nious but fanciful speculation, but its
essence is always magic. It attempts to attain by magical or
sacramental formulae and acts not only prosperity and power but
salvation, nirvana and union with the supreme spirit. Some of its
sects practise secret immoral rites. It is sad to confess that
degenerate Buddhism did not remain uncorrupted by such abuses.

It is always a difficult and speculative task to trace the early
stages of new movements in Indian religion, but it is clear that by
the eighth century and perhaps earlier the Buddhism of Bihar and
Bengal had fallen a prey to this influence. Apparently the public
ritual in the Viharas remained unchanged and the usual language about
_nirvana_ and _sunyata_ was not discarded, but it was taught that
those who followed a certain curriculum could obtain salvation by
magical methods. To enter this curriculum it was necessary to have a
qualified teacher and to receive from him initiation or baptism
(abhisheka). Of the subsequent rites the most important is to evoke
one of the many Buddhas or Bodhisattvas recognized by the Mahayana and
identify oneself with him.[298] He who wishes to do this is often
called a sadhaka or magician but his achievements, like many Indian
miracles, are due to self-hypnotization. He is directed to repair to a
lonely place and offer worship there with flowers and prayers. To this
office succeed prolonged exercises in meditation which do not depart
much from the ancient canon since they include the four
Brahma-viharas. Their object is to suppress thought and leave the mind
empty. Then the sadhaka fills this void with the image of some
Bodhisattva, for instance Avalokita. This he does by uttering mystic
syllables called bija or seed, because they are supposed to germinate
and grow into the figures which he wishes to produce. In this way he
imagines that he sees the emblems of the Bodhisattva spring up round
him one by one and finally he himself assumes the shape of Avalokita
and becomes one with him. Something similar still exists in Tibet
where every Lama chooses a tutelary deity or Yi-dam whom he summons in
visible form after meditation and fasting.[299] Though this procedure
when set forth methodically in a mediaeval manual seems an absurd
travesty of Buddhism, yet it has links with the early faith. It is
admitted in the Pitakas that certain forms of meditation[300] lead to
union with Brahma and it is no great change to make them lead to union
with