Kapala
A kapala (
Part of a series on |
Tibetan Buddhism |
---|
Etymology
'Kapala' (
In Hinduism
Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using kapalas are higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor.[citation needed]
Hindu deities
Hindu deities that may be depicted with the kapala include
Some of the Hindu deities pictured thus are:
- Kālī, pictured in the most common four-armed iconographic image, shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishula(trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skullcup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
- The khatvanga), thunderbolt (vajra), a severed head and panapatra (drinking vessel, wine cup) or skullcup (kapala), filled with blood.
Kapalikas
The Kāpālika tradition was a
In Buddhism
In Tibetan monasteries a kapala is used symbolically to hold bread or dough cakes,
Vajrayana deities
Many of the deities of
As many Vajrayana empowerments such as the vase empowerment are also performed by touching the top of the head, the kapala also represents the transmission of knowledge from the Tantric guru to disciple, known as lineage transmission.[6] As blood was associated with hell-beings and was considered to be one of the most polluting substances in the Indian Vedas, the drinking of blood was an esoteric symbol for non-discrimination.[7] As wisdom transforms all duhkha into emptiness (sunyata), a yogi who has accomplished the siddhi of non-discriminatory awareness has broken through all illusions of duality, of purity and impurity (all constructed realities), and most importantly, nirvana and samsara.[8]
The ability to break through the duality of nirvana and samsara results in the union of emptiness and bliss, which is the highest expression of enlightenment in Vajrayana Buddhism.[9] In this way, the image of the dakini who not only drinks but takes pleasure and delight from consuming the blood in the kapala is a powerful symbol of a yogi who has perfected the paramita of prajna, and who dwells in the reality of non-dualism.[citation needed]
Charnel ground or sky burial
The kapala is one of several charnel ground implements made from human bone found by tantrics at sky burial sites.
The charnel ground, an ancient Tibetan burial custom, is distinctly different from the customs of graveyards and cremation, but all three of them have been a part of the home ground of tantric practitioners’ such as the yogis and yoginis, Shaiva Kapalikas and Aghoris, shamans and sadhus. The charnel ground, often referred to as "sky burial" by Western sources, is an area demarcated specifically in Tibet, defined by the Tibetan word Jhator (literal meaning is ’giving alms to the birds’), a way of exposing the corpse to nature, where human bodies are disposed as it were or in a chopped (chopped after the rituals) condition in the open ground as a ritual that has great religious meaning of the ascent of the mind to be reincarnated into another circle of life.
Such a practice results in finding human bones, half or whole skeletons, more or less putrefying corpses and disattached limbs lying scattered around. Items made from human skulls or bones are found in the sky burial grounds by the
The products from the charnel ground are the charnel ground ornaments such as the i) Crown of five skulls, ii) Bone necklace, iii) Bone armlets, iv) Bone bracelets, v) Bone skirt and vi) Bone anklets which decorate many images of dakinis, yoginis, dharmapalas and a few other deities (as may be seen in some of the pictures and stone images depicted in the gallery here), and other products such as the Bone trumpet, the Skull cup and Skull drum used by the tantric practitioners. Kapala or the skull cup is thus a produce from the Charnel ground.[12]
Gallery
-
6 armed Mahakala – tantric protective deity with a kapala in the hand.
-
Dancing Rakta Ganapathi with Kapala in hand
-
Tibetan Rakta Ganapathi with Kapala in hand
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-470-99868-7.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Kapala Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 81-208-1065-1
- ^ Mountain doctrine: Tibet's fundamental treatise on other-emptiness and the Buddha matrix. Shambhala Publications, 2017.
- ^ Rangdrol, Tsele Natsok. Empowerment and the Path of Liberation. Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1993, p. 33.
- ^ Urban, Hugh B. The power of Tantra: Religion, sexuality and the politics of South Asian studies. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009, p. 56.
- ^ Goudriaan, Teun, ed. (1990). The Sanskrit tradition and tantrism. Vol. 1. Brill. p. 38.
- ^ Tulku, Ringu. The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet. Shambhala Publications, 2007.
- ^ Camphausen, Rufus C. "Charnel- and Cremation Grounds". www.yoniversum.nl. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ "Sky Burial, Tibetan Religious Ritual, Funeral Party". www.travelchinaguide.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ Camphausen, Rufus C. "Charnel Ground Ornaments and Implements". www.yoniversum.nl. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
External links
- Media related to Kapala (ritual cup) at Wikimedia Commons
- The Yoniverse. Skull Cup