Secret Initiation

Skt., guhyabhiseka
from guhya (secret) and abhiseka (consecration, initiation)

One of the few examples of a secret and sexual initiation that is on record as far as Tibet is concerned, is a brief description by Giuseppe Tucci, a respected authority on Tibetan religion in theory and practice. Though Tucci generally prefers to see the Tantric sexual rituals as merely symbolic - and he actually labels literal practice as a deviation from the intended and abstract meaning - his scientific honesty led him to write about it in a dicussion of Anu Yoga. In discussing the Union of Father and Mother (Tib., yab-yum), he says the following:

"The symbolic power of this process, in which Enlightenment is equated with the semen resulting from the union, permeates the whole scheme. The same is true for the second set of consecrations . . . in the course of which the initiand himself becomes the actor, for he unites himself with the paredra [see note]. In the secret initiation, when the Thought of Enlightenment, here equated with the semen of the Lama embracing the paredra, is placed on the tongue, then this is the consecration of the vessel. When one tastes it, the consecration is granted."
Tucci 1970, p. 79

He goes on to say that, in the second consecration, the woman takes over the initiation from the Lama, who has been leading the earlier initiation. Tucci also notes, on page 103, that even a reformed Gelugpa teacher of the fifteenth century stated that the performance of these initiation rituals requires the presence of an experienced female adept of the sixty-four methods of love.

Note
Tucci uses the Greek term paredra (female companion) for women who participate in ritual sexuality; because the often used terms mudra (4) and shakti do have several other meanings as well. However, the best terms to use for such a female partner are the Tibetan terms sangyum or yogini.