Transcript
Page 1: ART OF BONE - Tibetan use of Human Bones in Buddhist Ritual

There have been many culturesthat have used human bones insome form of ritual way. Close tohome, the ancient Celts placedhuman heads and skulls intospecial carved niches, and eventoday Catholics preserve the bonesof saints. But perhaps no culture

has developedthe practicewith suchartistry asthe

Tibetans.

Tibetan tantric Buddhist practiceuses a wide range of human bodyparts (either actual parts orsymbolic representations of them)in its rituals and ritual equipment -especially those practicesconnected to the wrathful protectorbeings of Buddhism.

If you read the book ‘Oraclesand Demons of Tibet’ by Rene DeNebesky-Wojkowitz, you will - toquote one Tibetologist - beintroduced to ‘spooky Buddhism’rather than ‘Californian Buddhism.’And you will probably find the list ofingredients used in wrathful

practice and traditional Tibetanprotective magic a little onthe unsavoury side; including

as it does such thingsas clarified corpse

fat, the menstrualblood of widows,hearts of childrenborn out of an

incestuous unions,and flayed skin altar

cloths.However, leaving the

more squidgy bits ofpeople aside, the main

human remains used in tantraare bones, which are used tofashion a variety of ritualobjects.

SKULL OFFERING BOWLSThe Sanskrit word kapala (Tib:thod-pa) denotes a skull bowl orcup, sometimes made from metal,

sometimes a monkey skull, but veryoften made from a human skull.

In the West it used to befashionable to have a human skullmemento mori to serve as areminder of life's impermanence,and although this is not the mainsymbolic reason for using a skullbowl in Tibetan practice; it alsoserves as that - as there can beperhaps no greater symbol of ourown mortality.

For use as a kapala, a skull hasto be carefully sourced. They areoften described as ‘jewel bowls’(Tib: rin chen thod pa) or ‘wishfulfilling gems’ (Tib: yid bzhin norbu),but only if found with the rightcharacteristics and in the rightcircumstances.

Although the skull that is usedcan be of either sex, it is consideredimportant to know whether it is maleor female, and there are traditionaltests to identify the sex whichinclude listening to the quality of thesound made when the finderurinates into the skull - a techniqueno doubt lacking in modern forensicdepartments.

If the head is still on thecorpse, Tibetan lore says thatwhere it was found is important, asis the direction it faced. If foundupon a mountain, for instance, thenew owner of the kapala willobtain dominance over others; iffound close to a village, the ownerwill gain followers; if found in the

the art ofbone)

Nicholas Breeze Wood

Introduces the useof Human Bonein Tibetan Ritual

Top: Tibetan tsam mask worn during ritual dancesInset: carved human bone decorations from tsam dancer’s ornamentsLeft: human skull kapala offering bowl

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Page 2: ART OF BONE - Tibetan use of Human Bones in Buddhist Ritual

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Left: beautifullycarved human

skull kapala

Below: very finehuman skull

damaru drum

Bottom of Page:Human boneprayer beads

springtime, they will be cured ofillness; if found in the summer,they will gain great riches. A headalready detached from the body issaid to give great luck andfreedom from enemies.

The finder is also encouraged tobe fully aware when they find askull. Do they feel an overwhelmingsense of compassion and love? Dothey feel heavy or anxious? Do their‘life burdens’ feel reduced by findingit? Also the colour and texture ofthe bone are important, as are theshape of the sections of the skull,and the overall shape as a whole.

If the skull passes all of thesetests and is deemed to befavourable, it may be used as akapala. It will be cleaned of anyremaining flesh, bathed in saffronwater and polished (sometraditions advise using clarifiedcorpse fat as an ideal polish).

It may be used whole, or moreoften the top of the cranium will beremoved and turned upside downto form a bowl. This bowl mayhave a triangular stand made for itand a metal cover fashioned - alittle like a lid. The skull may belined with silver inside, andsometimes may be beautifullycarved on the outside.

A kapala should be consecratedon an astrologically auspicious day,washed in fragrant smoke (smudgesmoke - which the Tibetans callsang), while specific mantras arerecited. The Kapala is then filled withsmall images of deities of wealth orof protection, then pieces of gold,silver, precious stones, medicalingredients are placed inside, suchas camphor, nutmeg, sandalwoodand musk, wheat, fruits, flowers,pieces of tiger or leopard skin, andsilk, as well as Buddhist texts. It isthen wrapped in cloth. It isimportant to handlekapalas withgreat careand

respect, and upon nocircumstances shouldthey be left empty, orlying upside down, asthe beneficial qualitiesof the skull willdiminish.

Kapalas are used asaids in visualisation

practice. The contentsvisualised may include elixir or

nectar - to bring about spiritualrealisation and longevity - fromwhich the practitioner ‘drinks,’ orofferings of body parts, such asone’s sense organs, a mix of bloodand semen, or even one’s wholebody (in which case the kapala isvisualised as a kind of cooking pot -ego stew anyone?)

They are also sometimes usedas bowls for actual food duringspecial ritual meals called tsog,where food is shared and alsooffered to the Buddhas, theprotectors and the local land spirits.

DRUMS MADE FROM SKULLSIn Tibet, a special, small, hour-glassshaped drum is used for manyceremonies. Called a damaru insanskrit (Tib: rnga), these are oftenmade of wood, but special ones aremade of the tops of two skulls.

These skull damaru (thod rnga)are ideally made from the skull of a16 year old boy and a 16 year oldgirl, and the use of skulls from bothsexes symbolises the male andfemale aspects important in tantra.They are sometimes skinned withhuman skin, but more often thannot the skin is from a goat.

Damaru, whether made fromwood or skulls, are played in theright (male) hand, and representform and compassion (the femaleleft hand representing emptiness,and wisdom). They are hung with asilk tail, often in the colours of thefive elements, which are also thefour directions and centre.

HUMAN BONE PRAYER BEADSTibetan Buddhists and alsoMongolian shamans use prayerbeads. Known in Sanskrit as amala (Tib: tenga), they are usedfor counting mantras and as a

means of divination[see Sacred Hoop

Issue56]

Malas can be made from manythings, some are silver or gold,others lotus seeds, or stones liketurquoise or agate, but especiallyprized are ones of human bone.

The beads in these are in theform of flat discs, and they are cutfrom either 108 skulls - one beadbeing taken from the third eye ofeach skull - or from100 skulls, orjust 8 skulls where a lot of thecranium will be cut to produce the108 beads used on a mala. It issaid a virgin girl should string thebeads for a practitioner to use.

Sometimes malas aremade from finger bones(Tib: tsigs gu’i‘phreng ba), inwhich case onlyten corpses arerequired.

Humanbone malas(and bonemalas ingeneral) aretraditionallyused forwrathfulpractice,althoughnowadaysanimal bonemalas are usedfor many practicesincluding peaceful ones.

THIGHBONE TRUMPETSThe use of humanthighbones for the makingof trumpets is covered in aseparate article in thisissue of Sacred Hoop, but itmight be good to add a few extrapoints here.

Kanglings (Tib: rkang gling) areoften made from the left leg of a 16year old girl, although some Chödtraditions suggest a bone taken fromsomeone who has died from acontagious disease - such as leprosy -is useful if chöd is practiced to bringhealing; or from a woman who hasdied in childbirth if the chöd isperformed for curing infertility andprotection against infant death. Forcontrol of the weather a thighbonefrom someone who has been killed ina fight where there were no survivorsis best. This last form of kangling iscalled an ‘enemy flute’ (Tib: dgra gling)and they are supposed to be so filledwith angry hate they are ideal forcontrolling thunder and hail. The skincovering at the joint end of a kangling

should be human skin, butgenerally is made from goat.

Page 3: ART OF BONE - Tibetan use of Human Bones in Buddhist Ritual

Above: detailof an old carvedhuman bonedancer’s breastornament

Right: Tibetanmonastic dancerwearing richbrocade robesand boneornament set

Below: carvedbone dancer’sapron withfabric pattenedwith the face ofa wrathful beingbeneath it

Right: Mongoliantsam dancer’scostume showingthe boneornaments

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Tiger bones areconsidered good for use astrumpets (stak kling) forwrathful practice, and are

also sometimes used in Nepalishamanism, as are human armbones, which should be stolenfrom a grave at night. Tiger bonesare no longer taken, but old onesare still used.

BONE DANCER’S ORNAMENTSPerhaps the most beautifullyfashioned form of human bonesused in Tibetan Buddhism arethose worn in ritual dances.

In these, human bones areexpertly carved and made into aseries of plaques and beads whichare strung together to form a set ofornaments (Tib: rus rgyan). Thesesets are comprised of an apron,necklace, wrist and ankle bandsand a hat. They are said to be thearmour of the dakini and wrathfulbeings, and are often worn byperformers taking on these roles inritual dances. For a full set thecorpses of five people arerequired, and when you wearthem you understand the weightof bone you carry around in

your body without realising it, as awhole set has a surprising weight.

These are always carved anddecorated with great care, boneplaques have images of Buddhistbeings and small beads may becarved like flowers. Silk brocade(or tiger skin) is used as a backingfor the apron and a whole set isstunning. Such items are very rare,although I have been lucky enoughto have owned two sets in my life.

OBTAINING AND WORKING BONEBone, if it is to be carved, is bestworked with when it is fresh, as itsoon ages, dries and gets morebrittle. In ancient Tibet and thesurrounding countries, bones wereonce fairly easy to get due to thepractice of sky burial - where corpsesare cut up and fed to vultures andwild animals on desolate hillsides.Nowadays this practice still occurs,but less so, and laws governing thesale of human bones have tightenedup - it is now prohibited to exporthuman bone artifacts from Nepal.

In the light of this, animal bonesare more and more being usedinstead of human bones. Also inthe past Buddhist practitionerswho required a specific bone mightwell be able to obtain it from thefamily of the deceased, who wouldconsider it an honour that it was tobe used for the benefit of othersentient beings.

IN FEAR OF THE DEADTibet is a wild landscape, anddespite all the use of human bonesin ritual ways, its traditional cultureis filled with many stories of spirits,sorcery and the perils of dealingwith the dead.

One of the main ways ofdealing with restless spirits is theperforming of the chöd ritual.Writing in 1981, Andrea Loseries-Leick describes a performance ofchöd done for a suicide.

‘I woke up and looked out ofthe window, and was confrontedwith a shocking sight; a naked

when you weara set of dancer’sbone ornamentsyou understand theweight you carryaround in yourbody withoutrealising it

Page 4: ART OF BONE - Tibetan use of Human Bones in Buddhist Ritual

Above: Tibetansky burial. The

photograph wastaken with directpermission from

the dead person’sfamily, who wereat the ceremony

Below: old, wellpolished skull

kapala linedwith silver andset with silverdeaths-heads

all around thelip of the bowl

Further Reading:‘Tibetan Mahayoga

Tantra: an Ethno-Historical Study ofSkulls, Bones and

Relics.’ AndreaLosereie-Leick (This isthe definitive book on

the ritual use of Bonesin Tibetan tantric

Buddhism).‘Oracles and Demonsof Tibet: The Cult and

Iconography of theTibetan ProtectiveDeities.’ Rene De

Nebesky-Wojkowitz.‘Shamanism and Tantra

in the Himalayas’ Claudia Müller-Ebeling

and Christian Rätsch

Nicholas BreezeWood is a shamanic

practitioner andTibetan Buddhist andthe editor of SacredHoop Magazine. Hehas made a life-long

study of sacred objectsand runs an online

gallery specialising inthe ritual objects of

Tibet and Central Asia [email protected]

www.3worlds.co.uk

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man hanging from the branch of atree in front of the monastery. Hisclothes and an empty bottle ofbrandy were lying nearby.

Following the discovery of thebody, the monastery appointed anold and experienced lama as thehead of the ceremony, and thepreparation for the ritual startedimmediately. Only five specificspecially qualified lamas, includingthe old master, worked to performit, other monks and spectatorsbeing ordered to retreat as far aspossible so as not to disturb theceremony. Nobody yet hadapproached the corpse.

The old master started theceremony by blowing hard into hiskangling to summon the spirit of thedead man. The neighing sound ofhis kangling, the rhythm of thedrums and the shrill ringing of thebells played by the lamas echoedover the hills. Then a melodioussong was sung repeatedly forseveral hours, only interrupted bysudden shrieks of the mantra ‘phat!’

A large number of people hadgathered and were watching theperformance from a safe distance,although some curious foreignerstried to approach the tree in order totake photographs, but the localpolice and the much-fearedmonastery guards swiftly drovethem away with wooden clubs.

It was an unforgettable and bizarresight, the naked corpse stillsuspended on the tree, and before it,lamas in their heavy brocade robes ofmaroon and gold, the sunlightgleaming on the polished skull crownsand bone aprons they wore, all faintlyveiled by juniper ‘sang’ smoke.

Eventually, one of the lamas roseand cut the corpse from its string,and the body was then cleaned,dressed and brought into a roomoutside the monastic boundaries,where further ceremonies continuedfor five more days.’

Another spirit manifestation manyTibetans are fearful of are ro langs(risen corpses). These are zombieswho are said to roam the wild lands.It is said there are two types of rolangs, ‘tantric’ and ‘demonic’ Atantric ro langs is a corpse activatedthrough ritual, and a ‘demonic’ rolangs is a corpse activated byharmful spirits in order for them tobring misery and destruction.

The method of creating ro langs(Tib: ro langs kyi dngos grub) issaid to involve performing aceremony which semi animates thecorpse so that it sticks out its

tongue, which the practitioner grabshold of - failure to do so will resultin the practitioners destruction atthe hands of the ro langs.

Demonic ro langs are said to beanimated by passing harmful spiritswho chance upon a corpse theycan use, which they re-animate.Here is a story recorded from aTibetan man concerning hisencounter with such a ro langs.

When I was a young boy and mygrandfather was still alive, he usedto carve mantras onto stones as didmany of our neighbours. A man inthe neighbourhood had just died,and the dead man was lying nearwhere we cut the stones. When webegan to cut, I saw the corpsemove. I wondered how it could moveand stared at it. Then someone toldme to get a stone to carve, but Isaid: “The corpse is moving,” but theothers said that there must besomething wrong with my eyes. ButI saw that it was trying to rise and Itold them this again.

Just when I said that, the corpsefell on its left side. Then it pressedits hands and forehead against theground and tried to rise. I againbegged them to look. Mygrandfather then did. Heimmediately ran for his phurbu (ritualdagger), which he always broughtwith him. Now the corpse hadknees, hands and forehead on theground, but had raised its body. Mygrandfather struck the corpse threetimes with his phurbu and cried“phat!” My grandfather defeated it.

FINDING RITUAL OBJECTSChances are you are not going tofind your own source of freshbones - and if you do, I suspectthe police will quickly comeknocking on your door. So if youfeel drawn to learning about theseways I advise you to do so properly- out of respect to the traditionand the objects.

There are many Buddhist lamasand rinpoches in the West now,although not all of them will teachabout these ways or even use them.

Human bone objects hold afacination for many, and fine artauction houses sell them on afairly regular basis - but often atvery high prices.

Ritual objects are alive, andwill seek you out if you arelucky and have thekarma that attractsthem to you - and ifyou do not have thekarma you may never

come across them. Also be awareof fakes, eBay is awash with skulldamaru, many of which aremonkey skulls sold as human skullsto unknowledgeable buyers. Somekapalas are now being made out ofresin and these can look very realunless you are used to holding realskulls. There is nothing wrong withusing a resin skull as a visualisationaid - but if you are paying a highprice for a bit of plastic - thinking itis real, you are probably going toexperience suffering.

Also ox and yak bones arebeing carved nowadays too andpassed off as human. I have alsoseen kanglings sold as human,that actually are made from camelbones, and are unplayable as thecentral sound hole is blocked.

My advice is - it is better tolearn the authentic practice with ametal or wooden version of theobject, and so gain merit, andperhaps attract a bone object toyou because of the merit, thanhold out for the ‘real McCoy’simply because you want it.

It would seem that cultures theworld over have both a fear andfascination with death, and theTibetans have taken both of theseaspects and made the use ofhuman bones and the magical loreof corpses a rich part of theirsacred traditions.

We are all on the path fromcradle to grave, and when I hold akapala or blow down my kangling -sounding a blast to address thespirits - I always wonder who thisguest in my home once was, and Iknow I too am only passing through,and only a guest in the world.


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