The Drumbeats - a Call from the Wild Unknown
In the fertile soil of 7th to 12th century India,
Buddhism fused with Tantra, birthing Tantric-Buddhism and
Sahajayana flowered as its ultimate refinement.
India, Pāla Period (r. 750–1161 CE), Green Tara, Folio from a dispersed Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Manuscript
Primal Stirrings
Amongst India's wellspring of spiritual contributions to the world, Tantric Buddhism (also known as Vajrayana), is remembered for igniting a monumental revolution. And Sahajayana is considered the very cream of Vajrayana teachings, reaching its zenith during the era of the Pala Empire. These teachings were rooted in the extraordinary lives and insights of the Indian Mahasiddhas, most of whom were initiated by wise and powerful women, known as Yoginis and Dakinis. They are often taught through songs of realization (dohas and charyas), symbolic actions, and direct mind-to-mind transmission, which are characteristic of Sahajayana’s esoteric and experiential approach.
Mystic flames, akin to radiant, luminous flowers, blazed forth, cutting through the hardened crust of religious orthodoxy, oppressive caste, gender and class systems, and dogmatic philosophies, as the Mahasiddhas dared to upend the established order and forever reshape the contours of collective consciousness.
The Sahajayana lineage was founded by the female Mahasiddha Lakshminkara Devi. She taught that the way to liberation consisted of the Yogin concentrating and honoring the wisdom of one’s own body - where all cosmic forces are united - tapping pranic energies through humility, and devotion to enlightened forms. The teachers of this lineage were pioneers in systematizing yogic techniques that mapped the subtle-body energetic experiences to sacred matrices (resonant energetic fields, known as Deities), informing practices from Deity yoga to dream yoga, to accelerate spiritual progress. Thus helping the student perceive the fundamental inter-penetrative relationship between the microcosm and macrocosm. Hence, one of the meanings of Sahaja is to be "born together."
What is Sahajayana?
Sahaja (सहज) is usually defined as "innate," "natural," "spontaneous," "effortless realization” or “born together”. And Yana means vehicle. However, in my experience Sahaja can never be expressed through words. Maybe poetry.
The venerable Mahasiddha Saraha says,
Replete with the Buddha's perfections
Sahaja is the one essential nature;
Beings are born into it and pass into it,
Yet there is neither existence nor
Non-existence in it.
The cave of Indian Mahasiddhas Naropa and his guru Tilopa beside the Pashupatinath temple.
The venerable Mahasiddha Tilopa says,
The real cannot be shown
By the Guru’s words,
So the disciple cannot comprehend.
The fruit of Sahaja
Tastes ambrosial;
Who teaches the real to whom?
Courting the Mystery
Expanding on the Madhyamika [1] insights, the Sahajayana teachers boldly challenged the hegemonic and patriarchal views that placed spiritual superiority of the formless over form, the transcendent over the immanent - a common stance in various Buddhist, Vedic, Samkhya, and select Tantric traditions. They offered an epistemological and experiential approach to non-dual teachings (called Advaya i.e. not two). The teachings invite the practitioner to consider the relationship between form and formless, and if the perceived duality is a product of our analytical reasoning. Hence, reasoning alone falls short in grasping their inherent unity, which can truly be understood only through intuitive insight (Prajñā). The practices show a unique form of spiritual and emotional alchemy, while challenging the supremacy of logos and the rational mind, through non-linear pathways, initiating the practitioner to depths unseen yet deeply known.
Healing the Split
The Sahajayana practices reconcile the discord between the mind and body. The mind's conflicting tendencies mirror turbulent emotions in the physical and energy body, and the teachings show a path to harmonize through profound meditation, leading to a wholeness of being and tranquility that awakens the undisturbed flow of Eros.
This echoes in the call to heal our connection with the primal wilderness within and around us. Instead of the mind or logos controlling, manipulating or dominating the emotional world or the natural world of forests and rivers, from a place of anthropocentrism or entitlement, the practitioner is called to ‘deep listening’, ‘humility’ and ‘discovery’. The elemental practices taught in this lineage, soften the defenses and hardened structures of thought, inviting the practitioner to awaken slumbering empathy, reciprocity and profound care for the luminous tapestry of life.
The Revolution of the Mahasiddhas
By the 6th century, Indian monastic orthodoxy had shifted its focus towards scholasticism, debates and adherence to doctrinal norms, often at the expense of fervent inquiry and immersive meditation practices. This period saw monks increasingly embroiled in the realms of political power, social clout, and material accumulation, while nuns occupied a less empowered status within this hierarchy. The Siddhas sought a deeper, more visceral connection with the Divine. Their approach was not merely intellectual but infused with heart, quickened from the inside.
Many Siddhas came from the lowest strata of society, and were often viewed with contempt and relegated to the margins. Others were originally from the higher castes, such as kings, princesses, or abbots and monks from esteemed monasteries - who deliberately walked away from societal privileges and structures, and chose the path of the outcast through their Tantric practices.
This is because the Siddhas had a strong disregard for oppressive hierarchies and they actively challenged societal inequities around caste, gender, class and education. They stood for a spirituality that was vulnerable, and radically inclusive, often putting themselves at odds with the established institutions, and in doing so, they were subjected to aggression, hostility, persecution and ostracization.
Willingness to melt in the fierce heat of truth
The Chausath Yogini Temple (64-Yogini Temple) in Odisha
Central to Sahajayana is the belief that enlightenment is not achieved by suppressing or severing natural emotions and desires or by indifference to societal injustices. True tranquility and solitude come from understanding our internal processes, not from repression. What is in the way is the way!
This path invites immediacy and emotional intimacy with life - versus dry abstract intellectualization of spirituality, conceptual games and rote practice of techniques without fully engaging the heart and emotions.
Sahajayana emphasizes bold inquiry and embodied direct experience, fostering deep emotional work without spiritual bypassing. Thereby inviting the practitioner to meet oneself with raw authenticity, open-heartedness, exquisite slowness and tenderness.
And this is only the beginning stage of preparing oneself, in crafting a vessel ripe for invoking and honoring the compassionate presence of Deity energies, setting the stage for profound Deity Sadhanas. [2]
Footnotes:
[1] Madhyamika teachings, founded by Nagarjuna in the 2nd century CE, builds upon Buddha's Middle Way, asserting that all phenomena are devoid of intrinsic nature, inherently empty, and interdependently arisen.
[2] Sadhana refers to a set of practices and techniques. The term sadhana comes from the Sanskrit root, Sadhvi (or Sadhu), meaning “go straight to a goal”. Sadhana is also a means of forging a ritual connection with the Divine or universal energy where the practitioner continually re-calibrates their inner self to come into alignment with the Deity.
India, Pāla Period (r. 750–1161 CE), Chakrasamvara, Folio from a dispersed Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Manuscript