Nepāl, five had gathered, four disciples sTong nyid ting ‘dzin [Devākaracandra], Ma he Bha ro, Ha mu dkar po and Buddhadatta [Paiṇḍapātika junior’s attendant and nephew), and the teacher [Paiṇḍapātika junior]. Ha mu presented five golden srangs.”

“Girls” tend to appear and disappear at will as we also learn from the story of Dampa Kor/Nirūpa (skor chung ba) and his stay in Nepal with the yogi Rwa ru can, who was proud of being the richest man in Nepal, and who organised secret initiations by himself and his wife, by maid-servants, and banquets, etc. (BA p. 851). A sort of Jeffrey Epstein? Dampa Kor/Nirūpa was then sent to the suburb of an Indian town “to practise secret Tantric rites”.

“Inside a chapel (mchod-khan) he found a painted banner (thang-ka) hanging, in front of which were placed the five kinds of offerings. He spent some time there, (and saw) a man dressed as a monk (bhikṣu) holding his alms-bowl and his staff (gsil-byed) coming from the town on a begging round, he (the monk) said to him: "You are probably the disciple of the yogin mDa'-gžu-'dzin-pa ("Holder of bow and arrow"). Then at night, the monk removed the painted image, behind which he opened a small door, out of which came out numerous mudrās possessing marks and adorned with bone-ornaments. In their company, the monk performed various Tantric rites, and the (feeling) of Bliss increased. In the morning the monk again hid the mudrās, closed the door, and covered it with the painted image (thang-ka). After that the monk went on a begging round and told him: "We Indians practise the secret Tantric rites in this manner". A strong faith was produced in [Dampa Kor] and for six months he practised secret Tantric rites.”

Reading these anecdotes recounted by ‘Gos lo tsā ba gzhon nu dpal (1392-1481), one gets the impression that these practices occurred in small privileged circles of aristoi or of libertines. The arrival of the Indian Paiṇḍapātika junior seemed to have been quite a buzz in town. The Ratnaśrī that Devākaracandra met in Nepal, could have been the one who later helped to translate the CMT at the Sakya vihāra in Tibet. These are not materials for the average monk in a Buddhist monastery, but for privileged “insatiable lovers” (CMT 6.9). These are no longer pneumatic or alchemist practises done in order to produce immortality, or out of love for women, devotion to a goddess, etc., but simply for desire, lust, in order to lead the yogin to “libération”. Even the physical body of a woman or girl is not required, and a prop or a love doll may be used instead. After having been telestically consecrated (pratiṣṭhā, rab gnas) through mantras.

[...] a skilled practitioner Should find a girl[19] from his own spiritual family or that of another, And meditate while holding her.
“Through this, there is no doubt That a yogin will succeed by means of a consort.

Alternatively one should make a lifelike effigy And do practice with ‘her’—made of clay and so on. “Immersed in absorption of innate Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa, One should recite the mantra, with one-pointed mind.

“And these are the respective mantras to be recited:
‘Oṁ, Viśvavajrī, come, come! Hūṁ svāhā!’
‘Oṁ, Vajrasarasvatī, come, come! Dhīḥ svāhā!’
‘Oṁ, Vajradhātvīśvarī, come, come! Vaṁ svāhā!’
‘Oṁ, Kurukullā, come, come! Hrīṁ svāhā!’
‘Oṁ, Tārā, come, come! Tāṁ svāhā!’ (CMT 25.11-25.13)

And if there is no clay left, the yogin could use “the hand-consort (karamudrā) (i.e. masturbation)” mentioned in Mahāsukhavajra’s commentary[20].

Yet, this Tantra is often quoted for its woman-friendly quotes, which obviously do exist. But these are mere words, like non-Tantric Buddhism, the Buddha and the Buddha’s life and teaching are mere words destined for those not ready to hear the real truth: only lust saves!

So yes the CMT does declare:

‘The foul-mouthed ones, steeped in evil acts,
Who out of enmity, revile, in this world,
A woman, the sole mother of the three worlds,
A gentle giver of true pleasure, “
‘They, because of this alone, will remain
In a far-off, deep hell called Terrible,
Tormented forever, crying ,
Their bodies burned by many fires, for three eons. (CMT 6.33-6.34)

More words, like previous forms of Buddhism would, through the karma-proxy, send off to hell and to miserable rebirths those not complying with its doctrine and practice. And in order to reassure Tantric libertines:

“Since everything is only mind,
And its duration is only momentary,
Who is it that goes to hell,
And who is it that goes to heaven?” (CMT, 8.30)

On the other hand, the CMT also declares the yogin should make love to “The mother, and also the daughter, The younger sister, the niece, Or any other female relative, [...] Or another woman, as available” (CMT 6.4-6.6). As the Commentary explains, this is not open for interpretation (see above)[21]

The CMT is outspoken and so is the Commentary. There also are accounts of  the behaviour of Tantric yogis and their tulkus in the past and still nowadays. Who exactly misunderstands what the CMT and the Commentary seem to be conveying? Why is Tantric Buddhism so easily "misunderstood"? According to hagiographical sources, initiations and “secret precepts” of Vajrayoginī transmissions seem to have been instrumental to lay or religious aristoi practising with young women, or girls, from a lower social status (caste) in a secret setting, away from daylight.

“One of the hallmarks of Tantra is the honor that is accorded to women in its philosophy and practice. This gynocentrism is gaining recognition in scholarship on Hindu Tantra (Gupta 1991), and I contend that this holds true for Buddhist Tantra as well.”

“The prevailing Western view has been that the women of Tantric Buddhism were dominated, marginalized, and exploited by their male cohorts. Earlier scholars pronounced female Tantrics to be prostitutes, sluts, and witches, while more recent scholarship has temporized that they were low-caste unfortunates who were used by male Tantrics in sexual rituals. The corollary of this view is that the Tantric Buddhist goddesses have been relevant only for male psychology and religiosity.”

“For example, the generic term ‘Tantric practitioner' might be rendered as 'yogi' in an English translation, followed by gratuitous use of the pronoun ‘he’, creating a false impression of the male exclusivity of Tantric texts.”[22]

I really doubt that those same Tantric yogins, e.g. Ha mu dkar po and the men of the Sakya and other dynasties, would allow their wives to practise with young men, or young boys, from a lower social status (caste), and what would be the religious frame of such practice? This is not what Tantric Buddhism was about in those days and even nowadays. As far as I can see it is not even adaptable, because of the very dualistic and essentialist foundations, with a thin layer of emptiness. Even “emptiness” and “Clear light” won’t convince any Tantric lama to change anything. Even Śiva’s freedom and sovereignty wouldn’t go as far as to concretely inverse roles. Or God and Nature, “his” creation. It is probably too much ingrained in religion, and any change on that level would cause the Baby and Bathwater veto to be spoken.

And yet, it seems to me there is a bit of spark of freedom and creativity in the CMT (4.16-4.18), that instead of faithfully following (or "practising") what it says, could inspire some to take the same freedom, in order to create something very different, without simply inverting roles or using the same theocratic structure but this time for women, or other categories. The son of Māyādevī is used to it, he wouldn’t mind. I certainly tried...

***

[1] Toh 431 Degé Kangyur, vol. 80 (rg yud ’bum, nga), folios 304.b–343.a.

[2] Introduction by the 84000 Dharmachakra Translation Committee.

[3] The commentary Padmāvatī was written by one Mahāsukhavajra. “For now we must work with the assumption that he was a Nepalese scholar active in the 13th century CE.” Grimes & Szántó. Mahāsukhavajra would be bDe chen rdo rje in Tibetan.

[4] Tibetan Renaissance, Ronald M. Davidson, p. 166

[5] Mahāsukhavajra’s Padmāvatī Commentary on the Sixth Chapter of the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇatantra: The Sexual Practices of a Tantric Buddhist Yogī and His Consort, Samuel Grimes & Péter-Dániel Szántó 2018

[6] 13.12 “One should not kill living beings
Or take another’s property.
One should never steal another’s wife
Or speak untruthful words.”

13.13 For the sake of abandoning the vices of the world,
A wise one should never drink wine.
It is with decorum that one should take up
This public level of training.”

[7] Compare with hagiographical quotes attributed to Saraha, after having practiced with a young fletcheress. From Dreaming the Great Brahmin, Kurtis R. Schaeffer

“Until today I was not a Brahmin,
From today onward I am a Brahmin”
(Karma Trinlaypa, Do ha skor gsum Tika ‘bring po sems kyi rnam thar ston pa me long, Druk Sherig Press, 4.2-8), and

“Until today I was no monk,
Today at least a monk I am.
The real monk is magnificent monk;
Glorious Heruka is the monk supreme.”
(Kunga Rinchen (1475-1527), Bka’ rgyud bla ma rnams kyi rnam thar rin chen gser phreng, Leh, 1972, pp. 4-7

[8] Amṛtasiddhi: 32.3ab tāvad buddho 'py asiddho 'sau narah. sām.sāriko matah. |

[9] “Women are heaven, women are the Dharma, And women are truly the supreme austerity.
Women are the Buddha, women are the Saṅgha, Women are the Perfection of Wisdom. (CMT, 8.14)”

[10] CMT, 6.9

[11] “Merit is acquired through passionate affection; Sins are acquired by indifference.
There is no greater evil than the absence of passion, And no merit greater than pleasure." (CMT, 6.90)” - Therefore accumulate merit, lots of it!

[12] “It is from the union of the vajra and the lotus That true pleasure is derived.
Awakening is attained through pleasure, And there is no pleasure in being separated from women.” CMT, 10.28

[13] “[The śrāvakas] all abide in the realm of desire— Those who are called listeners and so forth.
They do not know the path to liberation And always see the woman as an ordinary being.” (CMT, 10.35)

[14] “Gayadhara was a tantric lay practitioner, not a monk. The late Sde gzhung Rin po che, Kun dga' bstan pa'i nyi ma, used to humorously tell me how some Tibetan critics had said Gayadhara just came to Tibet to get gold with which to feed his many children back in India. The historian Dpa bo Gtsug lag phreng ba (1504—66) also specifically noted that Gayadhara was a layman, and in several surviving paintings he is depicted wearing the white robe of a lay Indian master.2'9 Furthermore, several sources state that Gayadhara was the father of the Indian master known as Ti pu Gsang sngags sdong po, a disciple of both Naropa and Maitrlpa who later became one of the teachers of Ras chung Rdo rje grags pa.” Luminous Lives, Cyrus R. Stearns

[15] Luminous Lives, Cyrus R. Stearns

[16] Malcolm Smith, Translation's Introduction of the text as presented in Jamgön Kongtrul’s Damngak Dzö (Volume 6 (ཆ་) / Pages 119-136 / Folios 1a1 to 9b3)

[17] From Blue Annals, p. 389 onwards

[18] Who bestowed it on the great Avadhūti-pa or Paiṇḍapātika, the Great (bsod nyoms pa), a kṣatriya from Eastern Bengal. BA, 390 I recommend reading his whole story…

[19] CMT 13.17
“One should attach to one’s head the five strips of colored cloth
And shave off one’s hair and beard.
One should procure a girl who is older than ten years
And embark upon one’s practice.”

In Tibetan: “One should perform secret conduct with a twelve-year-old girl.”

[20] Samuel Grimes & Péter-Dániel Szántó

[21] Samuel Grimes & Péter-Dániel Szántó

[22] Is Vajrayogini a feminist, A Tantric Buddhist Case Study, Miranda E.Shaw, In Alf Hiltebeitel and Kathleen M. Erndl, eds., Is the Goddess a Feminist?