New branches:
98-562: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : The phurba ( Tibetan : ཕུར་པ or ཕུར་བ , Wylie : phur pa or phur ba ; alternate transliterations : phurpa , phurbu , purbha , or phurpu ) or kīla ( Sanskrit Devanagari : कील; IAST : kīla) is a three-sided peg, stake, knife , or nail-like ritual implement deeply rooted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön traditions. Its primary association
196-573: A basket, bowl or cache of rice (or other soft grain if the phurba is wooden). The terms employed for the deity and the tool are interchangeable in Western scholarship. In the Himalayan shamanic tradition, the phurba may be considered as axis mundi . Müller-Ebelling, et al. affirm that for the majority of Nepalese shaman, the phurba is cognate with the world tree , either in their visualisations or in initiatory rites or other rituals. The phurba
294-420: A class of supernatural entities or deities ) entwined on the blade. Phurba often also bear the ashtamangala , swastika , sauwastika and/or other Himalayan , Tantric or Hindu iconography or motifs. The phurba as an iconographical implement is also directly related to Vajrakilaya , a wrathful deity of Tibetan Buddhism who is often seen with his consort Diptacakra (Tib. 'khor lo rgyas 'debs ma). He
392-415: A liminal zone on the borders between fields and forests. Their rites involved the conjunction of sexual practices and Buddhist mandala visualization with ritual accoutrements made from parts of the human body, so that control may be exercised over the forces hindering the natural abilities of the siddha to manipulate the cosmos at will. At their most extreme, siddhas also represented a defensive position within
490-532: A mantra. Vajrayāna Buddhists developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras , some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE but might be older. The dating of the tantras is "a difficult, indeed an impossible task" according to David Snellgrove . Some of the earliest of these texts, Kriya tantras such as the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa ( c. 6th century ), teach
588-463: A mirror image of themselves in order to meditatively connect with the power of the phurba. The three or more heads of the upper area of the phurba indicate the collection of energies that the jhankris use. A Bhairab kīla is an important healing tool of the tantric Newari gubajus. As Müller-Ebelling, et al. state: Tantric priests ( guruju ) use Bhairab phurbas for the curing of disease and especially for curing children's diseases. For these cases
686-482: A modern imposition onto Indo-European religion rather than an idea present in the society itself. Vesna Petreska posits that myths including trinities of female mythical beings from Central and Eastern European cultures may be evidence for an Indo-European belief in trimutive female " spinners " of destiny. However, according to the linguist M. L. West , various female deities and mythological figures in Europe show
784-594: A movement called Sahaja -siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal . It was dominated by long-haired, wandering mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The mahasiddhas pursued siddhis , magical powers such as flight and extrasensory perception as well as spiritual liberation. Ronald M. Davidson states that Buddhist siddhas demonstrated the appropriation of an older sociological form—the independent sage/magician, who lived in
882-497: A not unheard of phenomenon in Sanskrit tantric literature. This suggestion is supported by Alexis Sanderson, a specialist in Sanskrit tantric manuscripts whom I consulted on this problem. The fabrication of phurba is quite diverse. Having pommel, handle, and blade, phurba are often segmented into suites of triunes on both the horizontal and vertical axes, though there are notable exceptions. This compositional arrangement highlights
980-553: A number of texts recovered from the cache of the Dunhuang manuscripts that discuss the phurba and its ritual usage. The phurba is one of many iconographic representations of divine symbolic attributes (Tibetan: phyag mtshan ) of Vajrayana and Hindu deities. When consecrated and bound for usage, Phurba are a nirmanakaya manifestation of Vajrakīlaya . Chandra, et al. in their dictionary entry 'korkor' ( Tibetan : ཀོར་ཀོར , Wylie : kor kor ) "coiled" (English) relates that
1078-546: A threefold unity of the divine huntress, the Moon goddess and the goddess of the nether world, Hekate ". This coin shows that the triple goddess cult image still stood in the lucus of Nemi in 43 BC. The Lake of Nemi was Triviae lacus for Virgil ( Aeneid 7.516), while Horace called Diana montium custos nemoremque virgo ("keeper of the mountains and virgin of Nemi") and diva triformis ("three-form goddess"). In his commentary on Virgil , Maurus Servius Honoratus said that
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#17327767911651176-565: A wide range of triple forms: the most common triadic depiction is that of the triple mother goddess" (she lists numerous examples). In the case of the Irish Brigid it can be ambiguous whether she is a single goddess or three sisters, all named Brigid. The Morrígan also appears sometimes as one being, and at other times as three sisters, as do the three Irish goddesses of sovereignty , Ériu , Fódla and Banba . Nicene Christians profess "one God in three divine persons" ( God
1274-407: Is "obscured by discursive thought". This doctrine is often associated with the idea of the inherent or natural luminosity ( Skt: prakṛti-prabhāsvara-citta , T. ’od gsal gyi sems ) or purity of the mind ( prakrti-parisuddha ). Another fundamental theory of Tantric practice is that of transformation. In Vajrayāna, negative mental factors such as desire, hatred, greed, pride are used as part of
1372-677: Is a Buddhist tradition of tantric practice that developed in Medieval India . Tantrism, which originated within Hinduism during the first millennium CE, significantly influenced South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism, giving rise to distinct Buddhist tantric traditions. Emerging in the 7th century CE, these traditions spread across Southeast, East, and Central Asia, leading to distinct East Asian and Tibetan practices. Vajrayāna practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through
1470-523: Is a method which works faster. Various classifications are possible when distinguishing Vajrayāna from the other Buddhist traditions. Vajrayāna can be seen as a third yana , next to Śrāvakayāna and Mahayana . Vajrayāna can be distinguished from the Sutrayana . The Sutrayana is the method of perfecting good qualities, where the Vajrayāna is the method of taking the intended outcome of Buddhahood as
1568-615: Is a mythical weapon associated with Indra which was said to be indestructible and unbreakable (like a diamond) and extremely powerful (like thunder). Thus, the term is variously translated as Diamond Vehicle, Thunderbolt Vehicle, Indestructible Vehicle and so on. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism it is generally known by various terms such as Zhēnyán ( Chinese : 真言, literally "true word", referring to mantra), Tángmì or Hanmì (唐密 - 漢密, " Tang Esotericism" or " Han Esotericism") , Mìzōng (密宗, "Esoteric Sect") or Mìjiao (Chinese: 密教; Esoteric Teaching). The Chinese term mì 密 ("secret, esoteric")
1666-553: Is a translation of the Sanskrit term Guhya ("secret, hidden, profound, abstruse"). In Japan , Buddhist esotericism is known as Mikkyō ( 密教 , secret teachings) or by the term Shingon (a Japanese rendering of Zhēnyán ), which also refers to a specific school of Shingon-shū ( 真言宗 ) . The term "Esoteric Buddhism" is first used by Western occultist writers, such as Helena Blavatsky and Alfred Percy Sinnett , to describe theosophical doctrines passed down from "supposedly initiated Buddhist masters." Tantric Buddhism
1764-627: Is added. It also indicates the three basic states of consciousness, in addition to which the whole syllable is interpreted as the subject of the consciousness, the self-principle ( Ātman ), which is considered to be identical with the Brahman. The Tridevi is the trinity of goddess consorts for the gods in the Trimurti, typically personified by the Hindu goddesses Saraswati , Lakshmi , and Parvati . In Shaktism , these triune goddesses are considered
1862-518: Is also evident in the Vajrayana tradition. According to shamanic folklore current throughout the region, "...the mountains were giant pegs that kept the Earth in place and prevented it from moving." Mountains such as Amnye Machen , according to folklore were held to have been brought from other lands just for this purpose. Kerrigan, et al. , state that: Prayer flags and stone pillars throughout
1960-455: Is also used in religious rituals in Bhutan, and can most often be found in the temples and altars of Bhutan. Müller-Ebelling, et al. , chart the difference of the traditions between the jhankris and the gubajus : The phurbas of the gubajus are different from those of the jhankris. As a rule, they have only one head on which there is a double vajra as shown here. Gubajus focus on the head as
2058-553: Is associated with groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas in medieval India . According to Robert Thurman , these tantric figures thrived during the latter half of the first millennium CE. According to John Myrdhin Reynolds, the mahasiddhas date to the medieval period in North India and used methods that were radically different from those used in Buddhist monasteries, including practicing on charnel grounds . Since
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#17327767911652156-494: Is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known. The Hevajra further states that "one knowing the nature of poison may dispel poison with poison." As Snellgrove notes, this idea is already present in Asanga 's Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques, including sexual yoga. According to Buddhist Tantra, there
2254-459: Is considered the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. The sacred symbol of Hinduism, the Om (or Aum), the sacred sound, syllable, mantra, and invocation, is considered to have an allusion to Trimurti, where the A, U, and M phonemes of the word are considered to indicate creation, preservation and destruction, the which the whole as representing the transcendent or absolute Brahman
2352-530: Is developed. Other early tantras include the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi and the Guhyasamāja (Gathering of Secrets). The Guhyasamāja is a Mahayoga class of Tantra, which features forms of ritual practice considered "left-hand" ( vamachara ) such as the use of taboo substances like alcohol, consort practices, and charnel ground practices which evoke wrathful deities . Ryujun Tajima divides
2450-424: Is embodied in the phurba as a means of destroying (in the sense of finalising and then freeing) violence, hatred, and aggression by tying them to the blade of the phurba and then transmuting them with its tip. The pommel may be employed in blessings . It is therefore that the phurba is not a physical weapon, but a spiritual implement, and should be regarded as such. As Müller-Ebeling , et al. state: The magic of
2548-415: Is extensive and encompasses various practices. It is used to establish stability during ceremonies and symbolizes powerful attributes of Vajrayana deities. The phurba's energy is fierce and transfixing, used for purposes such as exorcism, weather manipulation, meditation, and blessings. The implement's connection with Vajrakilaya represents the transmutation of negative energies. In diverse cultural contexts,
2646-488: Is frequently found in Sanskrit texts (as well as in virtually every kīlamantra ) legitimately used as the denominative verb 'to spike,' 'transfix,' 'nail down,' etc. Mayer (1996) contests Boord's assertion, pointing out that eminent Sanskritists such as Sakya Pandita employed Vajrakīlaya . Further, he argues: it is possible, on the other hand, that the name Vajrakīlaya as favoured by the Tibetans could in fact have been
2744-455: Is given the title of 'the scorpion guru', and in one of his eight forms as Guru Dragpo or Pema Drago ('wrathful lotus'), he is depicted with a scorpion in his left hand. As an emblem of the wrathful kīla transmission the image of the scorpion took on a strong symbolic meaning in the early development of the Nyingma or 'ancient school' of Tibetan Buddhism. To work with the spirits and deities of
2842-534: Is more common for a yogi or yogini to use an imagined consort (a buddhist tantric deity, i.e. a yidam). These later tantras such as the Hevajra Tantra and the Chakrasamvara are classed as " Yogini tantras" and represent the final form of development of Indian Buddhist tantras in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from
2940-444: Is more complex than a simple process of religious imitation and textual appropriation. There can be no question that the Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements, but the influence was apparently mutual. Perhaps a more nuanced model would be that the various lines of transmission were locally flourishing and that in some areas they interacted, while in others they maintained concerted hostility. Thus
3038-496: Is no strict separation of the profane or samsara and the sacred or nirvana , rather they exist in a continuum. All individuals are seen as containing the seed of enlightenment within, which is covered over by defilements . Douglas Duckworth notes that Vajrayana sees Buddhahood not as something outside or an event in the future, but as immanently present. Indian Tantric Buddhist philosophers such as Buddhaguhya , Vimalamitra , Ratnākaraśānti and Abhayakaragupta continued
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3136-672: Is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or Vaishnava . According to Alexis Sanderson , various classes of Vajrayāna literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Shaivism. The relationship between the two systems can be seen in texts like the Mañjusrimulakalpa , which later came to be classified under Kriya tantra , and states that mantras taught in the Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri . Sanderson notes that
3234-504: Is often of a vajra , weaving or knotwork design. The handle generally has a triune form as is common to the pommel and blade. The blade is usually composed of three triangular facets or faces, meeting at the tip. These represent, respectively, the blade's power to transform the negative energies known as the "three poisons" or "root poisons" (Sanskrit: mula klesha ) of attachment/craving/desire, delusion/ignorance/misconception, and aversion/fear/hate. Cantwell and Mayer (2008) have studied
3332-535: Is said to be the purpose of all the various tantric techniques practiced in the Vajrayana. Triple deities A triple deity is a deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. The number three has a long history of mythical associations and triple deities are common throughout world mythology . Carl Jung considered
3430-522: Is the superiority of Tantric methods, which provide a faster vehicle to liberation and contain many more skillful means ( upaya ). The importance of the theory of emptiness is central to the Tantric Buddhist view and practice. The Buddhist emptiness view sees the world as being fluid, without an ontological foundation or inherent existence, but ultimately a fabric of constructions. Because of this, tantric practice such as self-visualization as
3528-522: Is to become a Sammāsambuddha (fully awakened Buddha ); those on this path are termed Bodhisattvas . As with the Mahayana, motivation is a vital component of Vajrayāna practice. The Bodhisattva-path is an integral part of the Vajrayāna, which teaches that all practices are to be undertaken with the motivation to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. In the vehicle of Sutra Mahayana,
3626-568: Is used as a ritual implement to signify stability on a prayer ground during ceremonies, and only those initiated in its use, or otherwise empowered, may wield it. The energy of the phurba is fierce, wrathful, piercing, affixing, transfixing. The phurba affixes the elemental process of 'space' (Sanskrit: ākāśa ) to the Earth, thereby establishing an energetic continuum. Phurba, particularly those that are wooden are for shamanic healing, harmonizing and energy work and often have two nāgas ( Sanskrit for snake , serpent and/or dragon , also refers to
3724-478: Is with the meditational deity Vajrakīlaya (Dorje Phurba), embodying the essence of transformative power. The etymology and historical context of the term reveal some debate. Both the Sanskrit word "kīla" and the Tibetan "phurba" are used interchangeably in sources. The construction of the phurba is diverse, featuring a pommel, handle, and a blade with three triangular facets. The composition often revolves around
3822-463: The Hīnayāna ) and Mahāyāna (a.k.a. Pāramitāyāna ). There are several Buddhist tantric traditions that are currently practiced, including Tibetan Buddhism , Chinese Esoteric Buddhism , Shingon Buddhism and Newar Buddhism . Historically, there were also other esoteric Buddhist traditions, such as that of maritime Southeast Asia , which are no longer practiced today. In India, the initial term
3920-712: The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition , which prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas. Sanderson says that the Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhāva , introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place. Ronald M. Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's arguments for direct influence from Shaiva Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of
4018-606: The Mantrayana leads one to Buddhahood in a single lifetime. According to the literature, the mantra is an easy path without the difficulties innate to the Paramitayana . Mantrayana is sometimes portrayed as a method for those of inferior abilities. However the practitioner of the mantra still has to adhere to the vows of the Bodhisattva . The goal of spiritual practice within the Mahayana and Vajrayāna traditions
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4116-561: The Vidyapitha tantras is by no means so well established" and that "the available evidence suggests that received Saiva tantras come into evidence sometime in the ninth to tenth centuries with their affirmation by scholars like Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 c.e.)" Davidson also notes that the list of pithas or sacred places "are certainly not particularly Buddhist, nor are they uniquely Kapalika venues, despite their presence in lists employed by both traditions." Davidson further adds that like
4214-488: The "path of the cause" is taken whereby a practitioner starts with his or her potential Buddha-nature and nurtures it to produce the fruit of Buddhahood. In the Vajrayāna, the "path of the fruit" is taken whereby the practitioner takes his or her innate Buddha-nature as the means of practice. The premise is that since we innately have an enlightened mind, practicing seeing the world in terms of ultimate truth can help us to attain our full Buddha-nature. Experiencing ultimate truth
4312-447: The Buddhist tradition, adopted and sustained for the purpose of aggressive engagement with the medieval culture of public violence. They reinforced their reputations for personal sanctity with rumors of the magical manipulation of various flavors of demonic females ( dakini , yaksi , yogini ), cemetery ghouls ( vetala ), and other things that go bump in the night. Operating on the margins of both monasteries and polite society, some adopted
4410-521: The Buddhists, the Shaiva tradition was also involved in the appropriation of Hindu and non-Hindu deities, texts and traditions, an example being "village or tribal divinities like Tumburu". Davidson adds that Buddhists and Kapalikas as well as other ascetics (possibly Pasupatas ) mingled and discussed their paths at various pilgrimage places and that there were conversions between the different groups. Thus he concludes: The Buddhist-Kapalika connection
4508-560: The Father , God the Son and God the Holy Ghost ), Modalism is a form of Christian Unitarianism which stands in opposition to Trinitarianism and holds that the one God is also just one person, but simply appears in three different forms; those forms being the Father, Son, and Spirit. Modalism holds that the same one God simply appears in different forms throughout history. For example, Jesus
4606-524: The Father , God the Son and God the Holy Spirit ). This is not to be understood as a belief in (or worship of) three Gods , nor as a belief that there are three subjectively-perceived "aspects" in one God, both of which the Catholic Church condemns as heresy . The Catholic Church also rejects the notions that God is "composed" of its three persons and that "God" is a genus containing
4704-504: The Magical Dagger comes from the effect that the material object has on the realm of the spirit. The art of tantric magicians or lamas lies in their visionary ability to comprehend the spiritual energy of the material object and to willfully focus it in a determined direction. . . The tantric use of the phurba encompasses the curing of disease, exorcism, killing demons, meditation, consecrations (puja), and weather-making. The blade of
4802-600: The Vajrayāna Yogini tantras draw extensively from the material also present in Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha . Sanderson's comparison of them shows similarity in "ritual procedures, style of observance, deities, mantras, mandalas, ritual dress, Kapalika accouterments like skull bowls, specialized terminology, secret gestures, and secret jargons. There is even direct borrowing of passages from Shaiva texts." Sanderson gives numerous examples such as
4900-435: The adherents and texts of Vajrayāna claim these teachings have been passed down by an unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha ( c. the 5th century BCE ) or to other mythical Buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g. Vajrapani ). According to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment , the other two being the Śrāvakayāna (also known pejoratively as
4998-887: The arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion . In classical religious iconography or mythological art, three separate beings may represent either a triad who typically appear as a group (the Greek Moirai , Charites , and Erinyes ; the Norse Norns ; or the Irish Morrígan ) or a single deity notable for having three aspects (Greek Hecate , Roman Diana ). Georges Dumézil proposed in his trifunctional hypothesis that ancient Indo-European society conceived of itself as structured around three activities: worship, war, and toil. As social structures developed, particular segments of societies became more closely associated with one of
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#17327767911655096-523: The behaviors associated with ghosts ( preta , pisaca ), not only as a religious praxis but also as an extension of their implied threats. Tantrism originated within Hinduism and significantly influenced early South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhist practices, contributing to the emergence of unique Buddhist tantric traditions. These Buddhist tantric traditions, which developed in the 7th century CE, spread quickly across Southeast, East, and Central Asia, resulting in
5194-460: The country also pierce the land. Even the pegs of the nomads’ yak wool tents are thought of as sanctifying the ground that lies beneath. Traditions such as that of the phurba may be considered a human cultural universal in light of foundation stone rites and other comparable rites documented in the disciplines of anthropology and ethnography ; e.g., turning of the soil as a placation and votive offering to spirits of place and to preparation of
5292-490: The deity is seen as being no less real than everyday reality, but a process of transforming reality itself, including the practitioner's identity as the deity. As Stephan Beyer notes, "In a universe where all events dissolve ontologically into Emptiness, the touching of Emptiness in the ritual is the re-creation of the world in actuality". The doctrine of Buddha-nature , as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhāga of Asanga ,
5390-424: The earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism and astrology not present elsewhere in Buddhist literature. According to Ronald M. Davidson, the rise of Tantric Buddhism was a response to the feudal structure of Indian society in the early medieval period (ca. 500–1200 CE) which saw kings being divinized as manifestations of gods. Likewise, tantric yogis reconfigured their practice through
5488-581: The earth, land and place, people of India, the Himalayas and the Mongolian Steppe pegged, nailed and/or pinned down the land. The nailing of the phurba is comparable to the idea of breaking the earth (turning the sod ) in other traditions and the rite of laying the foundation stone . It is an ancient shamanic idea that has common currency throughout the region; it is prevalent in the Bön tradition and
5586-487: The entry, " Hecate : A triple deity, called Phoebe or the Moon in heaven, Diana on the earth, and Hecate or Proserpine in hell," and noted that "Chinese have the triple goddess Pussa". The Roman poet Ovid , through the character of the Greek woman Medea , refers to Hecate as "the triple Goddess"; the earlier Greek poet Hesiod represents her as a threefold goddess, with a share in earth, sea, and starry heavens. Hecate
5684-406: The form kīlaya could mean "you cause to bind/transfix!", or "bind/transfix!". This, taken from mantras urging "bind/transfix", or "may you cause to bind/transfix", might have come to be treated as a noun; and the noun might then have become deified; hence Kīlaya might have started out as a deified imperative, in some ways comparable to the famous example of the deified vocative in the name Hevajra, and
5782-427: The form that was actually used in the original Indic sources, and that there is no need to hypothesize a correct form "Vajrakīla". "Vajrakīlaya" could have come from the second person singular active, causative imperative, of the verb Kīl . Indigenous grammar (Pāṇini Dhātupāṭha I.557) gives to Kīl the meaning of bandha , i.e. "to bind", while Monier-Williams (285) gives the meanings "to bind, fasten, stake, pin". Hence
5880-756: The formation of various distinct traditions in East Asia and Tibet. There are other Mahāyāna sutras which contain "proto-tantric" material such as the Gandavyuha and the Dasabhumika which might have served as a central source of visual imagery for Tantric texts. Later Mahāyāna texts like the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra ( c. 4th –5th century CE) expound the use of mantras such as Om mani padme hum , associated with vastly powerful beings like Avalokiteshvara . The popular Heart Sutra also includes
5978-450: The great charnel ground of Rajgriha from a gigantic scorpion with nine heads, eighteen pincers and twenty-seven eyes. This scorpion reveals the kīla texts from a triangular stone box hidden beneath a rock in the cemetery. As Padmasambhava reads this terma text spontaneous understanding arises, and the heads, pincers, and eyes of the scorpion are 'revealed' as different vehicles or yanas of spiritual attainment. Here, at Rajgriha, Padmasambhava
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#17327767911656076-505: The influence of pre-Indo-European goddess-worship, and triple female fate divinities, typically "spinners" of destiny, are attested all over Europe and in Bronze Age Anatolia. The trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism , in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities, is called Trimūrti (Sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति 'three forms' or 'trinity'), where Brahma
6174-409: The influence was both sustained and reciprocal, even in those places where Buddhist and Kapalika siddhas were in extreme antagonism. Davidson also argues for the influence of non-Brahmanical and outcaste tribal religions and their feminine deities (such as Parnasabari and Janguli). According to several Buddhist tantras as well as traditional Tibetan Buddhist sources, the tantras and the Vajrayana
6272-655: The interview Rai says: Without the phurba inside himself, the shaman has no consciousness...The shaman himself is the phurba; he assumes its form in order to fly into other worlds and realities. Tantra techniques (Vajrayana) New branches: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : Vajrayāna ( Sanskrit : वज्रयान ; lit. ' vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Mantranāya ('path of mantra'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism , and Esoteric Buddhism ,
6370-720: The land as a rite to ensure fertility and bountiful yield. In the Kathmandu Valley , the phurba is still in usage by shamans , magicians, tantrikas and lamas of different ethnic backgrounds. The phurba is used particularly intensively by the Tamang , Gurung and Newar peoples . The phurba is also employed by the Tibetans native to Nepal (the Bhotyas ), the Sherpas , and the Tibetans living in Dharamasala . The phurba
6468-534: The literary figure of Morgan le Fay as a manifestation of a British triple goddess in the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight . A modern idea of a triple goddess is central to the new religious movement of Wicca . Hecate will never join in that offence: Unjust is the request you make, and I In kindness your petition shall deny; Yet she that grants not what you do implore, Shall yet essay to give her Jason more; Find means t' encrease
6566-472: The manifestations of Mahadevi , the Supreme Goddess (the female abolute), also known as Mula-Prakriti or Adi Parashakti. The Roman goddess Diana was venerated from the late sixth century BC as diva triformis , "three-form goddess", and early on was conflated with the similarly depicted Greek goddess Hekate . Andreas Alföldi interpreted a late Republican numismatic image as Diana "conceived as
6664-413: The metaphor of being consecrated ( abhiśeka ) as the overlord ( rājādhirāja ) of a mandala palace of divine vassals, an imperial metaphor symbolizing kingly fortresses and their political power. The question of the origins of early Vajrayāna has been taken up by various scholars. David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested that Buddhist tantra employed various elements of a “pan-Indian religious substrate” which
6762-574: The mid-first to third century AD. Miranda Green observes that "triplism" reflects a way of "expressing the divine rather than presentation of specific god-types. Triads or triple beings are ubiquitous in the Welsh and Irish mythic imagery" (she gives examples including the Irish battle-furies, Macha , and Brigit ). "The religious iconographic repertoire of Gaul and Britain during the Roman period includes
6860-559: The numerological importance and spiritual energy of the integers three and nine. Phurba may be constituted and constructed of different materials and material components, such as wood, metal, clay, bone, gems, horn or crystal. Like the majority of traditional Tibetan metal instruments, the phurba is often made from brass and iron (terrestrial and/or meteoric iron. ' Thokcha ' ( Tibetan : ཐོག་ལྕགས , Wylie : thog lcags ) means "thunder-iron" in Tibetan and refers to tektites and meteorites which are often high in iron content. Meteoric iron
6958-428: The numerological significance of three and nine, with materials ranging from wood and metal to bone and crystal. Phurba blades can be made from meteoric iron , which holds symbolic importance. The pommel typically displays faces of Vajrakīlaya or other sacred motifs. This implement is not intended as a physical weapon, but rather as a spiritual tool, embodying stability and energetic continuity. The phurba's ritual usage
7056-453: The path. As noted by French Indologist Madeleine Biardeau, the tantric doctrine is "an attempt to place kama , desire, in every meaning of the word, in the service of liberation." This view is outlined in the following quote from the Hevajra tantra : Those things by which evil men are bound, others turn into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence. By passion the world
7154-471: The path. Vajrayāna can also be distinguished from the paramitayana. According to this schema, Indian Mahayana revealed two vehicles ( yana ) or methods for attaining enlightenment: the method of the perfections ( Paramitayana ) and the method of mantra ( Mantrayana ). The Paramitayana consists of the six or ten paramitas , of which the scriptures say that it takes three incalculable aeons to lead one to Buddhahood. The tantra literature, however, says that
7252-402: The phurba is used for the destruction of demonic powers. The top end of the phurba is used by the tantrikas for blessings. As Beer states: The sting of the scorpion's whip-like tail transfixes and poisons its prey, and in this respect it is identified with the wrathful activity of the ritual dagger or kīla. Padmasambhava's biography relates how he received the siddhi of the kīla transmission at
7350-405: The phurba maintains its significance. It remains in use among shamans , magicians , tantrikas , and lamas of various ethnic backgrounds. Different traditions and lineages emphasize various aspects of the phurba, using it for healing, meditation, and connecting with spiritual energies. Ultimately, the phurba stands as a potent emblem of transformation, symbolic power, and the interconnectedness of
7448-673: The point of the phurba blade is dipped into a glass or a bowl of water, turned and stirred. The sick child is then given the magically charged water as medicine to drink. Müller-Ebelling, et al. interviewed Mohan Rai, a shaman from the border area of Nepal and Bhutan and belongs to the Mongolian people of the Rai and/or Kirati . Mohan Rai is the founder of the Shamanistic Studies and Research Centre in Kathmandu , Nepal. In
7546-569: The practice of Tantra focuses on the transformation of poisons into wisdom, the yogic circles came together in tantric feasts , often in sacred sites ( pitha ) and places ( ksetra ) which included dancing, singing, consort practices and the ingestion of taboo substances like alcohol, urine, and meat. At least two of the mahasiddhas cited in the Buddhist literature are comparable with the Shaiva Nath saints ( Gorakshanath and Matsyendranath ) who practiced Hatha Yoga . According to Schumann,
7644-650: The revelation of Buddhist tantras to Padmasambhava , saying that he was an emanation of Amitabha and Avaloketishvara and that his arrival was predicted by the Buddha. Some accounts also maintain Padmasambhava is a direct reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni. According to Alex Wayman , the philosophical view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy , mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers
7742-452: The same goddess was called Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpina in hell. Spells and hymns in Greek magical papyri refer to the goddess (called Hecate , Persephone , and Selene , among other names) as "triple-sounding, triple-headed, triple-voiced..., triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked". In one hymn, for instance, the "Three-faced Selene" is simultaneously identified as
7840-508: The spiritual and material realms. Most of what is known of the Indian kīla lore has come by way of Tibetan culture. Scholars such as F. A. Bischoff, Charles Hartman and Martin Boord have shown that the Tibetan literature widely asserts that the Sanskrit for their term phurba is kīlaya (with or without the long i ). However, as Boord describes it, all dictionaries and Sanskrit works agree
7938-532: The tantras into those which were "a development of Mahāyānist thought" and those "formed in a rather popular mould toward the end of the eighth century and declining into the esoterism of the left", this "left esoterism" mainly refers to the Yogini tantras and later works associated with wandering yogis. This practice survives in Tibetan Buddhism, but it is rare for this to be done with an actual person. It
8036-455: The tantric view continued to be debated in medieval Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (1012–1088) held that the views of sutra such as Madhyamaka were inferior to that of tantra, which was based on basic purity of ultimate reality. Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) on the other hand, held that there is no difference between Vajrayāna and other forms of Mahayana in terms of prajnaparamita (perfection of insight) itself, only that Vajrayāna
8134-422: The teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to these texts as the Buddhist Tantras . It includes practices that make use of mantras , dharanis , mudras , mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. According to contemporary historical scholarship, Vajrayāna practice originated in the tantric era of medieval India ( c. the 5th century CE onwards ). However, traditionally,
8232-444: The text titled the ' Vaidūry Ngonpo ' ( Tibetan : བཻ་ཌཱུརྻ་སྔོན་པོ , Wylie : bai dUry sngon po ) has the passage: ཐག་བ་ཕུར་བ་ལ་ཀོར་ཀོར་བྱམ "a string was wound round the (exorcist's) dagger [phurba]." One of the principal methods of working with the phurba and to actualize its essence-quality is to pierce the earth with it; sheath it; or as is common with Himalayan shamanic traditions, to penetrate it vertically, point down into
8330-416: The three Charites , the three Moirai , and the three Erinyes ; she is further addressed by the titles of several goddesses. Translation editor Hans Dieter Betz notes: "The goddess Hekate, identical with Persephone, Selene, Artemis, and the old Babylonian goddess Ereschigal , is one of the deities most often invoked in the papyri." E. Cobham Brewer 's 1894 Dictionary of Phrase & Fable contained
8428-596: The three fundamental activities. These segments, in turn, became entrenched as three distinct "classes", each one represented by its own god. In 1970, Dumézil proposed that some goddesses represented these three qualities as different aspects or epithets. Interpreting various deities, including the Iranian Anāhitā and the Roman Juno , he identified what were, in his view, examples of this. Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesis proved controversial. Many critics view it as
8526-738: The three persons. The c. fourth-century Gnostic text " Trimorphic Protennoia " presents a threefold discourse of the three forms of Divine Thought: the Father, the Son, and the Mother ( Sophia ). Micheus, Michar, and Mnesinous , the three heavenly spirits of baptism, also appear in various Sethian Gnostic texts. Some Christian saints , especially martyrs , are trios who share a feast day or other remembrance. (See Category:Saints trios .) Whether they are subject to actual veneration and prayed to for supernatural aid, or simply honored, varies by Christian denomination . Whereas Nicene Christians professes "one God in three divine persons" ( God
8624-706: The tradition of Buddhist philosophy and adapted it to their commentaries on the major Tantras. Abhayakaragupta's Vajravali is a key source in the theory and practice of tantric rituals. After monks such as Vajrabodhi and Śubhakarasiṃha brought Tantra to Tang China (716 to 720), tantric philosophy continued to be developed in Chinese and Japanese by thinkers such as Yi Xing and Kūkai . Likewise in Tibet , Sakya Pandita (1182–28 – 1251), as well as later thinkers like Longchenpa (1308–1364) expanded on these philosophies in their tantric commentaries and treatises. The status of
8722-662: The underworld), as in Plato 's Phaedrus , concerning the myth of Dionysus and the Titans) The Matres or Matronae are usually represented as a group of three but sometimes with as many as 27 (3 × 3 × 3) inscriptions. They were associated with motherhood and fertility. Inscriptions to these deities have been found in Gaul, Spain, Italy, the Rhineland and Britain, as their worship was carried by Roman soldiery dating from
8820-482: The use of mantras and dharanis for mostly worldly ends including curing illness, controlling the weather and generating wealth. The Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra ( Compendium of Principles ), classed as a "Yoga tantra", is one of the first Buddhist tantras which focuses on liberation as opposed to worldly goals. In another early tantra, the Vajrasekhara (Vajra Peak), the influential schema of the five Buddha families
8918-438: The word to be kīla (or kīlaka ). I suppose this [discrepancy] to result from an indiscriminate use by Tibetans of the dative singular kīlaya . This form would have been familiar to them in the simple salutation namo vajrakīlaya (homage to Vajrakīla) from which it could easily be assumed by those unfamiliar with the technicalities of Sanskrit that the name of the deity is Vajrakīlaya instead of Vajrakīla. The term (vajra)kīlaya
9016-480: Was Mantranāya (Path of Mantras), and Mantrayāna (Mantra Vehicle). Later, other terms were adopted, like Vajrayāna. In Tibetan Buddhism practiced in the Himalayan regions of India , Nepal , and Bhutan , Buddhist Tantra is most often termed Vajrayāna (Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ་, dorje tekpa , Wyl. rdo rje theg pa ) and Secret mantra (Skt. Guhyamantra , Tib. གསང་སྔགས་, sang ngak , Wyl. gsang sngags ). The vajra
9114-457: Was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views. As explained by the Tantric commentator Lilavajra, this "intrinsic secret (behind) diverse manifestation" is the utmost secret and aim of Tantra. According to Wayman this "Buddha embryo" ( tathāgatagarbha ) is a "non-dual, self-originated Wisdom ( jnana ), an effortless fount of good qualities" that resides in the mindstream but
9212-479: Was depicted variously as a single womanly form; as three women back-to-back; as a three-headed woman, sometimes with the heads of animals; or as three upper bodies of women springing from a single lower body ("we see three heads and shoulders and six hands, but the lower part of her body is single, and closely resembles that of the Ephesian Artemis".) The Olympian demiurgic triad in platonic philosophy
9310-476: Was highly prized throughout the Himalaya where it was included in sophisticated polymetallic alloys such as Panchaloha for ritual implements. The pommel of the phurba often bears three faces of Vajrakīla , one joyful, one peaceful, one wrathful, but may bear the umbrella of the ashtamangala or mushroom cap, Yidam (like Hayagriva ) , snow lion , or stupa , among other possibilities. The handle
9408-566: Was made up of Zeus (considered the Zeus [king of the gods] of the Heavens ), Poseidon (Zeus of the seas ) and Pluto / Hades (Zeus of the underworld ). All were considered to be ultimately a monad ; the same Zeus who gave rise to the Titanic demiurgic triad of Helios (the sun when in the sky), Apollo (the sun seen in the world of humankind), and Dionysus (god of mysteries , or the "sun" of
9506-439: Was simply one form of the same God, and so Modalism holds that the "Father" suffered no less on the cross than did the "Son", as these are simply two names for one deity appearing in different forms. In addition, Modalism holds that the Holy Spirit is not a separate person from the Father either, but is simply a term that describes God in action. Modalism is considered a heresy in orthodox Christianity. Peter H. Goodrich interprets
9604-545: Was taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni , but only to some individuals. There are several stories and versions of how the tantras were disseminated. The Jñana Tilaka Tantra , for example, has the Buddha state that the tantras will be explained by the bodhisattva Vajrapani . One of the most famous legends is that of king Indrabhuti (also known as King Ja) of Oddiyana (a figure related to Vajrapani, in some cases said to be an emanation of him). Other accounts attribute
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