The Dorje - Thunderbolt

In Buddhist teachings, Ghanta and Dorje (also called Vajra) stand for wisdom and discipline .

Together they symbolize the union of opposites and the attainment of enlightenment .

The Dorje (thunderbolt) embodies the male principle and is held in the right hand. The Sanskrit term means hard and powerful. This is due to its indestructible hardness and radiance. In Buddhism it stands for the “true reality”
The thunderbolt symbolizes the impenetrability, unbreakability, indivisibility, indestructibility, etc. of enlightenment, the Buddha state as a vajra mind.

He is the thunderbolt of the ancient Indian thunderstorm god Indra. In Tibetan it is called Vajra Dory , the word for diamond. Thus, Vajra, like the diamond, is the symbol of the purity and indestructibility of the Ultimate Reality (Shunyata). Two crossing thunderbolts are called Viswa Vajra . The double thunderbolt is the symbol for the absolute and indestructible .

The Dorje is also used to clean rooms and to charge water . For this purpose, the Dorje is aligned accordingly and forwards its energy. The treatment and opening of closed chakras, mental and physical disorders are also possible with a Dorje and it has been used in Tibetan healing medicine for many centuries. For this purpose, the Dorje is placed on the appropriate places.

*Vajra is a Sanskrit word meaning both lightning and diamond. It is a weapon used as a ritual object to symbolize both the qualities of a diamond (indestructibility) and lightning (irresistible power). The five-pronged vajra is the most commonly seen vajra.

This vajra is to be used during empowerments. Usually requires two vajras, one for the mandala attached to the sung-tak with five colored cords and the second for the vajra master. The Sanskrit word vajra or dorje in Tibetan is defined as "diamond" or "adamantine". As such, the word vajra sometimes means enlightenment or the absolute reality of shunyata, emptiness. Dorje offers protection and invokes blessings.

Parashu - axe

According to an ancient Hindu ritual text, the Parashu ax is a means of breaking the bonds of ignorance.
These chains keep people trapped in the eternal cycle of rebirth, samsara. through the Parashu,
the cycle can be broken and the believer can be drawn further into nirvana.

Parashu ( Sanskrit : Paraśu ) is the Sanskrit word for a battle-axe , which can be wielded with one or both hands. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Construction

The parashu could be double-edge bladed or single-edge bladed with a spike on the non cutting edge. It usually measures between 3 – 5 feet though some are as long as 7 feet. The parashu is usually made of iron or wootz steel . The cutting edge is broader than the edge which is attached to the haft. The haft is often tied with a leather sheet to provide a good grip. [5]

Hinduism

The parashu named Vidyudabhi is the weapon of the god Shiva [6] who gave it to Parashurama , [7] [8] the sixth avatar of Vishnu , [9] [10] whose name means "Rama with the axe" and also taught him its mastery. [11] Parashurama was the guru of Dronacharya , the guru who the epic Mahabharata . Instructed Bhishma and Karna also took instruction in weaponry Karna was only one who got all knowledge of weapons from Parashurama that Shiva has taught to Parshuram, Parashuram was known to have terrible temper, having lost his father to the wicked Kshatriya Kartavirya Arjuna [12] ( not to be confused with Arjuna of Mahabharata). Parashurama's weapon had supernatural powers. It had four cutting edges, one on each end of the blade head and one on each end of the shaft.

The parashu was known as the most lethal close combat weapon of the epics. It is one of the weapons of Shiva , Parashurama , and Durga and is still depicted on their idols throughout India. It is also one of the weapons of Ganesha , [13] and the main weapon of Sahadeva and Shakuni .

Legend

The regional Hindu creation myth of Kerala is often attributed to the parashu of Parashurama. According to tradition, Parashurama was offered boons by both Varuna and Bhudevi , the deities who personify the ocean and the earth, respectively. He is stated to have traveled to Kanyakumari , the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland, and thrown his ax northward, recovering a swathe of land from the ocean, which would become Kerala. [14]

Source: Wikipedia

Shankha , dung dkar - conch shell

Shankha, dung dkar or conch shell is a powerful ritual object used in ceremonial practices (pujas) in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, the conch shell is blown at the beginning and during a religious session. When a shankha is sounded, the frequencies of divine energy (shakti) are emitted into the atmosphere due to the sound produced. The energy generated emits positive vibrations and repels negative energy in the environment. In Hinduism, the sound is associated with the primal Om, the sound of creation.

In Tibet, the Dung Dkar is one of the eight auspicious symbols. It is blown during Buddhist ceremonies and symbolizes the power and glory of the Buddha's teachings, which spread in waves in all directions.

Akshobhya Buddha

Akshobhya Buddha (Tib.: mi bskyod pa ; "The Unshakeable One") is the head of the Buddhas of the vajra family. The Buddhas of the vajra family are associated with the disturbing emotion of anger and transform it into mirror-like wisdom when one meditates on the forms of this family. He is assigned to the East.

The best known are the "Five Great Transcendent Buddhas" Vairocana, Akshobhya, Amitabha, Ratnasambhava and Amogasiddhi.

This primordial Buddha is considered the embodiment of absolute wisdom and belongs to the Dharmakaya, the level of duality-free, at the same time transcendent and immanent absolute truth and reality, which constitutes the essence of all Buddhas.

Garuda - The messenger of the gods

In Asian mythology, the Garuda has the meaning of a messenger of the gods who brings people messages and instructions from the gods. Garuda literally means "he who carries great burdens". Garuda is the mount of Vishnu.

Citipati is a protector deity or Dharmapala in Tibetan Buddhism and Himalayan Vajrayana Buddhism. It consists of two skeletal deities, one male and one female, both depicted dancing wildly with intertwined limbs in a halo of flames representing change. The Citipati is said to be one of the seventy-five forms of the Mahakala. Her symbol is said to represent both the eternal dance of death and perfect consciousness. They are invoked as both wrathful deities and benevolent protectors of fierce appearance. The dance of the Citipati is celebrated twice a year in Tibet.

The Citipati should not be confused with the skeleton dancers of the Tibetan Buddhist Cham dance tradition.

Legend

The Citipati were a pair of ascetics who meditated near a cemetery. In their deep state of meditation, they did not notice a thief sneaking up on them. The thief beheaded them and threw them in the dirt, after which they attained the next level of ascetic practices. Enraged by the deed, the Citipati swore revenge on the thief and became the sworn enemy of thieves and other criminals.

The Citipati cannot leave graveyards and can only grab thieves who pass through them. While waiting for criminals, the Citipati pass the time dancing and blowing horns, a ritual reenacted twice a year by Tibetan monks. Their dance also serves as a symbol of death and rebirth, as the Citipati are composed of both halves of the human body, male and female, and their skeletal form evokes the transience of life and eternal change.

The Citipati is a protector of graveyards and is known as Lord of the Graveyard or Lord of the Crematorium. The Citipati clearly implied a warning to Tantrism, and is believed to have become a possibility when Tibetan Buddhism split from Tantrism or Guhyasamāja Tantra. In Mahayana Buddhism, the citipati could be interpreted both as "Śīla Pāramitā" and as "Dhyāna pāramitā".

Source: Wikipedia

Like other deities of the Buddhist pantheon, Mahakala was adopted from Hinduism . There he is considered a wrathful expression of Shiva . In Buddhism, he is mostly seen as the wrathful-powerful expression of compassion of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (a bodhisattva is an "enlightenment being" who postpones his enlightenment, or more precisely, the annihilation of selfhood in nirvana , out of compassion for all human beings). Mahakala is often depicted with his consort Palden Lhamo in a total of about 75 different guises, many of which are emblematic of different emotions.

Death and destruction are ultimately the themes of every thangka (scroll painting) of Mahakala. But what is destroyed? Mahakala's compassion is about the destruction of the self-destructive self clinging to a world of illusions. It thus radically and clearly serves to free oneself from the illusion of the ego, to overcome the ego and its painful actions against oneself and others - the death of the ego.

In the iconography of Buddhist painting, there are certain forms and facial expressions by which demons can be identified. Mahakala's face bears exactly these attributes. He usually has a head with three protruding eyes (looking past, present and future). His eyebrows are like small flames and his beard has a hook-like shape. He looks like a demon, but he's not a demon. As a mirror of evil, it is there to deter and fight demons. The crown of five skulls (symbolic of the five mental poisons: greed, anger, ignorance, pride and jealousy, which he transforms) and the third eye of wisdom indicate that he is not a demon. Mahakala's up to 75 manifestations can have from two to sixteen arms. Mainly, the 6-armed Mahakala is considered to be a direct manifestation of Avalokiteshvara , as worshiped mostly, but not exclusively, in the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Source: Wikipedia

A khaṭvāṅga ( Sanskrit : खट्वाङ्ग) is a long, studded club originally created as a weapon. It was adopted as a traditional religious symbol in Indian religions such as Tantric traditions like Shaivism and Vajrayana Buddhism . The khatvāṅga was adopted by some lineages of historical tantra though it preceded such traditions as of an original tribal shaman shaft.

Hinduism[ edit ]

In Hinduism , Shiva - Rudra carried the khatvāṅga as a staff weapon and are thus referred to as khatvāṅgī s. Author Robert Beer says, "In Hinduism the khatvanga is an emblem or weapon of Shiva, and is variously described as a skull - topped club , a skull - mounted trident, or a trident - staff on which three skulls are impaled". [1]

Author AV Narasimha Murthy says, "In classical literature the weapon Khatvanga is mentioned in works like Mālatīmādhava of Bhavabhuti and Śiva Stutī of Narayana Panditacharya ". [2]

Fabrication[ edit ]

Originally, the khatvāṅga was made of bones, especially, the long bones of forearm or the leg of human beings or animals. Later, wood and metal were used. The khatvāṅga is a long club with skulls engraved on the body. A khatvāṅga represents the vajra .

Vajrayana Buddhism[ edit ]

In Vajrayana Buddhism , the symbol of the skull-topped trident ( khaṭvāṅga ) is said to be inspired by its association with the Kāpālikas . [3] Pictured here is an ivory khaṭvāṅga , 15th century Chinese art, Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Author Robert Beer states that "The form of the Buddhist khaṭvāṅga derived from the emblematic staff of the early Indian Shaivite yogis , known as kapalikas or "skull-bearers". The kapalikas were originally miscreants who had been sentenced to a twelve-year term of penance for the crime of inadvertently killing a Brahmin . The penitent was prescribed to dwell in a forest hut, at a desolate crossroads, in a charnel ground , or under a tree; to live by begging; to practice austerities; and to wear a loin -cloth of hemp, dog, or donkey-skin.They also had to carry the emblems of a human skull as an alms-bowl, and the skull of the Brahmin they had slain mounted upon a wooden staff as a banner.These Hindu kapalika Ascetics soon evolved into an extreme outcaste sect of the " left-hand " Tantric path ( Sanskrit : Vāmamārga) of shakti or goddess worship ; bone ornaments, an animal skin loincloth, marks of human ash, a skull-cup, damaru , flaying knife, thighbone trumpet, and the skull-topped Tantric staff or khaṭvāṅga ". [4]

Robert Beer relates how the symbolism of the khatvāṅga in Vajrayana Buddhism, particularly the Nyingma school founded by Padmasambhava , was a direct borrowing from the Shaiva Kapalikas , who frequented places of austerity such as charnel grounds and crossroads as a form of "left-handed path " ( vamachara ) sādhanā . [4] In the Buddhist lore, it is also a particular divine attribute of Padmasambhava and endemic to his iconographic representation and depicted as an accoutrement of his divine consorts, Mandarava and Yeshe Tsogyal . In the twilight language , it represents Yab-Yum . The weapon's three severed heads denotes moksha from the three worlds ( Trailokya ); it has a rainbow sash representing the Five Pure Lights of the mahābhūta .

Source: Wikipedia

A phurba (also: phurpa , phurbu or phurpu ; Sanskrit : kila(ya) ) is a three-sided dagger or nail -like ritual object used in shamanistic traditions of the Himalayan region and in Tibetan and Bon Buddhism. The deity or yidam associated with the object is called Dorje Phurba or Vajrakila(ya) .

The phurba is one of many iconographic divine attributes ( Tib.: phyag mtshan [1] ) seen on Vajrayana and Hindu deities . When a phurba is blessed and bound for use, it is considered a nirmanakaya form of the dorje phurba (ཕུར་པ། sprul pa [2] ) or vajrakilaya . It is used either to pierce the ground with it, or, as is common in Himalayan shamanic traditions, vertically into a basket or container of rice or other soft grain (if the phurba is made of wood). Here one imagines the phurba as a world axis . The idea of ​​the world tree is more common among Nepalese shamans.

The phurba plays a special role in marking a suitable place of prayer (cf. puja ), although only a person who is initiated or authorized to use it may use it. The energetic aspect is "combative, wrathful, pinning down, piercing".

Two intertwined nagas are often depicted on the blade of a phurba, reminiscent of a caduceus or caduceus . All energies that appear incompatible and separate are said to be united through the phurba.

As a tool of exorcism , a phurba is said to be used to ward off demons or thought-constructs so that their mind-streams can be transmuted and their inherent spiritual obscuration (or obscuration) removed. Another use is to bind and hold down "negative energies" of an entity , a thought-form, a person or the projection of a group of people in order to cleanse the environment (purification).

Dorje phurba can be described as the destructive (in the sense of cessation and liberation) inherent in phurba against greed ( tanha ) ( sred pa [4] ), attachment ( upadana ) ( len pa [5] ) and ignorance ( Avidya ) (Tib.: ma rig pa [6] ) to be seen. Greed, attachment and ignorance are said to be bound by the three sides of a phurba's blade and transmuted by the point. The pommel of a phurba can be blessed before use. It should therefore never be seen or used as a physical weapon, but as a spiritual tool. An epithet of Phurba is Diamond Dagger of Emptiness .

Source: Wikipedia

Das Weisheitsflammenschwert des Manjushri

Das Weisheitsflammenschwert, das von der buddhistischen Gottheit Manjushri getragen wird, ist ein Symbol für unerschütterliche Weisheit. Aus der zweischneidigen Klinge dieses Schwertes züngelt gewöhnlich eine schmale Flamme, die sich an der Spitze zu einer Krone aus Flammen ausweitet. Diese Flamme steht für die Vajra-Eigenschaft des Schwertes – es ist unzerbrechlich, diamanthart und unbesiegbar. Der lodernde Flammenkranz des Schwertes durchdringt die Dunkelheit und versetzt Dämonen und Maras in Furcht.

In der abendländischen Tradition wird die Inthronisierung eines Herrschers oft durch die rituelle Berührung, Segnung und Übergabe eines Schwertes vollzogen. Das Schwert gilt als das wichtigste Herrschaftszeichen eines Monarchen. Es symbolisiert Oberhoheit, Macht, Autorität, Barmherzigkeit, Gerechtigkeit und das unterscheidende Gewahrsein.

Das Schwert des Chakravartin, des idealen Weltenherrschers im Buddhismus, besitzt eine immense Macht und kann tief in den Kern der Unwissenheit vordringen. Ohne einen Tropfen Blut zu vergießen, besiegt es alle Feinde. Allein sein Anblick soll ausreichen, um alle Widersacher zur Unterwerfung zu zwingen.