The Original Formation and Performance of

the "Secret Assembly" (guhyasamaja),

an Integration of the Guhyasamaja-tantra
into the History of Tantric Buddhism in India

Shin' ichi Tsuda

Preface

The present paper is originally the fifth of a course of ten lectures entitled
in toto "The Thought of Early Buddhism and its Tantric Evolution"
delivered at the School of Oriental and African Studies ( SOAS), the
University of London, under the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Visiting
Professorship 1995. The titles of each lecture are as follows:

Lecture One: Buddhism of the Buddha and Buddhism of Purul?a:

An Introductory Remark on "the Buddhist Study of the
Open System" .
Lecture Two: Practical Philosophy of Early Buddhism.
Lecture Three: "Critical" Evolution of Mahayana Buddhism.
Lecture Four: Two Types of Esoteric Buddhism: Mahayanic
Esoterism of the Vairocanabhisarhbodhi- Sutra and the
Genuine Esoterism of theSarvatathagatatattvasarhgraha-
tantra.
Lecture Five: The "Secret Assembly", a Tantric Attempt to Attain
Enlightenment Instantaneously.
Lecture Six: Tantric Buddhism as a "Cult of Cemetery".
Lecture Seven: Double Truth of the Hevajra-Tantra and its His-
torical Meaning.
Lecture Eight: New Emergence of Purul?a at the End of the History

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104 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

of Tantric Buddhism in India.

Lecture Nine: "Criticality" of Kukai, the Foundation of Japanese
Esoteric Buddhism.
Lecture Ten: From Esoteric Buddhism to the Pure Land Buddhism:
Evolution of Theistic Buddhism in Japan.

I intended through these lectures to convey an idea of my own on the

history of Buddhist thought reconstructed on the basis of a new principle,
which I named "the open system"; though the fifth lecture itself, as an
attempt to recover the historical coherences of the Guhyasamaja-tantra
with its antecedent, the Sarvatathagatatattvasarhgraha-tantra, and its
successor, the Hevajra-tantra, has little immediate connection with this
principle.

My "open system" interpretation of the history of Buddhist thought

emerges when we interpret that body of history that I reconstructed
before as the process of the theistic principle of "the God of the open
system" revealing himself. The notion of "the God of the open system"
was given to us early in the "Hymn of Puru9a" in the Ijg- Veda with its
complete conceptual framework. The whole process of the evolution of
the factual history of Buddhist thought, which I call that of the "closed
system" in contrast to "open system" , was in fact only the process of
the conceptual framework of Purusa, the original gigantic anthropos of
the Fjg- Veda, filling with its real substance inside.

This process shows its completion at the last "critical" turn of the history
of tantric Buddhism which occures between the system of the Havajra-
tantra and that of the Sarhvara Tantrism and consequently presents to
us the following "proposition of the open system" which I call, half
jestingly, "the truth of six thousand years of mankind" :

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 105

A: "'You are of yourself (svayam) your own father.'"

and still,
B: "You should by yourself (suayam) become your own father."

Formula A of this "proposition " • "pita te tvam asi suayam" in its

original Sanskrit, occures actually at the very end of the Hevajra-tantra
as the "word" of the fourth consecration, that is, the final formula of
the truth of Tantric Buddhism given in India; and this formula, being
connected paradoxically by the connective "and still" with the formula
B, informs us of the final mode of the relation between man and "the
God" . In passing, formula B is that which is duly required from the
fact that the notion of durative practice, that is, the life-long pilgrimage
of pithas (pilgrim places), a correspondence to the Buddha's notion of
the practice, i. e., life-long maintenance of chastity ( drf?tadharma-
brahmacaryii), revived in the system of the Sari:tvara Tantrism, the
successor of the Hevajra- tantra, tiding over the tantric principle of
attaining enlightenment instantaneously without any durative practice.

It is true that the whole process of the evolution of Japanese Buddhist

thought was a coherent flow along the course of this "proposition of the
open system" , and that it carried us to the presence of "the thought
of the open system" itself which is "open" to the world and to our
thinkings today. I take it as my next task to provide this thought with
a concrete Buddhistic expression on the basis of my own positive,
historical understanding of Buddhist thought.

I would acknowledge my great debt of gratitude to Mr. Chishu Numata,

the president ·of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, the sponsor of the visiting
professorship on which I had the chance to deliver those lectures mentioned
above; to Dr. Tadeusz Skorupsky of the School of_ Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS) in the University of London, who, as the head of the

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106 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

board of the foundation of the visiting professorship in SOAS, nominated

me to the visiting professorship 1995; and to all the staff of SOAS with
whose kind support I narrowly fulfilled my heavy obligations to deliver
ten lectures together with ten seminars on the Ga]Jr:javyiiha- siitra in
English within my ten weeks stay in London.

I also acknowledge my gratitude to Ms Anne Ogawa, a participant of

my class in ICABS, who kindly helped me in checking the English of this
lecture which was prepared rather hastily in London. I am thinking of
publishing further lectures in due course.

1. "Vajrayo~idbhage~u vijahara" : the Tantric Place of Truth.

For a student beginning the study of Tantric Buddhism, nothing is more

astonishing than the following strange expression which appears at the
beginning of the Guhyasamaja- tantra :

evarh maya §rut am ekasmin samaye bhagauan sarvatathagataka-

yavakcittahrdayauajrayofiidbhage?u uijahara.
"Thus have I heard at one time. The Reverend Lord dwelt in the
female organs of the adamantine ladies who are the hearts of the
bodies, speech and minds of all the tathagatas. "

"To dwell in the female organ" simply means that a man is in the state
of sexual union with a woman; and in this case, the word "female organ"
(yo?idbhaga) is given in the plural (yofiidbhagefiu). The expression evarh
maya srutam ekasmin samaye bhagavan (Thus have I heard at one time.
The Reverend Lord) shows, in usual siitras, the situation in which the
Reverend Lord Sakyamuni Tathagata is about to preach the truth to the
audience of sravakas or bodhisattvas; here in this Guhyasamaja- tantra
(abbrev. GS), however, "the Reverend Lord" is at the time in the state

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 107

of sexual union, and moreover, with women plural m number

contemporaneously.

This "strange" expression appears also at the beginning of the Hevajra-

tantra (abbrev. HV), which occupies the crucial position of the last
critical turn of the history of the thought of TantricBuddhism. It appears,
furthermore, in the Samputodbhava-tantra (abbrev. SPU ), which comes
after the Samvarodaya-tantra (abbrev. SU), the fundamental scripture
of the Sarhvara literature and shows a syncretism with HV . This
expression is assumed to have appeared in the unextant mula- tantra
(the "root" scripture of the system) of the Mayasamvara-tantra (in its
full name, the Sarvabuddhasamayoga-cj,akini- mayasamvara- tantra,
abbrev. MS), which is to be positioned between OS and HV, and likewise,
in the miila-tantra of the Sarhvara literature if it had existed at all.

In short, this strange expression worked as the leitmotiv suggesting to

us the Tantric "place" of the truth and the real state of the Tantric life
which is restricted by the truth throughout the whole course of the
historical evolution of the thought of Tantric Buddhism after OS .

This expression, especially the word yof?idbhaga which is the key-word

in the expression, was almost certainly what led people of the time to
regard the OS text as one of crucial importance. We find evidence of
this in the Kongo-cho-yuga-juhatte-shiiki ( ~JiGJUJJtfi«fh!J+ J\~m;m, "The
summaries of eighteen sessions of the Vajrasikhara-sutra, Taisho, No .
. 869), a text familiar in the tradition of Esoteric study in Japan.

Amoghavajra (/F~=~ Fuku-sanzo, 705-774), who is said to be the

translator of the Juhatte-shiiki is thought to have gone to Ceylon at the
end of the year 743 or in the beginning of 744; he studied the newest form
of Tantric Buddhism of the time in Ceylon and South India and came
back to Chang-an (:&~) in 746. We imagine from the total impression

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108 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

of the text that it was composed by Amoghavajra himself later on the

basis of his knowledge obtained during his stay in Ceylon or South India;
anyway it cannot be denied that the text reflects the actual state of
Tantrism of the first half of the eighth century in India to some extent.

The Juhatte-shiiki is the treatise which enumerates all the sessions of

the vast Vajra§ikhara-sutra of one hundred thousand verses composed
of eighteen sessions, and summarizes the contents of each session; the
names of the sessions assumed from Chinese and the names of the places
where they are said to have been preached are as follows:

( 1) Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha-tantra-raja ············
( 2) Sarvata thaga ta-guhyadhipa ti -yoga · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Akani~thadeva
(3) Sarvatantrasamgraha-yoga ··················the dharma-dhiitu palace
(4) Trailokyavijayavajra-yoga ·····················the top of Mt. Sumeru
(5) Lokalokottaravajra-yoga ············the "sky-sphere" of Varanasi
( 6) Mahasukhamoghasamayata ttva-yoga······ the palace of Paranir-
mitava§avartin
(7) Samantabhadra-yoga ···the palace of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
(8) Paramadya-yoga ···························the palace of Samantabhadra
(9) Sarvabuddhasamayogadakinijalasamvara-yoga······ the mantra -
palace
(10) Mahasamaya-yoga ························the palace ofdharma- dhiitu
( 11) Mahayanabhisamaya-yoga · ·· · · · · · · · ·· · · · · · · · · · · · · · .. · .. Akani~tha -deva
( 12) Samayaparama-yoga ······the bodhima-t;uja of the "sky-sphere"
(13) Mahasamayatattva-yoga ······ Vajradhiitu-marpjala-bodhimar;uja
( 14) Tathagatasamayatattva-yoga······
(15) Guhyasamaja-yoga ·········the so-called secret place, yosidbhaga
(16) Advayasamata-yoga ····················· the palace of dharma-dhiitu
(17) Khasama-yoga ·································the palace of bhuta-koti
( 18) Vajramukuta-yoga ···························the fourth dhyiina-heaven

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 109

Some of these eighteen sessions remind us of the names of extant tantras.

However, this does not mean that these texts were really extant at the
time when Amoghavajra was in Ceylon or South India. We imagine
that the number of sessions and places was increased to eighteen by
Amoghavajra himself, if he could be identified as the author of the
Jiihatte-shiiki .

We can dury assume that the fifteenth session, the Guhyasamiija-yoga,

corresponds fairly closely to the extant GS , as does the first session,
our Sarvatathiigatatattvasarhgraha-tantra (abbrev. STTS). Amoghavajra
may have learned the text in India if he wasn't able to take it back to
Chang-an.

Amoghavajra writes about the Guhyasamiija-yoga as follows:

"The fifteen session is named the Guhyasamiija-yoga . It was

preached at "the secret place" . It is the so-called " place of
yo?idbhaga " (l!i«BiiJ~fiJD:Y&). It is also called the palace of prajnii-
piiramitii. In this session, appear words which resemble words
connected with love or sexual affairs of the world in explaining
theories, platforms (of homa). mudriis, mantras and sarhvaras
(prohibitions). The bodhisattva Sarvanivara!favi9kambhin, who
was attending the session, stands up from his seat, salutes the
Reverend Lord and says:
'0 Reverend Lord! The great man ( -J::.A, dai-nin ) shouldn't
utter such indecent words, should he? '
The Reverend Lord says:
'What is the use of the attribute of your words which are connected
only with pure, clean things? These words of mine add powers
to the characters (Jt*) and work as efficient means to lead people,
in accordance with their situations, into the way of the Buddha.

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110 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

Even if they do not have (virtuous) attributes, they are actually

greatly benefitting living beings. Have no doubt about this. ' "

We find the corresponding passage to this in the extant GS. In the fifth
chapter of GS (Samantacaryiigra-patala, the chapter of universal. highest
deeds). the Reverend Lord preaches the attainment (siddhi, ~:l:tf!. shitsu-
ji ) of the families of lust, wrath and stupidity (raga, dvesa and moha,
:liH.lfi ton-jin-chi), that is, the Tantric practeces for attaining the
Tantric ideals based on the three big anguishes (klesa , 1;j·t~ bon-no)
which are vices to be strictly prohibited or conquered in usual Buddhism
as follows:

pral).atipatina.l). sattva mrf?avadaratas ca ye I I 4 I I

ye paradravyabhirata nityam kamaratas ca ye I
Vil).miitraharakrtya ye bhavyas te khalu sadhane I I 5 I I
matrbhaginiputris ca kamayed yas tu sadhakal; I
sa siddhim vipulam gacchen mahayanagradharmatam I I 6 I I
mataram buddhasya vibhoh kamayed na ca lipyate I
sidhyate tasya buddhatvarh. nirvikalpasya dhimatal; I I 7 I I
"Those who are killing living beings, telling lies ( 4), those who
are covetous to the properties of others and are always delighted
in amorous desires, those who are eating feces and urine as (sacred)
foods and drinks, they are really suited for the practice (5)
If he, who wishes the attainment, loves his own mother or his
own daughter, he will attain the state of the truth which is the
highest (attainment) of Mahayana Buddhism (6), because he is
loving the mother of the universal Lord Buddha; the wise man
who practises (these deeds) without any considerations will (certa-
inly) achieve the state of being a buddha ( 7). "

It was in fact the expectation of the "author" of GS that this Tantric

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 111

attitude of assuming intentionally the appearance of extreme obscenity

by removing the worldly distinctions of good and evil or purity and
defilement would be looked on with astonishment or abhorrence by the
people of the world or the people of commonsense. He subsequently
makes the bodhisattvas such as Sarvanivaral).avi9kambhin etc. , who
had been the heroes of the usual Mahayana Buddhism or Esoterism until
then, appear on the stage.

atha khalu sarvanivaral).avi9kambhiprabhrtayo mahabodhisattva

ascaryaprapta adbhutapraptah I kim ayam bhagavan
sarvatathagatasvami sarvatathagatapar9anmal).c;lalamadhye dur-
bha9itavacanodaharam bha9ate I atha te sarvatathagatal).
· sarvanivaral).a vi9kam bhiprabh:rtinam mahabodhisattvanam
a§caryavacanam upa§rutyaitan bodhisattvan evam ahul:).
alam kulaputra rna evam vocata I
iyam sa dharmata suddha buddhanam sarajnaninam I
saradharmarthasambhuta e9a bodhicaripadam I I 8 I I
atha khalu anabhilapyanabhilapyabuddhak9etrasumeruparama-
nurajal:).sama bodhisattva bhital). santrasta murcchita abhuvan I
"(Hearing these words, ) the great bodhisattvas commencing with
Sarvanivaral).avi9kambhin were very much astonished and (said)
m surpnse:
'Why should the Reverend Lord, the lord of all the tathiigatas,
deliver, in the middle of the complete assembly of all the
tathiigatas, a speech with these obscene words that should
not be uttered?'
Then, all the tathiigatas, hearing the words of surprise of the
great bodhisattvas such as Sarvanivaral).avi9kambhin etc., said
to the bodhisattvas:
'Stop! 0 Sons of good families, don't say so!

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112 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

It is nothing other than the pure essence of the truths of

buddhas of firm understandings.
It is what has occurred from the meaning of the firm truth
and is the basis of deeds (of you bodhisattvas who are striving)
for enlightenment. '
Hearing this, the bodhisattvas , who could be counted by the
number of particles of dust of Mt. Sumerus of the inexpressible-
inexpressible buddha -lands, · were terrified, fell to the earth and
fainted. "

Here, it is said that the obscene words of "the Reverend Lord " which
surprised people of a traditional, commonsense standpoint and caused
them to fall down to the earth, are, from the point of view of "all' the
tathiigatas" who are inside the assembly and are able to understand the
essence of the Tantric truth, really nothing other than "pure" words
.expressing the "pure essence" of the truths of buddhas of firm
understanding; and only the "pure words of buddhas " (of this kind)
expressing the "firm truth" • the firm. immovableessenceorthesubstance
of the truth, can be the basis of the right "deeds" which allow people
attain enlightenment.

The "author" of the Juhatte-shiiki is rightly grasping the essence or

the substance of the "firm truth" as prajiiiipiiramita ; and. he is also
conscious of the uniqueness of GS in the fact that "the palace" or the
place where this firm truth dewlls is yo?idbhaga. And when he says the
place where the Guhyasamaja-yoga was preached is "the secret place"
or "the place of yof?idbhaga " , he means that the truth exists in the
bhagas of women and was attained by "the Reverend Lord " through
sexual union with these women and was preached by him after he rose
from the union.

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 113

Who was "the Reverend Lord " , then?

The word vajrayo§id suggests that the women who made "the Reverend
Lord" attain the truth through union with them are a special kind of
women. How are these women special, then?

Who are "all the tathiigatas" ?

How and what kind of truth was the truth attained by "the Reverend
Lord" ?

Once attained and preached, how did the truth restrict the practice of
the followers of OS ?

Did the practice really bring about enlightenment in them?

Now, we have come to the stage of reconstructing the actual Tantric

practice of the followers of OS , or the actual state of the "secret
assembly " .

2. The First Chapter of the Guhyasamaja-tantra which should indicate

the Structure of the "Original Secret Assembly" .

We assume that there existed a Tantric practice which was performed

by the group of people behind the compilation of the extant OS; and call
it provisionally the "original secret assembly" . We will first reconstruct
the form of the assembly from the description in the first chapter of
OS, and then give an outline of the practice by comparing the description
of the first chapter with that of the last chapter, chapter seventeen.

The text shown below was extracted from the critical edition of Yukei
Matsunaga (Osaka, 1978) which is far more reliable than the editions
of B. Bhattacharyya (Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. 55, Baroda, 1931)

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114 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

and 8. Bagchi (Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 9,. Darbhanga, 1965).

( 1) evarh maya §rutam I ekasmin samaye bhagauan sarvatatha-

gatakayavakcittahrdayavajrayo~?idbhagel?u vijahara I
( 2) anabhilapyanabhilapyail) sarvabuddhak!?etrameruparamaiJU-
rajal)samair bodhisattvair mahasattvail) I tad yatha I
samayavajreiJa ca nama bodhisattvena mahasattvena I·· ....
( 3) akasadhatusamadhmatai§ ca tathagataih I tad yatha I
ak?obhyavajreiJa ca nama tathagatena I vairocanavajreiJa ca
nama tathagatena I ratnaketuvajreiJa ca nama tathagatena
I amitavajreiJa ca nama tathagatena I amoghauajreiJa ca
nama tathagatena I evarhpramukhail) sarvakasadhatusama-
dhmatai§ ca tathagataiJt. I tad yatha ltilabimbam iva parip-
ilriJal) sarvakasadhatul:). sarvatathagatail:). sarhdrsyate sma I
( 4) atha bhagauan mahavairocanas tathagatah sarvatathaga-
tamahiiragauajrarh nama samadhirh samapannas tam sarva-
tathagatavyuharh svakayavakcittavajresu prave§ayamasa I
( 5) atha te sarvatathagata bhagavantah sarvatathagatakaya-
vakcittavajradhipatef} parito9aiJartham svabimbani stribim-
bany abhinirmaya bhagauato mahavairocanasya kayad
abhini9kranta abhuvan I tatra kecid buddhalocanakareiJa
kecin mamakyakareiJa kecit parJ9aravasinyakareiJa kecit
samayatarakareiJa sarhsthita abhuvan I tatra kecid rupasva-
bhavakareiJa kecit §abdasvabhavakareiJa kecid gandhasvabh-
avakareiJa kecid rasasvabhavakareiJa kecit sparsasvabhavak-
arel).a sarhsthita abhuvan I
(6) atha khalu ak~obhyas tathagataJt. sarvatathagatakayavakcit-
tahrdayavajrayo9idbhage9u caturasram virajaskarh mahasa-
mayamal).galam adhi9thapayamasa I
svaccharh ca tatsvabhavarh ca nanaruparh samantatal) I

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 115

buddhameghasamakin).arh. sphulingagahanaj val am I

svacchadimarp~lalair yuktam sarvatathagatarh. puram I I
1 II
( 7) atha bhagavan sarvatathiigatakiiyauakcittavajradhipatil}
sarvatathagatamal).c;lalamadhye prati~thapayamasa I atha
khalv ak~obhyas tathagato ratnaketus tathagato 'mitayus
tathagato 'moghasiddhis tathagato vairocanas tathagato
bodhicittavajrasya tathagatasya hrdaye vijahara I
( 8) atha bhagavan bodhicittavajras tathagatah sarvatathaga-
tabhibhavanavajram nama samadhirh. samapannah I sama-
nantarasamapannasya ca sarvatathagatadhipater athayam
sarvakasadhatul] sarvatathagatavajramayal] samsthito 'bhut
I atha yavantal] sarvakasadhatusamsthital] sarvatathagatas
ca tena vajrasattvadhi~thanena sarvatathagatasukhasauman-
asyalabhino 'bhuvan I
(9) atha bhagavan bodhicittavajras tathagatah sarvatathagata-
kayavakcittavajrasamayodbhavavajram nama samadhim
samapadyemam mahavidyapuru~amurtim sarvatathagata-
sattvadhi~thanam adhi~thapayamasa I samanantaradhi~thi­
tamatre sa eva bhagavan bodhicittavajr:as tathatatas trimu-
khakarel).a sarvatathagatail] samdrsyate sma I
( 10) athak~obhyapramukhal] sarvatathagata bhagavato bodhi-
cittavaj rasya hrdayad abhiniskramyedam udanam
udanayama sa I
aho hi sarvabuddhanam bodhicittapravarttanam I
sarvatathagatam guhyam apratarkyam anavilam liti I I
2 II
( 11). atha bhagavantal] sarvatathagata punar samajam agamya
bhagavantam bodhicittavajram sarvatathagatapujasphara-
l).asamayatattvara tnameghail] sampujya pral).ipa tyaivam

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116 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

ahuJ.:t I
bha~asva bhagavan tattvarh vajrasarasamuccayam I
sarvatathagatarh guhyarh samajarh guhyasambhavam I
iti 113 II

( 14) atha bhavavan sarvatathagatakayavakcittavajras tatha-

gataJ.:t sarvatathagatadhyef?al)arh viditvajnanapradipavajrarh
nama samadhirh samapadyedarh dve~akulaparamasarahrda­

yarh svakayavakcittavajrebhyo ni§carayamasa I

vajradhrk I
athasmin bha~itamatre sa eva bhagavan sarvatathagataka-
yavakcittavidyapuru~o 'k§obhyamahamudrasamyogapara-
mapadaiJ.:t kr~IJ.asitaraktakarel)a sarvatathagatakayavakcitta-
vajrasya sarvatathagatakayavakcittavajre ni~iQ.ayamasa I
( 15) ··· sarvatathagatasamayasambhavavajrarh nama samadhirh
······ mohakula- .. ····
jinajik I
··· vairocanamahamudrasarhyogaparamapadaih······
·· ·purato·· ·
( 16) ··· sarvatathagataratnasambhavavajra§riyarh······
··· cintamar:likula······ratnadhrk I
· · · ratnaketumahamudrasarhyogaparamamadaih · · · · · ·
··· daksine ......
( 17) ···sarvatathagatamaharagasambhavavajrarh······
vajraragakula ...... arorik I
... loke§varamahavidyadhipati-...... PP?thato· .. ···
( 18) ··· sarvatathagatamoghasamayasambhavavajrarh ... ... sama-
yakar~al)akula ......
prajfiadhrk I
· · · amoghavaj ramahamudrasarhyogaparamapadaiJ.:t· · ·· · ·

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 117

·· ·uttare · · · · · ·
dve9amohas tatha ragas cintamal)isamayas tatha I
kula hy ete tu vai panca kamamok9aprasadhakal] I i ti I I 4
II
( 19) atha bhagavan sarvatathagatavajradharanuragal)asamayarh
nama samadhirh samapadya sarvavajradharagramahisl.m
svakayavakcittebhyo ni§carayamasa I
dvel?arati I
athasyarh vihil]srtamatrayarh sa eva bhagavan sarvata-
thagatakayavakcittavidyapuru9al] strl.rupadharo bhutva
pilrvakol)e ni9idayamasa I
(20) ··· sarvatathagatanuragal)avajrarh ······
moharati I
· · · dak9ii).akoi).e· · .. · ·
(21) ···sarvatathagataragadharanuragai).avajrarh ······
ragarati I
· · · pa§cimakone· · · · · ·
(22) ··· sarvatathagatakayavakcittavisarhvadanavajrarh
vajrarati I
· ·· uttarakoi).e · · · ·· ·
(23) ··· vairocanavajrarh······
yamantakrt I

. . ..
(27) sarvatathagatakayavakcittasarhbhasanamandalasamayasat-
tval.). I

(trans Iat ion)

( 1) Thus have I heard at one time. The Reverend Lord dwelt in the
female organs of the adamantine ladies who are the hearts of the
bodies, speech and minds of all the tathagatas.

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118 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

(2) (At that time,) the whole sphere of the empty sky, being filled with
bodhisattua-mahasattvas to be counted by the number of particles
of dust of all Mt. Surerus of the inexpressible-inexpressible buddha-
lands, such as the great bodhisattva Samayavajra, ······
(3) (and so many) tathagatas (as are) swelling up like a sesame husk
the (whole) sphere of the empty sky, being headed by Ak~obhya­
vajra, Va irocana-vajra, Ratnaketu-vajra, Am ita-vajra and Amogha-
vajra appeared together with (these) all the tathagatas.
(4) Then, the Reverend Lord Mahavairocana, (first) entered into the
meditation named Sarvatathagatamaharagavajra (the universal
lust of the Sarvatathagata as firm as adamant) and made the whole
of these tathagata-ornaments enter into his own adamant-firm
(existence being complete with) body, speech and mind.
( 5) At that time, a II these tathagatas, so as to make the Reverend Lord
Sarvatathagatakayavakcittavajradhipati (the Lord of adamant-
firm aggregate of bodies, speech and minds of all the tathagatas)
rejoiced, tranforming their own figures into figures of ladies, came
out of the body of the Reverend Lord Mahavairocana. In that case,
some (tathagatas) sppeared with the figure of Buddhalocana, some
with the figure of Mamaki, some with the figure of P81J9aravasini
and some with the figure of Samayatara. In that case, some
( tathagatas ) appeared with the figure of Rupasvabhava, some
with the figure of Sabdasvabhava , some with the figure of
Gandhasvabhava and some with the figure of Sparsasvabhava.
( 6) Then, the tathagata Ak~obhya put on the female organs of the
adamantine ladies who are the hearts of the bodies, speech and minds
of all the tathiigatas the grand samaya-mwp.jala, which is
square and free from dirt, very transparent and of the essence
of "it". assuming variour figures and (has entrances) on all
its sides, surrounded by buddha-clouds, scattering sparks and

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 119

flaming brightly, the castle of all the tathagatas equipped

with ma7J¢alas transparent etc .. (verse 1)
(7) Then, the Reverand Lord Sarvatathagatakayavakcittadhipati placed
himself in the middle of the maJJcJ.ala of all the tathagatas. At
this time, the tathagata Akl?obhya, the tathagata Ratnaketu, the
tathagata Ami tayus, the tathagata Amoghasiddh i and the tathagata
Vairocana dwelt in the heart of the tathagata Bodhicittavajra.
( 8) Then, the Reverend Lord, the tathagata Bodhicittavajra entered
into the meditation named Sarvatathagatabhibhavanauajra (the
adamantine "overpowering" of all the tathagatas). As soon as the
Lord of all the tathagatas entered into the meditation, the whole
sphere of the empty sky was established as (the world) composed
of all the adamantine-tathagatas; and all the living beings existing
within the sphere of the empty sky attained the happinesses and
pleasures (the same as those) of all the tathagatas.
(9) Then, the Reverend Lord, the tathagata Bodhicittavajra entered
into the meditation named Sarvatathagatakayavakcittauajrasama-
yodbhavauajra (the adamant occurred from the samaya of ada-
mantine bodies, speech and minds of all the tathagatas) and put
the figure of mahavidyapurusa (the great husband of uidya =women)
(on the samaya-ma7JcJ.ala) as a (link of the process of) putting all
the tathagatas (in the maJJcJ.ala) as the deities; as soon as being put
(in the ma7JcJ.ala), he, who was none other than the Reverend Lord,
the tathagata Bodhicittavajra , became visible with the figure of a
three-faced (deity) together with all the tathagatas.
( 10) Then, all the tathagatas headed by Ak9obhya, withdrawing from
the heart of the Reverend Lord Bodhicittavajra, pronounced the
following verse:
The activity of the bodhicittas of all the buddhas is truly the
secret of the Sarvatathagata, difficult to imagine and is free

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120 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

from dirt. (verse 2)

( 11) Subsequently, all the tathiigatas again came to the assembly,
worshipped the Reverend Lord, the tathiigata Bodhicittavajra with
the clouds of the jewels of the truths of samayas which diffuse the
worships of all the tathiigatas, saluted him and said as follows:
'Tell! 0 Reverend Lord! the truth, which is the aggregate of
adamantine-firm creams (of truths),
the secret of the Sarvatathagata , the assembly ( of all the
tathiigatas) which has occurred from the "secret". ' (verse 3)

( 14) Then, the Reverend Lord, the tathiigata Sarvatathiigatakiiyaviik-

cittavajra, knowing the solicitation of all the tathiigatas, entened
into the meditation named Jiiiinapradipavajra (the adamantine
lamp of wisdom) and emitted the most excellent and the firm hrdaya-
spell of the wrath-family:
Vajradhrk.
As soon as (the hrdaya-spell was) pronoun.ced, it, which is nothing
other than the Reverend Lord Sarvatathagatakayavakcittavidya-
puru~a. assuming the highest position of Ak~obhya in union with
his mahiimudrii, with features of black, white and red, sat in (the
position of) sarvatathiigatakiiyaviikcittavajra of ( the Reverend
Lord) Sarvatathagatakayavakcittavajra.
( 15) Then, the Reverend Lord··· ···entered into the meditation named
Sarvatathiigatasamayasambhavavaira (the adamant originated
from the samayas of all the tathiigatas ) and emitted the hrdaya-
spell of the stupidity-family :
Jinajik.
··· assuming the highest position of Vairocana m umon with his
mahiimudrii······sat in front of (the Reverend Lord) ······.
( 16) Then, the Reverend Lord··· ···entered into the meditation named

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaj a (Tsuda) 121

Sarvatathagataratnasarhbhavauajrasri (the splendour of the ada-

mant originated from the jewels of all the tathagatas ) and emitted
the hrdaya-spell of the cinUimaQi-family:
Ratnadhrk.
···assuming the highest position of Ratnaketu m umon with his
mahamudra ...... sat to the right of (the Reverend Lord) ······.
( 17) Then, the Reverend Lord······ entered in to the meditation named
Sarvatathagatamaharagasarhbhauauajra (the adamant originated
from the great lust of all the tathagatas ) and emitted the hrdaya
spell of the vajra -lust-family:
Arorik.
··· assuming the highest position of Lokesvara-mahavidyadhipati
in union with his mahamudra······sat behind (the Reverend Lord)······.
( 18) Then, the Reverend Lord······ entered in to the meditation named
Sarvatathagatfimoghasamayasarhbhava (the adamant originated
from the amogha-samayas of all the tathagatas) and emitted the
hrdaya-spell of the samayakar9aQa-family:
Prajfiantakrt.
··· assuming the highest position of Amoghavajra in union with his
mahamudra······to the north of (the Reverend Lord) ······.
Wrath, stupidity and likewise lust, cintamw;i and samaya, these
five are families which allow (people) . accomplish liberation
through amorous desires. (verse 4)
( 19) Then, the Reverend Lord entered into the meditation named
Sarvatathagatavajradharanurfigw;asamaya (the samaya making
all the tathagatas as uajradharas attached) and emitted (the following
hrdaya-spell of) the first wife of all the tathagatas:
Dve9arati.
As soon as this (hrdaya-spell) was pronounced, it , which was
nothing other than the Reverend Lord Sarvatathagatakayavakcitta-

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122 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

vidyapuru~a, assuming the figure of a lady, sat in the (south-)

east corner.
( 20) Then, the Reverend Lord entered into the meditation named
Sarvatathiigatiinuriigw;wvajra (the adamant making all the tathiig-
atas attached) and emitted (the following hrdaya-spell of) the first
wife of all the tathiigatas :
Moharati.
··· assuminga the figure of a lady, sat in the south (-west) corner.
( 21) Then, the Reverend Lord entered into the meditation named
Sarvatathiigataragadharanuragar;wvajra (the adamant making all
the tathatatas as ragadharas attached) and emitted (the following
hrdaya-spell of) the first wife of all the tathagatas as riigadharas:
Ragarati.
··· assuming the figure of a lady, sat in the (north-) west corner.
( 22) Then, the Reverend Lord entered into the meditation named
Sarvatathiigatakiiyavakcittavisarhvadananajra (the adamant de-
ceiving the bodies, speech and minds of all the tathagatas ) and
emitted (the following hrdaya-spell of) the first wife of all the
tathagatas as prajiiadharas:
Vajrarati.
·· · assuming the fugure of a lady, sat in the north (-east) corner.

(27) (These are) the samaya-sattvas constituting the (samaya-) mar;ujala

(created through pronouncing) the watchwords of bodies, speech and
mind s of all the tathiigatas.

This is the outline of the contents of the first chapter of the

Guhyasamaja-tantra, in its full title, Sarvatathiigatasamiidhimar;ujalii-
dhi?thiina-patala; and as is duly assumed from the meaning of the title,
i.e. , the chapter of the Sarvatathagata putting (the significance of) the

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 123

mal}gala (on the assembly of the group of all the tathagatas) through
his meditations, it reflects the formation of the original "secret
assembly".

3. The cult of the Guhyasamaja-tantra in the connection with the

Sarvatathagatasattvasa ri1 g raha-tantra.

The formative principle of the mal}gala of the Guhyasamaja-tantra(GS)

shown in its first chapter belongs to the common motif, which is to be
observed in the Gal}gavyiiha-siitra, going back from the Vairocanabhi-
sarhbodhi- siitra (VA), not to speak of the SarvatathO.gatatattvasarhgr-
aha-tantra (STTS) directly antecedent to the GS, that the actual assembly
of people surrounding the "Reverend Lord" is transformed into the world
of reality, or, the world as a mal}gala being contained in the meditation
(samadhi, =H* san-mai) of the "Lord" . The title of the first chapter
of the GS, that is, Sarvatathagatasamadhimal}galadhi?thana - patala
(the chapter of the Sarvatathagata putting the significance of the
mal}rjala on the assembly of the group of all the tathagatas through his
meditations) clealy shows the fact that it is the chapter that describes
the transformation.

The "Reverend Lord" first enters into the "universal" meditation,

which, in its archetype, corresponds to the "Lion-Yawning" meditation
(Sirhhavijrmbhita-samadhi, BiJJ-f-lfm $1( Shishi-junjin-zanmai) through
which, in the introductory part of the Gal}gavyiiha-siitra, the Reverend
Lord ( Sakyamuni = Vairocana) transforms himself into the universal
buddha of the body of reality (dharma-kaya, 1t~ hosshin), that is,
the world of reality consisting of "dense ornaments" ( gal}gavyiiha) .
The state of this "universal" meditation is nothing other than the state
indicated with the above- mentioned "strange" expression "vaj rayo?id-

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124 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

bhagesu vijahiira" ; and the name given to this universal meditation is

"sarvatathagatamahiiriigavajra" (the universal lust of the Sarvatat-
hagata as firm as adamant) (paragraph 4 ) . The word raga (lust, 1i
iik ton-yoku) me$-ns, of course, amorous desire between man and woman;
therefore, it means the fact that there exists a state of sexual union
there. The word mahiiriiga (universal lust) means that the place covered
with the sexual union of the "Reverend Lord" as the Sarvatathagata,
a tathagata of a higher rank than most tathiigatas, is "universal" . In
short, the "Reverend Lord" is probably in the state of union with all
the female members of the "original secret assembly'' ; and the ''universal''
pleasure that occurred through the union includes as the matrix all the
male members of the assembly, that is, the five tathagatas headed by
*Ak~obhya. The word sarvatathiigatavyuha ( 4 ) means that these five
*tathagatas who are the vyuhas ( "ornaments" , or, individual existences)
constitute the whole mar;ujala ( "dharma of neuter singular" m our
terminology) or fill the matrix ( "dharma of feminine singular" ) .
* We attach * to show a person who assumed the role of the deity; for
example, *Ak~obhya indicates a man who plays the role of the tath~
iigata Ak~obhya in the performance of the"original secret assembly".

Subsequently, the "Reverend Lord" enters into "individual'' meditations

such as Jiiiinapradipavajra (the adamantine lamp of wisdom) ( 14) etc.,
and emits hrdaya-spells (heart-spells, JL~~ shin-ju) which are the hearts
(hrdaya) of these individual meditations. These hrdaya-spells (or,
sarhbhii?w:w, the "watchwords" of paragraph 27) transform themselves
into samaya-sattvas (27) and consequently form the samaya-mar;ujala
( 6 ) , the mar;ujala constituted of samaya-sattvas. Samaya-sattvas are
deities constituting the mar;u.j,ala with which Esoteric Bud-
dhists or Tatric Buddhists should unite themselves through the symbol-
istic practice of svadhidaivata-yoga C*-~flfiJD honzon-yuga) to enter

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 125

into the mar;ujala and attain enlightenment while in their actual physical
bodies ( !!P ~ n.iH& sokushin- i obutsu ) .

This samaya-ma7Jrjala, however, was still, at that time, nothing more

than something ideal which was to be imitated through the symbolistic
procedure of sviidhidaivata-yoga, or, to be substantialized through the
sviidhidaivata -yoga of each of the members of the "original secret
asssembly" . How did they practise the sviidhidaivata- yoga in the
performance of the "secret assembly" , then?

Besides the formative principle of the ma7Jrjala, the OS also owes the
structure of the ma7Jrjala to that of STTS in its fundamental ele-
ments of five tathiigatas, four piiramitii -ladies and the four inner
"worshipping" ladies (J*J!m~~ nai-no-shi -kuyo). However, in recreating
the actual performance of the "original secret assembly" which was
to be performed on the basis of the ma7Jrjala, it is necessary for us to
notice two more factors existing behind the static structure of the
ma7Jrjala of STTS , that is, the phenomenon of an "exchange of
consorts" and the existence of the. "visiting leader" .

It is duly assumed, from the process of formation of the Vajradhiitu-

mahiima7Jrjala (1fi:lMJtl.jlf!.*~**'Kongo -kai -dai -mandara) of thirty-
seven deities, that the followers of the cult of STTS must have formed,
in practice, anassembly or a kind of "living-ma7Jrjala" , literally the
mahii-ma7Jrjala or the ma7Jrjala constituted of mahii-mudriis, playing
the roles of their own corresponding deities (sviidhidevatii, *~ hon-
zon) and that this cult had already included sexual yogic elements from
the first, so as to experience an unusual feeling which should make
themselves feel that they were actually tathiigatas as the logic of STTS
says. In other words, sexual relations between members was the means
by which they integrated themselves into the actual, living Vajradhiitu-

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126 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

mar;uj,ala, as is suggested in the section of the originations of thirty-

seven deities (=+-t~l:lEE.~ sanjiishichi -son-shussho -dan) of the text.

The "exchange of consorts" which is presupposed for the existence of

sexual relations between the members can be assumed from following
evidence shown in the text of STTS :

As soon as the bodhisattva Sarvarthasiddhi ( -WftmtgttfJii) attains

enlightenment and becomes the buddha V airocana through the teaching
of all the tathagatas of the "five-stepped process of attaining enlight-
enment" (1Lif§P.\t~Wi! goso-jojin -gan), especially, of the fifth mantra
of "making the body of the buddha completed" ( 1.i.~ P37Pil1~ l=l busshin -
enman-no-shingon) which is "the truth of all the tathiigatas' (sarvatathii-
gatatattva) or the unversal formula through which anyone can attain
enlightenment instantaneously, all these tathiigatas shift to "the
pavillion with the pinnacle of the adamantine jewel situated on the top
of M t. Sumeru" ( *ll 5~ tlJ 1Jb~ lfU!J 1t JE 3!: TJH~ M Shumisen- cho- kong a -
maniho-cho-rokaku) surrounding the newly-enlighiened Vairocana( =
Sakyamuni) and enthrone him as the Sarvatathagata (singular in
number), the representative of them, all the tathagatas. Subsequently,
they, all the tathiigatas to be counted by the number of grains of sand
of the River Gai).ga, reduce themselves into four sarvatathiigatas, that
is, Akf?obhya, Ratnasarhbhava, Loke§vararaja and Amoghasiddhi and
sit on all sides of "the Reverend Lord Sakyamuni tathiigata" ; and here
the "exchange of consorts" takes place.

The four sarvatathiigatas who each shoulder a quarter of the whole sub-
stance or existentiality of the Vajradhatu ("adamantine realm of realty",
~lMJIJJi!. Kongo -kai) offer to Vairocana, the new leader or architect of
their world, their own "four paramita-ladies" ( lllHlt*f~tflii shi -
haramitsu-bosatsu), who are nothing other than the four quaters of the

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 127

whole substance of the the world ( "dharma of feminine singular" )

shouldered by these four sarvatathagatas. In return for these offerings
of the legal wives of the four sarvatathagatas, Vairocana gives them
"the four inner worshipping ladies", that is, Vajralasya, Vajramala,
Vajragita and Vajranrtya, who are "the great goddesses of the family
of the Sarvatathagata" , and makes these ladies the "lovers" ( dayita)
of these four sarvatathagatas.

The state of the "assembly" of the members of this "living mw;uj,ala"

together with the existence of the "visiting leader" of the assembly
is shown in the section of STTS describing the ritual of entering into the
"drawn-mw;uj,ala" through svadhidaivata-yoga (Horiuchi 191 f. ) as
follows:

First, the Reverend Lord, for the sake of putting (the state of) the
"assembly" (samaja) on the group of "all the tathagatas", snaps his
finger and pronounces the hrdaya- spell Vajrasamaja! ( "adamantine
assembly!" ) . At the moment, "all the tathagatas" who are suggested
by the snap of the fingers of the Sarvatathagata (= Vairocana), together
with bodhisattvas who are the followers of them, assemble and come
near to the Reverend Lord Vairocana, aslute and praise Vairocana, and
then, they, all the tathtigatas solicit, with "one hundred and eight
names" (sJ\~tiJ~ hyakuhachi-myo -kanjo), "the Reverend Lord, the
Lord of all the tathagatas (Sarvatathagattidhipati), the Vajrasattva
himself, the Mahavajradhara without beginning or end" . According to
the solicitation, "the Reverend Lord, the Vajradhara" preaches the
"drawn-ma7J¢ald' which is "similar to the Vajradhatu. and (therefore,)
is thought to be the Vajradhatu itself" , and teaches tathagatas the
ritual of initiation (abhi§eka, ?li.TJ! kanjo) to be performed in the mar;rj,ala
into which the "Vajracarya" ( "adamantine master" ) enters and
initiates the disciple.

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128 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

4. The structure of the "original secret assembly".

Given the structure of the mar;ujala of the STTS and the ritual performed
on it, the structure of the "original secret assembly" of the GS can be
recreated as in figure i.

s
Akso
. : Aksobhya
. ( 14)

8 Vairo: Vairocana (15)

8
Ratna : Ratnaketu ( 16)

8 8 Amita : Amitavajra (17)

Amogh : Amoghavajra (18)
Loc : Locana ( *20)

8 8 Mam : Mamaki ( *19)

PaQ : PaQQ.aravasini (21)
Tar : Tara (22)

8 8 8 Rup : Rupavajra (??-15)

Sab: Sabdavajra (??-16)
Gan : Gandhavaj ra (? ?-17)

8 EAST
8 Ras : Rasavajra (??-18)
Spa: Sparsavajra (??-14)

fig. i: The structure of the "original secret assembly" to be recreated

from the Guhyasamaja- tantra itself.

This structure, however, differs in some important points from the

traditional, authoritative understanding of Nagarjuna shown in his
Pir;ujikrama-siidhana (figure ii). We can duly conclude that the under-
standing of Nagarjuna is wrong; however, his mistakes help us in recre-
ating the cult of the "original secret assembly" .

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 129

. - - : = - - - - - - - - - - - = - - - - , Akl?O: Akl?obhya (107)

Vairo: Vairocana (116)

Amita: Amitavajra (123)

. ParJ
Amogh : Amoghavaj ra( 127)
Loc : Locana ( Moharati)

8 (131)
Mam : Mamaki (Dvesarati)
( 135)

O~Q ParJ : ParJ<;iaravasini

u~a (Ragarati) (139)

8 . 8
Tar : Tara (Vajrarati )( 143)
Rup: Rupavajra(???-147)
Sab : Sabdavajra(???-148)
EAST
Gan: Gandhavajra (???-150)
Ras: Rasavajra (???-151)
Spa : Sparsavajra (???-152)

jig. i i: The structure of the mar;ujala of the Guhyasamaja- tantra to

be recreated from the Pi1pjikrama- sadhana of Nagarjuna.

The main reason which led him to his misunderstanding was that he
didn't recognize the existence of the phenomenon of the "exchange of
consorts" behind the text of the GS. Mention of this first appears in
his positionning of the goddess Mamaki ( = Dvesarati) and Locana
(= Moharati).
In the "original" GS text, Mamaki ( = Dve§arati) is located in the
(south-) east "corner" (purva-kona) and Locana ( = Moharati) in the
south (-west) "corner" (dak§ir;La-kor;La) as is shown in the critical edition

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130 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

of the GS by Yukei Matsunaga, Nagarjuna, however, located Locana

(verse 131) in the (south-) east "corner" ( 135) and Mamaki ( 135) in the
south-west (nairrtyiirh, verse 138) .

This distortion was caused by a shift m position of the tathiigata

Ak~obhya, the master of the due?a = wrath family. In the STTS
mw:ujala he· was located to the east of Vairocana, who occupied the
centre position, and who was the master of the moha = stupidity
family. In the GS maJJ¢ala, though, Askqbhya had been shifted to
the centre and Vairocana, accordingly, shifted to the east and entered
into the new relationship with abandonata Mamakl, the mistress of
due?a = wrath family.

Nagarjuna, who thought that the old relationship between Vairocana

and Locana of the moha-family was still preserved in GS, ignored
the text and preserved the well-known relationship of Vairocana and
Locana so as to keep the distortion to a minimum.
* B. Bhattacharyya made his critical edition following this
distortion of Nagarjuna by changing the reading of MSS;
and S . Bagchi adopted Bhattacharyya's reading without
criticism.

This misunderstanding or distortion of Nagarjuna, however, makes

us conscwus of the importance of the phenomenon of the "exchange
of consorts" in recreating the cult of the "original secret assembly".

The fact that he located these goddesses, ignoring the meaning of the
word "corner" (ko1Ja), in the intermediate quarters of the inner circle,
which correspond to the locations of "the four inner worshipping
ladies" ( I*J 1m {!t~) of STTS, implies that Nagarjuna thought that

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 131

they were still in relation with the four tathiigatas, who are their
husbands in usual life, in the unusual situation of the secret assembly.

Nagarjuna' s reconstruction of the form of the GS mar_uj,ala is decisively

misleading for a description of the cult of the "original secretassembly",
firstly as a result of this misunderstanding and also of another
misunderstanding - that he (appears to have) thought that the five
women ( ROpavajra, etc.) in the first chapter of GS were nominated
in paragraph 5 but were subsequently not shown their positions.
Actually, the locations of these five women are shown in paragraphs
14. 15, 16, 17 and 18.

My disagreement with Nagarjuna occurs from interpretations of the

compound word - mahiimudriisarhyogaparamapadail} ( · ·· ··· assuming
the highest position of ······ in union with his mahamudrii) which
occrus in each of these five.

In usual usage of the word in usual Esoteric Buddhism, mahiimudrii

means a deity of mw;ujala imagined or drawn as a deity assuming
a total or actual figure. And in this usual meaning, for example,
paragraph 15, the case of Vairocana, is to be understood as follows:
the "Reverend Lord" who is situated in the middle of the mar;ujala,
first enters into the "universal" meditation and consecrates the
mar;ujala therewith. Then, he enters into the "individual" meditations,
the "sarvatathiigata samayasarhbhava", in this case, and pronounces
the hrdaya- spell "Jinajik" , which is the essence ( hrdaya) of the
"individual" meditation. The hrdaya transforms itself into the "figure"
= mahamudrii of Vairocana and sits in front of the "Reverend Lord".

In the Tantric context, however, mahamudrii refers to a beautiful

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132 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

sixteen year-old maiden as the partner of the sexual yogic practice;

and we think that this Tantric notion of mahamudra is to be applied
in this case. It means the following fact: as soon as the "Reverend
Lord" pronounced the hrdaya-spell, it transformed itself into the
figure of Vairocana who was in union with his mahamudra and sat
in front of the Lord.

Who is the mahamudra, then? As long as the phenomenon of the

"exchange of consorts" exists, it should be not Mamakl who 1s the
legal wife of *Vairocana in their usual life, but ROpavajra whose
position Nagarjuna thought was not explained in the GS.

Accordingly, Nagarjuna, who didn't understand the importance of

the five women ( ROpavajra, etc. ) or in other words, who thought
these five women were less important than the four women (Locana,
etc.), positioned them in the four corners of the square which form
the outer or second zone and made them, except the case of Sparsavajra,
the partners of bodhisattvas ( Maitreya, etc.) who are essentially fo-
llowers of the tathagatas and are not the regular members of the
assembly.

. .
In the pindikrama-sadhana (edit. by de la Vallee Poussin), Nagarjuna
says:

dvitiye tu pute yogi rupavajradikam srjet I I 146 I I

agnikol).e srjed devim rupavajram manoramam I
trimukham 9ac;lbhujam §vetam §rivairocanamaulikam II 147 I I
grhitadarpal).ar:h dvabhyam se9am moharater iva I

vajrasattvam samalingya vahnimadhye vyavasthitam I

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 133

cintayet spar§avajrarh tu patitulyam mukhadibhilf I I 153 I I

dvitiye tu pute purve pattikayam srjed vrati I
maimthlimbijavini9pannau maitreyak9itigarbhakau I I 154 I I

"The yogin should. in the second zone, position ROpavajra, etc.

( 146).
In the corner of fire (south -east), he should imagine the ag-
reeable ROpavajra; she is white, three-faced, six-armed, having
(the figure of) auspicious Vairocana on her crest of hairs ( 147),
and is holding a mirror with two hands. Other (features) are
the same as those of Moharat i ( = Locana).

(The yogin should imagine) Sparsavajra who is embracing

Vajrasattva and is located in the middle of the sacrifice-fire,
the woman whose face etc. are similar to those of her husband
(153).
And in the (same) second zone, the vower should imagine Maitreya
and K~itigarbha who came out from the seed character Maim and
Thlim on the eastern platform."

This mispositionning by Nagarjuna led to a confusion for him. At

the second sexual union to be performed by all the members of the
assembly, four women ( Mamakl, etc.) who are excluded from the
union with their original consorts, that is, the four tathiigatas who
are to be united with Rilpauajrii, etc. in the phenomenon of the
"exchange of consorts", stand up alternatively and ask the "visiting
leader" , who is now free from the union, to do sexual union with
them. In chapter seventeen of GS, we find, for example, in the case
of Mamaki, the following:

atha sa sarvatathagatacittadayita mamaki bhagavantam sarva-

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134 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

tathagatadhipatim mahavajradharam ebhir vajradharakamarati-

pujagrak~arapadail) pritya samstuyamasa I
tvam vajracitta* bhuvane§vara sattvadhato I
trayahi mam ratimanojiia maharthakamaih I
kamahi mam janaka sattvamahagrabandho I
yadicchase jivitum adya natha I I 72 I I
*For vajracitta, MSS give vajrasattva.
"Then, Mamaki, the lover of the mind of the Sarvatathagata,
praised the Reverend Lord, the Lord of all ·the tathiigatas, the
Mahavajradhara with the following sentences of the highest
worship of Vajradhara through the pleasure of love with delight:
'0 You! The (God of) adamantine mind (or, Vajrasattva
MSS)!
The (whole) world (of living beings)!
You (who are) delighted in the pleasure of love! Save me
if you want great profit!
0 Father! love me! 0 The great and the highest kinsman
of (all) the living beings!
0 Lord! if you like to be alive again now! '"

The existence of these verses must certainly have been embarrassing

for Nagarjuna, who was thinking that these four women were still
in union with their original consorts, that is, the four tathiigatas.
This is the reason why he couldn't help concealing the names of these
four women when he quoted these verses in the Pirujlikrama-siidhana.
His quotation corresponding to this verse goes as follows:

mal).gala~tha§ caturdevyo na pa§yantam tatal) patim I

gathacatu9tayenettham bodhayanti mahasukham I I 205 I I
tvam vajrasattva bhuvane§vara sattvadhato I
trayahi mam ratimanojiia maharthakamail) I

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 135

kamahi mam janaka sattvamahagrabandho I

yadicchase jivatu mahya natha I I 206 I I
"Then, the four goddesses who are located in the martcJala thus
made the Lord who was not looking (at them) perceive great
pleasure through the following four verses (of solicitation):
'0 You! Vajrasattva! ············"'

These are reasons we cannot rely on the form of the martcJala of the
GS recreated by Nagarjuna in restoring the actual state of the
"original secret assembly".

5. The realities of the "original secret assembly".

On the basis of the structure of the GS martcJala suggested not by

Nagarjuna in the PirtcJikrama-sadhana but by the text of the GS
itself (fig. i), we imagine the outline of the cult of the "original
secret assembly" as follows:

*Ak!?obhya, the sponsor of the assembly or donor ( danapati, :bm.±

seshu), who is probably a wealthy gentleman of the district, giving
generous donations to the "visiting leader", perhaps a well- known
yogin, who occasionally comes to the district, prepares five
mahamudra-girls (*ROpavajra, etc.); they are beautiful maidens of
sixteen years old. *Ak!?obhya also invites "all the *tathagatas" who
are actually four sarvatathagatas ( *Vairocana, etc); these gentlemen,
who are the regular members of the assembly, accept the invitation
and come to the place accompanying their own wives ( *Mamaki, etc.)
and bodhisattva-followers (*Maitreya, K!?itigarbha, etc.), who are
thought to be their followers in actual life. The five girls (*ROpavajra.
etc.) and the four wives (*Mamaki, etc.), in total nine women, are

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136 The OriginalFormation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

"adamantine ladies" ( vajrayosid) who form the "matrix" or the

basis of the assembly on which the truth is to be realized, being
consecrated through the sexual union with the "visiting leader". *Ak
~obhya solicits the "visiting leader", the "*Reverend Lord, the *Sarv
atathagata-
kayavakcittavajradhipati", for administering the assembly; the
"leader" comes and "places himself in the middle of the ma7J¢ala of
all the *tathiigatas" (paragraph 7).

In this assembly, sexual yoga takes place twice in two sessions: firstly,
between the "visiting leader" and the nine "adam an tine ladies"
(vajrayo?ids), and secondly, between the five tathiigatas (*Ak~obhya
etc.) and the five mahiimudra-girls (*ROpavajra , etc.), and between.
*
the "visiting leader" and the four wives ( Mamaki, etc).

The "strange " expression which was referred to at the beginning of

this paper indicates the first instance of sexual yoga and is more
definitely shown by the expression "the Reverend Lord Mahavairocana,
(first) entered into the meditation namedSarvatathiigatamahiiriigauajra
(the universal lust of the Sarvatathagata as firm as adamant)"
(paragraph 4 ) ; this is of course the "universal" samiidhi the archetype
of which can be traced to the "Lion-Yawning" samiidhi of the Ga7J¢a-
vyilha-siitra.

The "visiting leader" adds the sacredness of the samiidhi to the

"assembly" ; and the "assembly" which had been only the commg
together of the members is transformed thereby into the "grand
samaya-ma7J¢ala" , the ground on which the truth is to be realized
(paragraph 6).

The "visiting leader " subsequently gives a secret teaching and grants

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 137

a special initiation to *Aksobhya,

. . which
the donor. This abhiseka
makes *Ak9obhya a vajracarya is assumed to be not the usual "iiciirya-
. " ( jmjliJ~?f(JJi ajari - kanjo ) , i.e., the "pitcher-abhiseka"
abhiseka .
( *A?{(JJ[ byo- kanjo), but the "secret- abhiseka"
. (guhya-abhiseka,
. fM
WffiJJ[ himitsu- kanjo) which is the second of the system of four
initiations of HV or the Sarhvara Tantrism.

The "secret-abhi?eka" is the initiation in which the bodhi-citta ( t!f~

1{:, bodai-shin), in the Tantric meaning, is seeded in the disciple. In
the case of the "original secret assembly" , the "visiting leader" , the
original acarya , unites himself sexually with the mahamura
*Sparsavajra who was offered to him bya the donor *Ak9obhya, picks
up the bodhi-citta , which is actually the mixture of the menstrual
fluid of the mahamudrii and his own semen that originated in the
sexual yoga, with his thumb and ring-finger (the fourth finger) and
drops it in the mouth of the disciple, who is actually *Ak9obhya
himself.

.
The efficacy of this "secret- abhisekd' granted to *Aksobhya
. isargued,
in chapter seventeen of the text, between "all the tathagatas" who
are in assembly and the bodhisattva Maitreya who is watching it
from outside; we find a profound meaning in the fact that the questioner
is none other than the bodhisattva Maitreya who was a hero of the
Ga7J¢avyuha-sutra. The passage goes:

"Then, the great bodhisattva Maitreya saluted all the tathagatas

and asked them as follows:
'How should the Reverend Lord Vajra- acarya who was initiated
in the secret assembly of adamantine bodies, speech and minds
of all the tathagatas be seen by all the tathagatas and all
the bodhisattvas? '

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138 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

All the tathaga tas answered:

'0 son of good family, the bodhi - mind (bodhicitto, masculine
singular) is to be seen like adamant (uajra). Because, the bodhi-
mind ( bodhicitta§, m. sg. ) and the acarya ( jmJ liJ ~ ajari =
*Ak~obhya) are non-dual and are not to be divided into two.
0 son of good family, in short, all these buddhas and bodhi -
sattuas who are living, existing and spending days in (all) the
worlds of ten directions will come three times to the acarya
(every day), worship him in the same way as they worship the
Sarvatathagata and go back to their own buddha -lands. And
there, they pronounce the following sentences of adamantine
speech:

He is the father of all of us, all the tathagatas, and 1s

also the mother of all of us, all the tathagatas.

The (meaning of these sentences) is as follows: If we can use

a simile, the whole aggregate of all the merits (pw;,ya - skandha
:fM~) which are bone from the bodies, speech and minds of all
the reverend Buddhas who exist in (all the worlds of) ten
directions can narrowly match (in its vastness) with the size
of the hole of the point of a hair of the body (romakupagrauiuara)
of the aciirya.
It is because, 0 son of good family, the bodhi-mind ( bodhi -
cittal]?-, neuter singular) is the cream of (all) the wisdoms of
all the Buddhas, is that which makes (all the wisdoms of all
the Buddhas) arise and is the origine of "the wisdom of the
omniscient" (sarvajiiajiiana, -.gn~~ issai-chi-chi ) . '
Hearing these words, the bodhisattva Maitreya was terrified; his
mind trembled, and he became silent."

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja. (Tsuda) 139

In this passage, the word "bodhi-mind" ( bodhicitta, :gr~,L· bodai-

shin) appears three times; the first two cases which are shown m
masculine singular form refer to the "visiting leader " who is to be
identified with the Reverend Lord, the Tathagata Bodhicitta-vajra
of chapter one (paragraphs 7 8 9 10 11 and 12) ; he is none other
than the personification of the universal, ultimate reality, that is
"the dharma of neuter singular" in our terminology, as he is united
with the whole substance of the sphere of dharma ( dharmadhatu,
t*W. hokkai), which is the aggregate of five or nine "adamantine
ladies " as "the dharma of feminine singular" . He is the dharma -
kaya ( ¥*:!ft hosshin) in his theistic aspect, and at the same time, the
"wisdom of the omniscient" (sarvajiiajiiana), the pantheistic reality
of the "world" itself. And *Ak!?obhya who has been initiated by the
"visiting leader" is said to be "non-dual and is not to be divided
into two" with the "visiting leader" himself who is the universal bodhi-
mind (m. sg.) here.

In the third case where the word "bodhi-mind" appears, it is in

neuter singular form (bodhicittam ) , and this shows the ground of
the tantric truth of the GS. It is because *Ak!?obhya was "seeded"
by the "visiting leader " with the bodhi-mind of neuter singular that
the former is "non-dual and is not to be divided into two" with the
latter. The bodhi- mind ( n. sg. ) , which is nothing other than the
mixture of the menstrual fluid of the mahamudra and the semen of
the "visiting leader " , is said to be "the cream of (all) the wisdom
of all the Buddhas" , "that which makes all the wisdoms of all the
Buddhas arise" and "the origin of saruajiiajiiana ", the term which
was used to express the pantheistic reality of the Mahayanic world
of the Gw:ujavyuha-sutra or the Vairocanabhisambodhi-sutra.

This tantric truth of the GS, however, cannot but make the bodhisattva

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140 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

Maitreya, who had been the preacher of the Mahayanic truth of the
bodhi-mind in the Garpjavyiiha-siitra, which is a remote ancestor of
the GS, terrified. The Tantric bodhi-mind of the GS and the Mahayanic
bodhi-mind of the GV are truly "critical" (incompatible with each
other) as the "author" of the GS rightly noticed.

In the GV, the bodhisattva Maitreya teaches Sudhana-§re?thidaraka

(~.M!lr Zenzai-doji) the final truth of the Mahayanic bodhi-mind
which expresses the siinyata-manner (~t~ kii-sho) of existence and the
actual becoming of the Mahayanic, ideal world of Samantabhadracaryii
-ma7Jrjala (the complete aggregate of all the deeds of the bodhisattva
Samantabhadra), which is, in other words, sarvajnajnana, as follows:

atal) prabhavati sarvabodhisattvaaaryamarp;lalam (Suzuki. p. 496)

"From this ( bodhi-mind) appears the whole aggregate of all the
deeds of (all) the bodhisattvas"

or

yenanuttarayarp. samyaksarhbodhau cit tam utpaditarh so

'pramai)agul).asamudito bhavati sarvajnatacittadhya§ayasusarp.grhit-
atvat (ibid.)
"At the instant that a man starts the bodhi-mind seekig for the
hisghest and complete enlightenment, he comes to be possessed of
(all the) immeasurable merits as he is well protected by the mind
aiming to be the omniscient."

The main point of these words of Maitreya exists m the following

fact:

If a man understands and consents to the idea of the world of the

GV (1§ shin ), resolves to cast himself practically into it (Lj[ gan)
and sets his first step to the eternal process of constructing it by

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 141

himself as was actually done by the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (if

Jt;grji,i Fugen-bosatsu), the ideal world of the whole aggregate of all
the deeds of Samantabhadra (samantabhadracarya-mar;ujala, iftf¥~
!ft. Fugen-hokkai). i.e., the whole agggregate of all the deeds of all
the bodhisattvas (sarvabodhisattvacarya-mar;ujala ) • or. in another
word, the world of "immeasurable merits " appears at the same
instant, in its completeness, in conformity with the first step of his
practice ( 1T gyo).

This state of things IS exactly reflected in the teaching of bodhi -

mind in the GS in the point that the "whole aggregate of all the
merits " or sarvajiiajiiana • the world of reality as the mm:ujala
occurs from the bodhi-mind, or, the bodhi-mind is the "origin" of
sarvajiiajiiana. However, the bodhi-mind which Maitreya defined m
GV as the whole-existentialistic Entwurf to the ideal world of infinite
deeds of bodhisattvas which are essentially the direct communications
to others according to the principle of universal mercy C*~ tai-hi)
to remove their afflictions is actually replaced, in GS , with a drop
( bindu , i~) of the mixture of the menstrual fluid and the semen of
the two sexes.

My concept of "criticality " is based of the surmise that the pra-

ctice benefitting others or removing the afflictions of others should,
in its essence, direct; Mahayana was the position which consciously
confines itself within the limitation of this directness of practice.

The Tantrism of the GS consciously replaced this Mahayanic concept

of bodhi-mind of benefitting others directly with a drop of the mixture
of the menstrual fluid and the semen that occurs at the sexual union
of both sexes; it was quite natural that this replacement made
Maitreya, who is the personification of the Idee of Mahayana, terri-

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142 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

fied. The secret teachings or "the truth " (paragraph 11 ) preached

by the "visiting leader'' at the "original secret assembly" were actually
of this kind.

The actual state of the second stage of the sexual yogic practice to
be performed at the "original secret assembly" can be assumed retro-
gressively from the prajiiiijiiiina-abhi?eka (~*Wi:ITJ! hannya - chi -
kanjo) of the Hevajra-tantra (HV).

*Ak~obhya who had been "seeded" with the bodhi-mind from the
"visiting leader " , united himself, in his turn, with the mahiimudrii
of the "visiting leader " , i.e., * Sparsavajra ; the four tathiigatas
( *Vairocana, etc.) united with the four mahiimudra-girls ( *Rupavajra,
etc. ) . This situation is reflected in an expression found in chapter
seventeen, which corresponds with the "strange " expression at the
beginning of chapter one:

atha bhagavantal). sarvatathagatal). sarvatathagatakayavakcitta-

vajrayo~idbhage~u
vijahiiruh.
"Then, all the tathiigatas dwelt m the female organs of
adamantine ladies who are the hearts of the bodies, speech and
minds of all the tathiigatas. "

*
The four ladies ( Mamaki etc.) who are deprived of their original
consorts ( *Vairocana, etc.) ask the "visiting leader " who is now
withdrawn from the yoga with *Sparsavajra, to perform sexual union
with themselves. The "visiting leader" of course accepts the solicitation
of *Mamaki etc. and unites himself with whem.

Thus all the members of the "original secret assembly" obtain happily
their own partners and practise sexual yogic practices simultaneously;
this situation is mentioned in the passage following the verses of

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 143

solicitations of *Mamakl etc. mentioned before as follows:

"Thus, the Reverend Lord, the Tathiigata Vajrapaoi, having

entered into the samiidhi named "Sarvakamopabhogavajra§ri" (the
splendour of the adamant enjoying of all the amorous desires), loving
the wife of all the tathiigatas (sarvatathiigatadayitii. sg.) with
the circle of samayas , become silent.

Then, the whole sphere of the empty sky, being filled with semen
which is the samaya of bodies, speech and minds of all the
tathiigatas, became like a water- pot filled with "adamantine
water'' . Accordingly, all of these living beings who have originated
from the samayas of three (kinds of) bodies in this whole sphere
of the empty sky, being touched by the splendour of three (kinds
of) vajras, become tathiigatas, arhats, samyaksarp,buddhas and
holders of three (kinds of) adamantine wisdoms.

After that, all the living beings have become initiated with
adamantine bodies, speech and minds of all the tathiigatas, being
called by the (abhi?eka-) names 'Samantabhadras! Samantabhadras!'
Then, the Tathiigata Vajrapaoi said to all these tathiigatas :

'0 Reverend Lords! All the Tathiigatas ! The oneness

of (all the) truths of all the Buddhas was seen (by you,
wasn't it?)'

Answering to this, all the tathiigatas said to the Lord of all

the tathiigatas Vajrapaoi as follows:

'Seen, 0 Reverend Lord! seen, 0 Sugata! was the one-

ness of (all) the adamantine wisdoms. (Seen) was the
practice of the adamantine wisdom.'

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144 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

Then, all the reverend tathagatas, coming out of the female

organs of the adamantine ladies, said to the Reverend Lord, the
great Vajrapal)i, the Tathagata, the Lord of all the tathagatas:

'It is very rare, 0 Reverend Lord! It is very rare, 0

Sugata! that, through the words or expressiOns of lust,
the (state of) enlightenment of the Buddha is to be
attained. ' "

6. The inevitable degeneration of the Guhyasamaja-tantra into the

"cuI t of cemetery" .

Thus, a scheme to participate, through svadhidaivatayoga (*~:fi{fhD),

in the sphere of reality and realize thereby enlightenment instan-
taneously with one's actual, physical existence was proposed in the
GS.

Was the scheme really successful then? Or, more particularly, was
the secret teaching to replace the notion . of the Mahayanic bodhi-
mind with the Tantric notion of the bodhi-mind as a "drop" (bindu,
7~) really testified to be true?

Of course not. The members may have experienced some kind of

unusual ecstasy during the sexual yogic practice performed in the
"original secret assembly" ; however, the fact that they couldn't
but find themselves still "common men" the next morning had not
changed in this stage of Tantric Buddhism. This situation made them
look for further "intensity " in their sexual yogic practice, accelerated
their inclination to the "cult of §ma§ana " and consequently caused
the history of the thought of Tantric Buddhism to evolve to the next
stage, the stage of the Heuajra- tantra, which was the "Buddhism

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 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda) 145

of smasana " or the "Buddhism of cemetery" .

However, I would like to pose some questions here:

What, then, was the significance of the existence of the GS?

Was the GS nothing more than a text of transitional character or a

text that was merely trial and error? In other words, was the GS
nothing more than a small cog in the wheel of the historical evolution
of Tantric Buddhism?

It is true that the GS was really a cog in the wheel of the necessary
process of the evolution of the history of Tantric Buddhism; however,
once we look over it again from the eye-level of the "open system" ,
we notice the fact that it was truly an epoch-making stage of the
" self- notification " of the " God of the open system " as the
"teleological reason " .

We find in the fantastic, astonishing "secret" of the GS replacing the

Mahayanic notion of bodhi-mind with the Tantric notion of a "drop"
(hindu ) the fact that the mechanism of the actual becoming of the
"God of the open system" or what Nishida Kitar6 ([gffi~~N~) calls
"contra -correspondence " of the whole-including God and our own
individual existence ( :i2!M f;5 gyaku- taio) is expressed therewith, if
symbolically, in its utmost limit.

When does the "God of the open system" uncover the veil of the
symbolistic expression and show us directly the real mechanism of his
own becoming actual then?

To meet with the final context of this self-notification of the "God

of the open system" and recover his "secret" as our own "thought", we
have to be patient to follow the further process of evolution of the

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146 The Original Formation of Guhyasamaja (Tsuda)

history of Tantric Buddhism to its completion in the Sarhvara Tantrism

obeying the teleological intention of the "God of the open system"
who is also the Genius of the history of the thought of Buddhism.

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