Why is Hevajra Tantra the Supreme Tantra of All? The Path of Great Bliss

The Hevajra Tantra: From the Eighty-Four Siddhas to Tibetan Tradition

The history of Buddhism in its native India spanned approximately 1,600 years, from the first sermon at Sarnath to the destruction of the great monastic universities like Nalanda and Vikramashila. Most people see later Indian Buddhism in the perspective of decline, but the sources indicate a time of unprecedented creativity around the Buddhist Tantras, a whole lot of which was generated between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The most important of these is the Hevajra Tantra, which is a pillar of the Vajrayana school so significant that it was the centre of the Tibetan Sa-kya-pa and Ka-gyu-pa traditions.

What is Tantra?

The term tantra refers to a specific type of ritual text common to both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The concerns of these works are mainly with the invoking of divinities and the acquisition of all sorts of perfection or success (siddhi) by means of mantra and meditation (dhyana), symbolic gestures (mudra), and mystic circles (mandala). In the context of the Hevajra Tantra, it has three aspects of it, as a cause-tantra (hetu), a result-tantra (phala), and a means-tantra (upaya).

Tantras are traditionally arranged into four groups: kriya (action), carya (performance), yoga, and anuttarayoga (supreme yoga). The Hevajra Tantra belongs to the type of Tantra known as a Yogini Tantra (devoted to feminine divinities/Wisdom), and an Anuttarayoga Tantra, the ultimate and most effective teaching that is modified to suit people with keen senses.

The Origins and the Eighty-Four Siddhas

The Hevajra Tantra was not a creation in the established monastic order but was revealed through the agency of so-called outcasts and voluntary outcasts called the eighty-four Siddhas (Perfected Ones). These masters often practiced in secret, reasserting their spiritual positions through magical powers (vidyadhara), which in this case may be in the form of flying in the sky or invisibility.

The masters Kampala and Saroruha are specifically attributed with the introduction of the Hevajra Tantra into the world. Historical analysis indicates that the text was in its present state sometime at the end of the eighth century. The transmission lineage lists such personalities as Indrabhuti II, who was a disciple of Saroruha and Kampala, and the lineage was continued down to Jalandhari, to Kriana (Kaana).  The importance of Kanha is particularly significant as the author of the tantra Yogaratnamala, one of the most essential Sanskrit commentaries on the tantra.

The preservation of this text was an "extraordinary feat." Tibetans worked closely with living Indian masters to transfer these complex doctrines into a language that, at the time, lacked the necessary religious and philosophical terminology. It was not just the word-to-word translation but a step-by-step transfer of a culture and a living tradition.

The Hevajra Tantra is regarded as the Supreme Tantra because it represents the pinnacle of the Anuttarayoga (Supreme Yoga) tradition, specifically classified as a Yogini-niruttara (Supreme Yogini) tantra. The name Hevajra is itself a profound invocation of truth. "HE" symbolizes great compassion (karuna), and "VAJRA" symbolizes wisdom (prajna). The tantra is described as the "essence of Wisdom and Means".

The Radical Vision: Buddhahood in One Lifetime

Perhaps the most significant reason for its supreme status is the "realizable ideal" it offers: achieving Buddhahood in a single lifetime. While traditional Mahayana paths suggested a career spanning aeons of time, the Hevajra Tantra provides a powerful motive for self-sacrifice and training by placing the goal within immediate reach. It is considered the "best" teaching because it is adapted to those with "keen senses," offering many methods and an absence of difficulty for the truly proficient.

Non-Dual Reality: Samsara is Nirvana

The text asserts the fundamental unity of Nirvana and Samsara, claiming there is not "the slightest shade of difference" between the two. It teaches that all beings are essentially Buddhas; they are merely obscured by "accidental defilement" (agantukamala). The tantra’s supremacy lies in its ability to remove these defilements through the realization that variety is an illusion of the "myopia of ignorance," much like a man with defective sight seeing a double moon.

The "Homeopathic" Path of Passion

The Hevajra Tantra is unique in its "practice of reversals," operating on the principle that "by passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released." It claims to remove "like by like," utilizing the very forces, such as desire and wrath, that typically bind a person to existence to facilitate their release instead. It transmutes "base" tendencies into Great Bliss (mahasukha), much as a doctor uses poison to dispel another poison.

The Vajra Body as the Internal Mandala

It is considered supreme because it internalizes the entire universe within the practitioner’s own body, asserting that "great knowledge abides in the body." The yogin realizes the Internal Mandala through:

• The Thirty-Two Veins: Channels that bear the "thought of enlightenment" (bodhicitta).
• The Four Cakras: Radiating circles at the navel, heart, throat, and head that correspond to the four bodies of a Buddha.
• The Four Joys: Stages of bliss experienced through specific moments and consecrations.

Ultimately, the practitioner realizes that they themselves are the "Destroyer, the Creator, the King, the Lord" and that the whole of existence arises within them.

Foundational Authority in Lineages 

The tantra’s supremacy is confirmed by its historical role as a "foundational pillar" of the Vajrayana tradition. It served as the core treatise for the Tibetan Sa-kya-pa and Ka-gyü-pa lineages. Its importance was so immense that it was used in the rite to initiate Khubilai Khan, the leader of the Mongols. Commentators like Kāṇha emphasize its universally authoritative nature (sarvadhikaritvam) because it encompasses the totality of Buddhist doctrine from the rules of conduct to the subtle Madhyamika philosophy.

Philosophical Foundations: The Unity of Samsara and Nirvana

At its core, the Hevajra Tantra is rooted in the Madhyamika philosophy, which asserts the fundamental non-substantiality (nihsvabhava) or voidness (shunyata) of all things. However, the tantra takes a revolutionary step by asserting the fundamental unity of Nirvana and Samsara.

The text declares that in absolute truth, there is 

"neither form nor seer, neither sound nor hearer... neither thought nor thinker." 

The commentator Kanha explains that things do not exist in their "essential nature" because they arise from dependent causation. If a thing depends on another cause, it lacks a self-comprising, independent nature. For "fools," variety appears to exist, much like a person with defective sight sees double moons or hairs in their vision.

The purpose of tantric practice is to remove "accidental defilements" (agantukamala) that obscure our true nature. The sources state clearly: "All beings are Buddhas, but this is lost in accidental defilement. They become Buddhas at once when this is removed." The training is to learn to imagine existence and, at the same time, to be aware of its non-existence.

The Symbolism of Hevajra and Nairatmya

Hevajra is often depicted in union with his consort, Nairatmya, whose name means "absence of the notion of selfhood".

This union is known as "Two-in-One" (zung-hjug), representing the identity of mystical experience and sensual experience. In this framework, Wisdom is represented by the lotus (padma) or the bell (ghanta), while Means is represented by the vajra. While Wisdom is supreme, she is unrealizable without Means. 

The iconography of Hevajra is visually overwhelming: he typically has eight faces, four legs, and sixteen arms, trampling the four Maras (the forces of death and delusion) underfoot. His sixteen arms symbolize the sixteen kinds of voidness, and his four legs signify the four means of conversion.

The Internal Mandala and the Vajra Body

A central concept in the Hevajra Tantra is that "great knowledge abides in the body.” The "Vajra Body" consists of thirty-two veins (nadis) that bear the "thought of enlightenment" (bodhicitta) and flow into the place of great bliss. Among these, three are chief:

• Lalana: Located on the left, possessing the nature of Wisdom.
• Rasana: Located on the right, consisting of Means.
• Avadhuti: Located in the middle, free from the notions of subject and object.

The internal mandala is structured through four radiating circles or lotuses (cakras) located at the navel, heart, throat, and head. These correspond to the traditional four bodies of a Buddha:

• Nirmanakaya at the navel.
• Dharmakaya at the heart.
• Sambhogakaya at the throat.
• Mahasukhakaya (Body of Great Bliss) in the head.

The practice of yoga within this system involves harnessing the breath, to which thought is also harnessed, and pushing it through the central channel, Avadhuti. This awakens the Candali (candali in Tibetan tradition), a fire that passes through the navel and travels upwards to melt the "Moon" (ham syllable) at the top of the head and circulate throughout the body with bliss.

The Four Joys and the Moments

The path to realization is marked by four Joys (ananda) experienced in four Moments (ksana) through four Consecrations (abhiseka).

• The First Joy (ananda): Corresponds to the Moment of Variety and the Jar Consecration.
• Perfect Joy (paramananda): Corresponds to the Moment of Development and the Secret Consecration.
• The Joy of Cessation (viramananda): Corresponds to the Moment of Consummation and the Wisdom Consecration.
• The Joy Innate (sahajananda): Corresponds to the Moment of Blank and the Fourth Consecration.

The Innate (sahaja) is the final goal. It is described as being free from both passion and the absence of passion. It is "self-experiencing" and "surpasses the scope of words.

Mantras, Mudras, and Ritual Practice

The Hevajra Tantra provides an extensive list of mantras for various purposes, ranging from the "heart of Hevajra" to rituals for producing rain or destroying enemy armies. The text emphasizes that these rites should be performed for the welfare of beings.

A unique aspect of the tantra is the use of "Secret Language" (sandhyabhasha), a conventional jargon used by yogins and yoginis to communicate during gatherings at meeting-places (pithas). For example:

• Madhya (wine) is called madana (passion).
• Mamsa (flesh) is called bala (strength).
• Sukra (semen) is called karpura (camphor).

The sources emphasize that a consecrated person who does not speak this secret language will lose the power of the sacrament and will be subjected to disasters.

The Mandala as an Instrument of Transformation

The horizontal mandala is a perfect depiction of the identity of both Nirvana and Samsara. Each of the divinities in the circle symbolizes a part of the personality of the practitioner, or the parts of the universe. As an example, the deities Pukkasi, Savari, Candali and Dombi are synonymised with Earth, Water, Fire and Air respectively.

This identification is termed as purification (vishuddhi). The same thing is perceived as a part of absolute existence by attributing to a Buddha such as Akshobhya a human passion wrath. The practitioner is required to become Hevajra in a strenuous act of faith with the heart of the practitioner being the center of the emanation and absorption of the universe.

The Teacher-Student Bond

This tradition can not overestimate the role of the Guru (Master). It is not through all the Vedas and siddhantas that perfection is attained, but through the honouring of one's guru and the observances, which are prescribed. The Master is in charge of discovering the means that are right to the pupil according to their delusion, anger, passion, envy, or malignity inclination. A disciple must respect the master to avoid the "Avici Hell," even after attaining success.

Organizational Context: The Sa-kya and Ka-gyü Connection

Outside the direct textual translation, organizational history (such as that found in Sa-kya and Ka-gyü sources) notes that the Hevajra Tantra is the primary authority for the Lamdre (The Path and Its Fruit) system. It was through this rite that the abbot hGro-mGon hPhags-pa initiated the young Khubilai Khan, later the leader of the Mongols. The Ka-gyü-pas also hold the text in high esteem, as evidenced by the biography of Rechung, who brought works connected with the Hevajra cycle back from Nepal.

The Goal: Buddhahood in One Lifetime

Perhaps the most radical contribution of this period was the hope of Buddhahood to be achieved in one lifetime. While traditional Mahayana suggested a career through aeons of time, the tantras offered a "realizable ideal". This incentive provided a powerful motive for self-sacrifice and arduous self-training.

The Hevajra Tantra teaches that everything moving and motionless is ultimately the "Supreme Self" (aham). By realizing this, the yogin becomes the "Destroyer, the Creator, the King, the Lord".