Phurpa Options

[Ralph]

In a market, I saw an implement and felt that I should buy it. It was easy to negotiate a good price. Taking it home, and doing some internet searching, I have identified it as a phurpa.

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/ritual

It appears to be made of brass. On top, there is the head of a horse-like animal. Immediately below this are 3 similar-appearing, rather angry-looking faces. Each face is wearing a crown of three other faces, and there's an additional small face between each of the three faces. Twelve, in all.

Below this, there is what appears to be an ordinary-appearing vajra. Below this is what appears to be a serpent's head (the makara?). From this emerges the three blades making up the tent stake described on the internet. Two of these have what appears to be a single serpent on them, and the rear blade has two intertwined serpents, crossing over each other twice.

The male phallic symbolism of the instrument, related to the Lance, seems obvious. Likewise, the symbolic idea of destroying the evil spirits of my mind. But, I wonder if there's another reason that I should have this at this time. Perhaps that will become clearer.

In the meantime, I'll keep it on a shelf. Can anyone lead me to a better (in other words, authoritative) description of the significance of the instrument itself, as well as its parts?

Is this instrument used in Gnostic practice?

[Pupil]

The triple blade of the phurpa symbolizes the overcoming or cutting through of the three root poisons of ignorance, desire, and hatred

This reminds me of the the Demon of the Mind, Demon of Desire, and the Demon of Ill Will; Pilate, Judas, and Caiaphas.

[apostolos]

quotes; "The phurba is patterned after an ancient Vedic tool, a stake used to tether sacrifical animals. It is used ritually to create stability and areas of protected space, often staked into the ground in circles prior to rituals. Only one initiated into its use may possess a phurbha, all others are forbidden.

As a tool of exorcismExorcism is the practice of evicting or destroying demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have "possessed" (taken control of) a person or a building. The concept is very ancient and is still part of the belief system of many religions....
the phurba is described as used to hold demons in place once they have been expunged from their human hosts. More esoterically, it is asserted that the phurba serves to bind and pin down negative energies from a person or group, in order for purification to be administered.

The phurba as an implement is also directly related to Dorje Phurba or Vajrakilaya, a wrathful deity of Tibetan Buddhism who is often seen with his consort Dorje Phagmo or Vajra Varahi. He is embodied in the phurba as a means of destroying violence, hatred, and aggression by tying them to the blade of the phurba and then vanquishing them with its tip. It is therefore that the phurba is not a physical weapon, but a spiritual implement, and should be regarded as such".


- i bought one from kathmandu with the vajra and the dagger of vajra yogini in horizontal position and the phurba on vertical with the intention to use it after initiation from my lama.....but out of respect and fear i keep it in my altar and it keeps me away from its use each time i dare to look it.....maybe you should buy one and let the light of your soul test its power or maybe it will test you........However, when u buy something which has to do magic u have to know how to treat it and use it.

- from personal accounts The tibs who perform rituals (and i have seen many in my visits in temples and homes where monks and devoted people are practising all day long) dont use it at all.......even the old monks which i had the good luck to watch them while practising the chod ritual on the special occasion of the first day of the fire dog year didnt use it at all.

Lets say that its a high magic object and u should know what u r doing or at be an initiate.
After studying the book "the cult of tara in tibet" and the many rituals described in there i have decided to be more carefull..........since i am not initiated in its use.
In some cases investigators who simply wanted to write something about the high magic rituals performed in tib budhism didnt have the luck to finish....since they are dead. The tibetan protective deities most often are wrathful.....i never heard that tara also has a wrathful form....but that happens also....she is called smashan tara or kurukula.....something to meditate on.

[samanera]

This reminds me of the the Demon of the Mind, Demon of Desire, and the Demon of Ill Will; Pilate, Judas, and Caiaphas.

Indeed.

It's no coincidence that the Three Traitors(anti-thesis of the Cosmic Christ ) are the same as the Three Poisons(Ignorance(Head), Anger(Heart), Lust(Sex)), which are the anti-thesis of The Three Jewels(Buddha/Dharmakaya, Dharma/Samboghakaya, Sangha/Nirmanakaya).

Dilgo Khyentse's "Excellent Path to Enlightenment" pretty much verifies all this, when he refers to the Inner, Outer and Secret interpretations of the The Three Jewels.

[Rosencroix]

Indeed.

It's no coincidence that the Three Traitors(anti-thesis of the Cosmic Christ ) are the same as the Three Poisons(Ignorance(Head), Anger(Heart), Lust(Sex)), which are the anti-thesis of The Three Jewels(Buddha/Dharmakaya, Dharma/Samboghakaya, Sangha/Nirmanakaya).

Dilgo Khyentse's "Excellent Path to Enlightenment" pretty much verifies all this, when he refers to the Inner, Outer and Secret interpretations of the The Three Jewels.

The Purba is also related to the Tibetan diety "Mahakala".
Mahakala literally means: "Great Time" That is, He is the Tibetan version of Father Time, the Lord of Death.
In a particular ritual that many great lamas from the orders of Tibet perform, they use the Purba and other ritual weapons in order to destroy a symbolic effigy symbolising an ego or a demon. They then burn the pieces of the effigy and offer it to Mahakala.
This is precisely what we must learn to do psychologically.
The Purba is also seen as a ritual instrument used to direct will power and manasic force. The Purbas are consecrated in the secret temples of Tibet and used by high Lamas to perform magic.
The Purbas are used both by the white Lamas and also by the black ones.
In the west, the Magician uses a sword, bell and a wand (see Occult Medicine and Practical Magic by Samael). In the Tibetan temples, they use the Purba (sword), bell and Dorje (wand).

Mahakala:



Bell and Dorje (which they sell on www.gnosticstore.org):

[apostolos]

the faces of the phurba should be the faces of Dorje Phurba (Vajrakilaya) Himself, not the faces of Mahakala. a phurba is sometimes considered a Nirmanakaya aspect of Dorje Phurba.

here is a little intro on Vajrakilaya:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/4886/vajrakila001.htm


Vajrakilaya is still practised in all Nyingma lineages and Sakya tradition

Phurba is the Tibetan for Kila.

If you're really interested you might want to track down Martin Boord's book "The Cult of the Deity Vajrakila". It's very scholarly and very hard to find, but you can probably acquire it through interlibrary loan (otherwise very expensive). Boord is a student of the late Chimed Rigdzin Lama Rinpoche, a great and very learned master.

Anger is destroyed by the king of vajra wrath.
A great blazing blue symbolic weapon arises as a drop in the depths of the sky.
It arises in the door of the life force
And one should meditate upon it within the depths of one's heart.

The vow of slaying by compassion is neither murder nor oppression.
Having established the five aggregates of the personality (skandha)
As vajra (i.e. as a fivefold mandala of deities),
One should meditate upon consciousness as vajra."

Another book to be relished (and easier to understand) is " The Practice of Vajrakilaya" by Khenpo Namdrol. (use amazon, you'll find it)

Really, you're supposed to have empowerment to even study this stuff. the initiated have vows of secrecy. This is normal in vajrayan.


Now, the yogis and yoginis who are truly accomplished with such practices, such as in stories of ancient Tibetan masters, often have a certain "wild, crazy, unconventional yogi" appearance and way of carrying themselves. Such actually realized practitioners have experientially realized for themselves the true meaning of wrathful Buddha practice and can, to some degree, begin to manifest liberating activity in accords with such a wrathful Buddha, such as Vajrakilaya. Now, one will certainly find mention of killing demons or evil spirits, etc. The true demons or spirits are the 4 demons: demon of believing in the inherent existence of the aggregates, demon of emotions due to the first mistaken belief, the demon of death and fear of death, and the demon of distraction from the path of virtue. Still, one does still find mention of killing actual spirits or demons. In such a literal sense this is something ONLY a highly realized practitioner is permitted to, and has vowed to as a Bodhisattva, engage in. Such a being having the ability to end the life of a being who is not only suffering, but continuing to pile up immeasurable amounts of negative karma ensuring many eons of life in the hells(as they're already in the realm of suffering spirits), and transfer the consciousness of such a being to a Buddhafield, such as Amitabha's realm Sukhavati where there is no suffering and nothing but Dharma practice and happiness, is committing an act of supreme compassion. ONLY beings who can truly do what I've just described is permitted to engage in this, otherwise he or she will find a worse fate than the demons they're killing. My root lamas told me that if you think that the demons to be killed in this Vajrakilaya meditation are actual demons outside yourself, you are likely to be reborn as a demon yourself. Anyway, wrathful practice is not for everyone, and by the Buddha's brilliance there are so many different methods he taught which are tailored to each individual's disposition and capacity.

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