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Updated: August 4, 2024
But Târâ was not originally the same as Kuan-yin, though the fact that she accompanies Avalokita and shares his attributes may have made it easier to think of him in female form. The circumstances in which Avalokita became a goddess are obscure. The Indian images of him are not feminine, although his sex is hardly noticed before the tantric period.
But many of the works mentioned sound like late tantric texts rather than compositions of the early heretics to whom they are attributed. Ecclesiastical opinion in Ceylon after centuries of discussion ended by accepting the edition of the Mahâvihâra as the best, and we have no grounds for rejecting or suspecting this opinion.
Probably Vishnuite not Śâktist Tantras are meant but the Purana distinguishes between Vedic revelation meant for previous ages and tantric revelation meant for the present day. But these are probably special meanings attached to the words by tantric schools. Nigama is found pretty frequently, e.g. Devî as Mâyâ evolves the world.
When a child is made eligible for salvation by sprinkling with water, by the sign of the cross and by the mantra "In the Name of the Father," etc., or when the divine spirit is localized in bread and wine and worshipped, these rites are closely analogous to tantric ceremonial.
Thus the devotee may imagine that he enters into Târâ as an embryo and is born of her as a Buddha. More often the argument is that since the bliss of the Buddha consists in union with Târâ, nirvana can be obtained by sexual union here, and we find many of the tantric wizards represented as accompanied by female companions.
In India, robbers, murderers, gamblers, prostitutes, and maniacs all have their appropriate gods, and had the Marquis de Sade been a Hindu he would probably have founded a new tantric sect. But though the details of Śâktism are an unprofitable study, it is of some importance to ascertain when it first invaded Buddhism and to what extent it superseded older ideas.
The tantric school counts eight of the first rank. Avalokita in many forms and in many ages has been one of the principal deities of Asia but his origin is obscure. His main attributes are plain. He is the personification of divine mercy and pity but even the meaning of his name is doubtful.
This curious Darśana is represented as revealed by Śiva to Śakti and it is only an extreme example of the tantric doctrine that spiritual results can be obtained by physical means. The practice of taking mercury to secure health and long life must have been prevalent in medieval India for it is mentioned by both Marco Polo and Bernier.
Fa-Hsien does not mention the worship of any female deity, nor does the Life of Vasubandhu, but Asanga appears to allude to Śâktism in one passage. Hsüan Chuang mentions images of Târâ but without hinting at tantric ritual, nor does I-Ching allude to it, nor does the evidence of art and inscriptions attest its existence.
But the Âgamic ritual can be performed only by priests who have received initiation, burnt offerings rarely form part of the ceremony and vernacular hymns are freely used. Such hymns however as well as processions and other forms of worship which appeal directly to the religious emotions are certainly not tantric.
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