Chapter Three: The Madhura Disposition in India's Inner (Esoteric) Religious Disciplines

—although the practice of great bliss yields the innate state, one must never suppose that it is “body-born”: “Though situated in the body, it is not born of the body.” The innate state is self-grounded. There is neither knower, known, nor knowledge.

When Shakti reaches the Vajra-body or Innate body, she herself becomes emptiness, while the practitioner's pure, awakened mind becomes the Blessed Vajrasattva. When Vajrasattva and emptiness are thus completely united in the practitioner's Innate body, the state of great bliss is attained. The mind drinks the wine of great bliss, becomes intoxicated, and itself becomes Vajrasattva. In this condition of innate play, the arising of the awakening mind drives ignorance away just as sunrise dispels darkness. This is the final consummation of supreme knowledge and supreme bliss, the goal of Buddhist practice.

B. The Madhura Disposition in the Siddha Tradition and the Raseshvara Philosophy

The Siddha tradition is one of this country's most ancient schools of esoteric religious practice. It places special emphasis upon bodily discipline: strengthening this very body in order to attain immortality is the tradition's distinctive concern.

Alchemy

The Siddhas have a close relationship with alchemists. The Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha accepts Raseshvara, the philosophy of mercury, as a distinct system and describes its special features by citing numerous authoritative works of alchemy. Alchemists prescribe making the body itself ageless and immortal through a particular mercury preparation, thereby attaining immortal perfection.

Alchemy had spread widely in China and Tibet at a very early date and was an extremely secret yet exceedingly popular discipline there. Historians believe that it came to India from Tibet. Whatever its route, it is a very ancient system of practice. In the Kaivalya-pāda of his Yoga Sūtra, Maharshi Patanjali says that supernatural attainments may arise through medicinal substances.¹ Commenting upon this, Vyasa and Vachaspati say that “medicine” here means mercury. It undoubtedly alludes to the secret practice of yogis who obtained attainments through alchemy.

In Nepal, Tibet, and the Himalayan valleys, Nath Siddhas and Buddhist Siddhacharyas came into contact. The ideas, methods of practice, conduct, and other features of the two traditions consequently grew similar in many respects—