‘Not two, not one’ – the resolve of the Tantric equivoque Discuss the polarity symbolism placing emphasis on the yab yum Tantric leitmotif
Carmen Cochior Plescanu:
‘Not two, not one' - the resolve of the Tantric equivoque
Discuss the polarity symbolism placing emphasis on the yab yum Tantric leitmotif
The investigation of the elaborate polarity symbolism in Tantra is not without difficulties, as it implies an extremely detailed dialectical approach and ability to escape the conventional absolutist clichés which gravitate around it. The multifold esoteric symbolism, philosophy and linguistic complexion of the contents of Tantra could not, but be investigated within the comparative field of both Hindu and Buddhist ideology. This paper aims to surface the views on the polarity motif, by discussing and integrating the fundamentals of the both Indian and Tibetan doctrinarian, aesthetic and spiritual Tantric narrative. For this reason, the themes and symbols of Tibetan Tantra are placed in the
context of earlier Indian tradition. The inspiration of this essay arouse from the encounter with the symbol of yab-yum, which personifies in Tibetan Buddhism the spiritual process of surrendering the dualistic concepts and realizing the pristine awareness. It represents a powerful and fertile symbol to be realized personally by every Tantric practitioner. Furthermore, this essay presumes familiarity with the basic symbolism and the ontological concepts assigned to them by both Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism while aware that the deepest understandings of Tantra's 'secret language' (Skt. Sandha-bhasa, Tib. Gongpe-ke) demand to be interpreted through the initiation and oral instruction of a qualified Tantric medium.
A philosophical doctrine common to both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra is that of the archetypal universal-model which describes reality as one, “but is to be grasped through a process of conceptual and intuitive polarization.” The poles are represented as active and passive and the universe being in motion through their interaction. When the state of absolute oneness and quintessence is being realized through the mingling of the two poles, the universe ceases its travail. Doctrinally, in both traditions, the polarities
are merged through the “repeated declaration of their fundamental oneness” and experientially, through “the Tantric's relieving of this merger through his integrating sadhana or spiritual discipline.” However the discrepancies between the two traditions reveal themselves when one ascertains that the specific ascriptions to the two poles are in antithesis.
The Buddhist assigned the ‘male apparatus' to the kinetic and the dynamic principle and the female role to the passive and the knowledge principle, whereas the Hindus proceeded conversely. It is not yet decided among the scholars whether the Buddhist's selection of the ascriptions was intentional or unconscious. However, it would seem a naive rationale to presume the arbitrary in such a complex esoteric tradition, considering the advanced philosophical theories, the complex and detailed rhetorical and aesthetic tradition of Indic influence.
The cult for the sovereign feminine principle, of the Mother Goddess could be traced in the proto-Indian cults, specifically in the Mohenjo-Daro Indus civilisation where evidence of Yoni worship was preeminent. The Mother Goddess remained in its primitive form and was developed in the Sakta and Saivite cults only after the Aryan invasion. The powerful magna mater ritual and worship, autochthonous in pre-Aryan culture was modified and enunciated in a different manner once the Vedic notions of male supremacy infused the Indian tradition.
According to Eliade, in Hinduism, the cosmic force Sakti raised to the rank of Divine Mother, formulating around her the ‘religion of the Mother' that in ancient times reigned over the Aegeo-Afrasiatic territory. The supremacy of the mother principle embodies, as Agehananda Bharati outlines, a speculation “common to all ancient cosmosophies”. The indigenous elements reasserted themselves in the form of Prakriti, the repository of all actions and the worship goddess of pre-Aryan India and its catalyzing agent, the male deity Purusha. One can also assume that the matrifocal atmosphere in which the Indian Tantra has flourishes, such as Bengal, Udiyanna, Orissa, was conducive to attributing the
dynamics to the female principle. “The leading part played by women in religious life, their identification with Mother Goddess, the symbolization of various concepts and relations ascribed to women, the insistence on the cult of sex and female organ as the sole seat of all happiness, the function of women as priestess, the concept of the supreme being as Female Principle”, had been definitely assumed, re-systematized and re-conceptualized in the later Tantric esoteric tradition in Bhattcharyya's opinion. The female principle, as described by Dr. Bidyut Lata Ray, is endowed with the ultimate creative power, and it is the very potency of the female's womb, the container of the ovum and of life in itself (the Rig Veda's hiranya-garbha) that must be realized by the Tantrist.
He further states that the Kaula vali Tantra pays maximum respect to the female sex, to the Heart-of-the-Tantra Mother Goddess, “the initiator, the origin of all life, the source of enjoyment, the path towards transcendence”, and furthermore, it is notable his claim that the ferventness of female worship in Tantra, far exceeds the claims of any women's liberation movement. The quest of the Hindu Tantrist was, as Eliade refers to as, a religious rediscovery of the mystery of female aspect, as for him, every woman
becomes the incarnation of Sakti. Through the recognition of what is transcendental and invulnerable in woman, he realizes the irreducibility of the divine. The gynocentrism of ancient texts and art suggest, as Miranda Shaw emphasizes, that women were regarded as ‘astute and indomitable' thus equal counterparts in the path towards supreme realization.
“You are the body of Siva with the sun and the moon as pair of breasts...O blessed Lady, hence you reciprocally realize each other as complement and essence, this union exists of you two experiencing supreme bliss with equal savour” (Saundaryalahari Tantra)
Early in Buddhism two female divinities emerged, the Prajnaparamita (the creation of metaphysics) and Tara which represented the epiphany of the Great Goddess of aboriginal India. The attributes assigned by the Indian and Buddhist theologians are axiomatic for the investigation and comprehending of the polarity leitmotif. They have imputed wisdom (prajna, Tib. Shes rab) and ‘all cognitive terms of spiritual consummation' to the female¬static, and compassion (Karuna), method (Upaya) and ‘the conative terms in this
universe of discourse' to the Male-dynamic. Whereas the Hindu Pandit semantically identifies the female principle as Sakti regardless of her denominational provenance, the Tibetan Buddhist follows a distinctive pattern when he identifies the all pervasive wisdom with the Cosmic Mother (Tib. yum) and respectively the means (Tib. thabs) with the Cosmic Father (Tib. yab) -or the Buddha-Sakti as the Indologists refer to as.
Both Buddhist and Hindu visualize their respective ‘noumena' - the nomenclature that Agehananda Bharati prefers to use in order to discriminate from “the theologically loaded term” ‘divine', which would not be compatible to the Buddhist ontology - as non-duality (advaita in Vedantic Hinduism and advaya in Tantric Buddhism). This supreme non-duality can only be expressed through engaging the diametrical polarity terminology, as “the supreme is inexpressible, non-communicable in itself and totally transcendent.” 16:
“It is the dominating notion of two in one upon which the whole complicated structure of the Tantra is reared, and this applies to its philosophy, its theology and its practice of Yoga.” The paradigm that is employed by the tantrik, which engages both the mythological and psychological aspects to illustrate the polarity, is the male and female in a cosmicized version as god and goddess. In the rich sandha imagery of Buddhist Tantric texts, “the dynamic part of the male principle finds its individualized counterpart in the male lover who takes the active part in the yogic love-act ” in contrast with the Hindu Tantric tradition where the role is attributed to the feminine principle.
The Tibetan fascination with the symbolized polarity is evidenced in their yab-yum iconography, the precursors of this iconographic pattern having been with certainty from India as “erotic sculpture have been produced by Indian artists as early as 300 AD, and one might assume even an earlier date.” This idea could be supported by the historical occurrences of the beginnings of the 6th century, when India was split into minor dynasties, as result of the invasion of the Hephalites or the White Huns, and its borders were
courted by the rapidly expansionist Tibetans. Two Buddhist kingdoms had been of interest for the Tibetans, as their historical recodes evidence, respectively Harsa (Noth West India) and Pala (Bengal) which, confronted with the imminent invasion and lacking the military power, conquered them with the powerful and fascinating Tantric Buddhism. The temple carvings prevalent in these regions, of tantric asana forms and mithuna sculptures, the interlocking figures in sexual union representing the antinomic principles must have been known to the Tibetan trespassers.
Beyond the influences that might have penetrated from without, the Bon indigenous element, popular imagery and speculative mythological dispositions blended along into the Tibetan tantric pattern. It is possible, that early Vajrayana have homogenized elements from the popular, pre-systemised pantheon of Indian origin (the static yum, the Cosmic Mother, archetype cultivated with predilection in the Prajnaparamita), and the purely Saktis from the Indian tradition, the purely dynamic female energies ( Skt. Vajravarahi, Tib. rDo rje phag mo).
The symbols employed by the Tantric scriptural and visual representations present a structure of signification that goes beyond the literal which is drawn from the ordinary experiences and which are susceptible to conventional interpretations. In Vajrayana, symbols come before the subjective discourse - the mere reflection of the objective reality- and defies it, by revealing the subtle nature of the world which the psychoanalysis and arts calls it creative and unconscious. Decoding their meanings is both an
intimate experience on an inward reflective level and an exploration of the dynamics of the world. The symbolistic of yab-yum is meant to bridge these two worlds and awaken the personal experience into a realm of pristine understanding. The yab yum associations of a sexual nature could not be excluded in this symbolism, as sexual Tantrism have been practiced with predilection in both the Tibetan Tantric (rgyud) and Indian tradition. Obviously, sexuality loses its conventional meaning, as it represents a mental
process rather than physical, which enables the polarity “once it has reached the highest level of absorption or integration (bodhi) to be cancelled and to become sunyata (ston pa nyid;);this is the state called mahamudra (phyag rgya chen po); the great Mudra”.
The inseparable pair of the consorts, symbolically represented in sexual union explicitly represent the non dual subjectivity: “And not two, not one, they represent aspects of totality that are nondual and reflective of each” The symbolism of the couple's passionate sexual surrender denotes the aspects of the mind which have been relinquished in their alchemical metamorphose of the great bliss:
“In Tibetan art, depictions of deities in ecstatic union refer, ultimately to an internal alchemical process in which the body's male and female essences, inherited at the moment of conception, are brought into the central channel, giving rise to the wisdom of Great Bliss ”24
It is worth mentioning that tantric imagery is not an arbitrary invention derived from artistic manipulation of symbols, but a reality which is designed to emancipate the practitioner from the surface perceptions during contemplation. The thangkas, quintessentially Tibetan paintings, represent with artistic complexity in both form and
composition the yab-yum motif. The artists created a dramatic choreography in which the tutelary deities are in motion and often attributed hyperbolic visual characteristics. The nature of the composition and the tranquil mood of situation denote the presence of religious rather than secular subjects: the couple is often painted with unnatural complexions, embraces with elegance and passion, the gaze expressing contentment.
One can notice patterns of the iconic imagery that are uniquely attributed to the Tibetan culture (and possibly to the Nepalese tradition); the Goddess -Tantric consort- (Tib. songyum) sitting dominantly astride in the God's lap seems to be a pure Tibetan conspicuous artistic feature. The yab is depicted sitting in lotus posture (padmasana or vajrasana), where, as Agehananda Bharati observes, no movement is possible, “whereas the posture of yum suggests intensive motion”.
This reveals an astonishing paradox, which contrasts the doctrine itself, that the deified wisdom (Tib. shes rab) is static and the deified method (Tib. thabs) is dynamic. Whether it is just an artistic iconographical convention in regards to its functional aspect, -female as active in the yogic sexual union- , this addressed issue remains to be decided within a broader perspective.
‘The Secret Vajrayana' (Tib. Gsang war do rje thrg pa) has a long history and social context that is worth studying before submerging in any naive presuppositions. The philosophy underlying many of the Tantric practices is very ambiguous with regard to women's place and role. June Campbell argues that Tibetan Buddhism replaced much of the Mother Goddess worship and has incorporated all the symbolism of the Lotus Goddess into Cenrezig, as means for the tulku patrifocal system to ensure its power and domination. She further argues that although in Tibetan Tantric system the women is transcendentalized into goddesses and dakinis with whom the male must associate themselves in other to
reach Enlightenment, the woman either in symbolic form or real woman as tantric consort is viewed solely as means for the practitioners to fulfil their quest. This perspective is also shared by Herrmann-Pfandt who, on the patriarchal bias in Tibetan Buddhism states that such a convention elevates the yab to primary status whereas his yum
counterpart remains anonymous and often diminutive. However, Vajravarahi (the wrathful form of Varjrayogini) represents an exceptional example to the patriarchal convention of the male deity taking precedence. She assumes a prominent place as a central deity in yab-yum union and her male consort is neither named nor described. The union is reversed when the ritualic circumstances demand it, which evidence clearly that there are no prevailing fixed conventions inherent to the yab- yum practice.
By following this rationale, it is rather evident that the already patricentric socio-religious pattern that defined Tibet could not have been subverted by the Indian influences.
Whereas in India the Vedic male dominating sacerdotalism collided with the native Indus matriarchal tradition and Tantric tradition emerged as a doctrinal revolution of the latter in subduing the former, in Tibet, as H. Wilhelm suggested there has existed no basis for this transference to be incorporated in any of the socio-religious contexts. In this contextual supposition, “if the Tibetan sentiment at that time of the advent of Buddhism was patriarchal, there was indeed no need for any such action; the Tibetan converts to Buddhism would naturally choose those texts and those preceptors from India which fell in line with a patriarchal trend”.
The iconography symbolic narrative is not immune to gender subjectivity mostly created by the cultural overlay. The Vajrayana attitude requires us to question aspects of the intimate experience with the symbol, through identifying its qualities rather that employing cultural presuppositions. To a certain level, Tantrist's modus operandi implies the deconstruction of the symbol to the most personal level. From a traditional point of view, the mother aspect yum does not employ a direct association with women or gender, but with the power of the realization of emptiness to transform the mundane concerns into enlightenment. Issues of identity and politics evoked from the conventional perspective
are clarified once engaged in the methodology and philosophy adopted by the Tantric path, in which both feminine and masculine aspects are just sacred emanations of the fundamental dynamic of phenomena. On the inner lever as Judith Simmer-Brown asserts, the gender of the deities embodying the two polarities are transitional, a display without any substance or weight, as when the practitioner arrives to a subtler level of visualization and understanding, he trespasses the subjectifying and objectifying sexuality or any concept of self and the other.
The goddess can be primarily understood within the cultures in which they are worshipped, and interestingly, their religious symbolism with multivalent meanings they adorn, do not fall in the narrow cultural stereotype “feminine” traits.
When the yab-yum iconography is being analyzed too politically, as an expression of male or female domination, the inner significance is lost to cite Kunjed Gyalpo:”In any possible circumstance, all beings that transmigrate and enjoy arise solely from this state, the king of equality has never spoken of male and female.” The transcendental truth is realized by the male and the female in unio mystica as Heinrich Zimmer asserts and the two poles represent the two aspects or functions of reality, perfectly equal in
rank. The symbol of yogic copulation reveals the dynamism of enlightenment which returns in its state of full and permanent incandescence. The unio oppositorum translates on the superior level of understanding the experimental knowledge of the state of non-duality: “You are not a male, you are not a female; both female and male are visualized together” The Tantric texts have produced pairs of opposites such as prajna (wisdom) and upaya (the means to attain it ); sunyata (voidnes) and
karuna (compassion) through which the Vajracharyas attempt to unify them by applying “techniques combining subtle physiology with meditation”. Mircea Eliade, in his work Yoga-Immortality and Freedom, unfolds the symbolism of polarity as occurring in Hevajra Tantra, stating that the state of unity is obtained by discarding the two polar contradictory notions (the samsara as cosmic process and nvrtti, the absolute arrest of all processes) and that one transcends the antagonism by becoming conscious that the ultimate nature of the phenomenal world (samklesa) is identical with that of the absolute (vyavdana). This in fact the concern of the Tantrist, is to realize the comingling of
Prajna and Upaya, which become liberation when associated with each other, like the inseparable co-existence of the lamp and the light. Only through this direct ritualic experiencing of the yab-yum Tantric sadhana, the practitioner acquires the subjectless subjectivity, one which is purified from the mind's dualistic tendencies.
The unity of the relative and absolute aspects of reality expresses the Tantric vision which sees beyond the apparent dualism of flesh and spirit, sacred and profane. In Tantrism, the enlightenment continuum is present but largely unrecognized, and the practice of yab-yum represents a radical visionary method in which the blissful union is enacted, to induce and lead the practitioner into the “present, cognizant, empty, naked and awake awareness”.
“Seek out a qualified consort and the secret of the dakinis,
The wisdom of bliss and emptiness will arise within...
Free of dualistic grasping, reverse the flow of the descending nectar and diffuse it through the body...
Bliss spreads through the four chakras and the three channels..
Revealing the inseparability of joy and pure potential..
Applied well, you will attain Buddhahood in this very life.”
