On Jan 7, 2007, at 11:19 AM, Richard J. Williams wrote:
Vaj wrote:
In English we have the saying when someone really
punches someone hard so as to knock them unconscious or "pins" them
in argument "that person was really nailed" which expresses a similar
idea.
http://www.khordong.de/Edition/bolt_1.pdf
Maybe so, but there's nothing in the definition of kIla that you
provided that would indicate that the Tibetan phurba was an instrument
for killing.
Well no, not in the definition. In historical pre-Buddhist Tibet
Vedic-style sacrifices were very likely employed, using live animals
and humans. Indeed numerous Vedic (and other) rishis came from the
Tibetan plateau. In Buddhist Tibet that also occurred initially but
eventually disappeared as collective trends were pacified and
subjugated. The Chinese government actually is very fond of fostering
this idea (of old Tibet) as well as an excuse for their genocide.
According to the Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, the term kIla
pertains to a peg or a stake, like a ridge pole in a cow shed, which
is what I pointed out before: that the Tibetan phurba is an
icongraphic symbol for the axis mundi in Buddhist vastu.
Indeed it is used in geomantic rites of subjugation and pacification.
For a kilaya practitioner, it's also the centre of their mandala.
The definition also points out that the term kILa has nothing to do
with killing in English.
Phrases used in English share similarities with the literal
definition of the word kila. Other phrases would include such
standard human situational sayings as "I really got her "pegged"" and
"he really "nailed" that one". It's a natural part of who we are, so
we use these words.
In fact numerous kila-tantras provide their own definitions, but
these are words for initiates of the kilaya wisdom of awareness, not
a public discussion list.
From what I've read, the phurbu is more akin
to the vajra, symbol of the admantine transcendent. It may be that the
shamanistic Bon used a knife or dagger for killing in magic rituals,
but the Vedic religion apparently didn't use a knife or dagger in
sacrifice, rather they used a crescent shaped instrument.
The Tibetan phurbu is more akin to the 'Lightening Bolt" of Indra,
than to the magic dagger used in Bon, as pointed out in the report you
cited. Thanks for the link.
There indeed is a connection, but it is to both. Much of what is
Tibetan Vajrayana was at one time Kapalika Shaivism. There's more
sharing in common here than either want to admit.
A nice contemporary mention of the process of kilana occurs in Robert
Svoboda's Aghora trilogy.
