The History of Buddhist Thought c23.26

c23.26

It is unnecessary to follow the sūtra quite to the end. Avalokiteśvara himself visits Buddha. Maheśvara (Śiva) comes with his consort Umā and asks for a prophecy. Avalokiteśvara prophesies that he will become the Buddha Bhasmeśvara,¹ and that Umā will change her sex and become the Buddha Umeśvara. This is one of the instances in this sūtra that show a connection with Śiva-worship, but there is no clear trace as yet of the development of the sexual symbolism and practices known as tantric, which came to infect both Śaivism and Buddhism.