A charnel ground (Sanakrit: श्मशान; IAST: śmaśāna; Tibetan pronunciation: durtrö; )Rigpa Shedra (July 2009). 'Charnel ground'. Source

(accessed: Saturday December 19, 2009) is an above-ground site for the

putrefaction Putrefaction is the fifth stage of death, following pallor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis, and livor mortis. This process references the breaking down of a body of an animal, such as a human, post-mortem. In broad terms, it can be vie ...

of bodies, generally human, where formerly living tissue is left to

decompose Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ...

uncovered. Although it may have demarcated locations within it functionally identified as burial grounds, cemeteries and crematoria, it is distinct from these as well as from

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a ...

s or burial vaults. In a religious sense, it is also a very important location for sadhana and ritual activity for Indo-Tibetan traditions of

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ...

particularly those traditions iterated by the Tantric view such as Kashmiri Shaivism, Kaula tradition,

Esoteric Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

, Mantrayana,

Dzogchen Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence ...

, and the sadhana of

Chöd Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the ego ...

, Phowa and Zhitro, etc. The charnel ground is also an archetypal liminality that figures prominently in the literature and liturgy and as an artistic motif in Dharmic Traditions and cultures iterated by the more antinomian and esoteric aspects of traditional Indian culture.

India

Throughout

Ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by ...

and

Medieval India Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cent ...

, charnel grounds in the form of open air crematoria were historically often located along rivers and many ancient famous charnel sites are now 'sanitized' pilgrimage sites (Sanskrit: tirtha) and areas of significant domestic income through cultural tourism. However, proper "charnel grounds" can still be found in India, especially near large rivers banks and areas where abandoned people (without family) are cremated or simply left to decompose. These areas are often frequented by Aghoris, a

Kapalika The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non- Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 7th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term '' kapāla'', meaning "skull", and ''kāpālika'' means ...

sect, that follows similar meditation techniques, as those thought by the 84

Mahasiddha Mahasiddha ( Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic ...

s. A typical Aghori sadhana (at the charnel ground) lasts for 12 years.

Himalayan 'sky burial'

In the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

where tillable topsoil for burial and fuel for cremation is scarce and a valuable commodity, the location of a so-called

sky burial Sky burial (, "bird-scattered") is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds. It is a specific type of the ...

is identified with a charnel ground.Gold, Peter (1994). ''Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit'' (Paperback). Inner Traditions. , p. 141

Sutrayana and Early Buddhism

In the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

discourses,

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

frequently instructs his disciples to seek out a secluded dwelling (in a forest, under the shade of a tree, mountain, glen, hillside cave, charnel ground, jungle grove, in the open, or on a heap of straw). The

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

and

Sutrayana Sūtrayāna ( sa, सूत्रयान) is the Indo-Tibetan three-fold classification of yanas. A yana is a Buddhist mode of practice that leads to the realization of emptiness. The three yanas of the Sutrayana are Sravakayana or Pratyekab ...

tradition of the "Nine Cemetery Contemplations" (Pali: ''nava sīvathikā-manasikāra'') described in the ''

Satipatthana Sutta The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta ( Majjhima Nikaya 10: ''The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness''), and the subsequently created Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta ( Dīgha Nikāya 22: ''The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness''), ar ...

'' demonstrate that charnel ground and cemetery meditations were part of the ascetic practices in Early Buddhism. 'Cemetery contemplations', as described in '' Mahasatipatthana Sutta'' ( DN: 22) and the '' Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta'' ( MN: 10):

Polysemy and metaphor

On the face of it or alternatively the cosmetic level, the charnel ground is simply a locality often

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

where bodies are disposed of, either by

cremation Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

. Though the charnel ground is to be understood as a polysemy and metaphor it must be emphasized that holy people as part of their sadhana and natural spiritual evolution grappling with death, impermanence and transition did historically in India, China and Tibet as well as in other localities, frequent charnel grounds, crematoriums and cemeteries and were often feared and despised by people who did not understand their 'proclivities' (Sanskrit: anusaya). From a deeper structural significance and getting to the substantive bones of the Vajrayana spiritual point of view however, the charnel ground is full of profound transpersonal significance. It represents the 'death of

ego Ego or EGO may refer to: Social sciences * Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * Egoism, an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality * Egotism, the drive to ...

' (Sanskrit: atmayajna), and the end of: * attachment (Sanskrit: '' Upādāna''; Tibetan:
len pa
') to this body and life * craving (Sanskrit: '' ''; Tibetan:
sred pa
') for a body and life in the future * fear of death (Sanskrit: abhiniveśa) * aversion (Sanskrit: dveṣa; Wylie: zhe sdang) to the decay of 'impermanence' (Sanskrit: anitya). It is worth noting that 'attachment', 'craving', 'fear' and 'aversion' above cited in bold font are somewhat standardized and hence less-rich lexical choices for the

semantic field In linguistics, a semantic field is a lexical set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.Howard Jackson, Etienne Zé Amvela, ''Words, Meaning, and Vocabulary'', Continuum, 2000, p14. The term is also used in ...

represented by the four of the 'Five Poisons' (Sanskrit: pancha klesha) they denote. Prior to spiritual realization, charnel grounds are to be understood as terrifying places, full of 'roaming spirits' (Sanskrit: gana) and ' hungry ghosts' (Sanskrit: pretas) indeed localities that incite consuming fear. In a charnel ground there are bodies everywhere in different states of decomposition: freshly dead bodies, decaying bodies, skeletons and disembodied bones. Simmer-Brown (2001: p. 127) conveys how the 'charnel ground' experience may present itself in the modern Western

mindstream Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Definition ' (Sanskri ...

situations of emotional intensity, protracted peak performance, marginalization and extreme desperation:

Denizens and pastimes of the charnel ground

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

Bhairava Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव ) or Kala Bhairava is a Shaivite and Vajrayāna deity worshiped by Hindus and Buddhists. In Shaivism, he is a powerful manifestation, or avatar, of Shiva associated with annihilation. In Trika system ''Bhai ...

* 'Outcastes' (Sanskrit: Chandala) literally cast out from the castes, outside the Varnashrama Dharma of the '' status quo''.

Dancing

Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent or richly different depictions of him.Nagar, p. 185. In one Tibetan form he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākala, a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, sometimes dancing. This play of Ganesha as both the "creator and remover of obstacles" as per his

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

as well in the two Vajrayana iconographic depictions of him as that which consumes (Maha Rakta) and that which is consumed (danced upon by Vignantaka) is key to the reciprocity rites of the charnel ground. ''Ganapati, Maha Rakta'' (Tibetan: tsog gi dag po, mar chen. English: The Great Red Lord of Hosts or Ganas) is a Tantric Buddhist form of Ganapati (

Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

) related to the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras. The Sanskrit term 'rakta' holds the

of "blood" and "red''. This form of Ganapati is regarded as an emanation of Avalokiteshvara. "...beside a lapis lazuli rock mountain is a red lotus with eight petals, in the middle a blue rat expelling various jewels, ounted on his rat 'steed' (Sanskrit: vahana)">vahana.html" ;"title="ounted on his rat 'steed' (Sanskrit: vahana">ounted on his rat 'steed' (Sanskrit: topknot Topknot may refer to: * A hairstyle or haircut, historically prevalent in Asia: ** Chonmage, a traditional Japanese haircut worn by men ** Sangtu, a knot of hair that married men of the Joseon Dynasty wore in Korea ** Touji (頭髻), a traditional ...

Nath Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India.Mantrayana

Buddhadharma Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

traditions such as

Tilopa Tilopa (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Talika or Tilopadā; 988–1069) was an Indian Buddhist monk in the tantric Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He lived along the Ganges River, with wild ladies as a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha. He practic ...

(988–1069) and Gorakṣa (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

11th–12th century) yoked adversity to till the soil of the path and accomplish the fruit, the '

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

' (Sanskrit: āśraya; Wylie: gzhi) of realization – worthy case-studies for those with spiritual proclivity:

Poetry, song, and literature

Dyczkowski (1988: p. 26) holds that Hāla's Prakrit literature poem the ''

Gāthāsaptaśati The Gāhā Sattasaī or Gāhā Kośa ( sa, गाथासप्तशती Gāthā Saptaśatī) is an ancient collection of Indian poems in Maharashtri Prakrit language. The poems are about love. They are written as frank monologues usually by ...

'' (third to fifth century CE) is one of the first extant literary references to a

where in the poem the Kapalika, who is a female, anoints and besmears her body with the crematory ash from the funeral pyre of her recently deceased lover.Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. (1988). ''The canon of the Śaivāgama and The Kubjikā Tantras of the western Kaula tradition''. SUNY series in Kashmir Śaivism. SUNY Press. Source

(accessed: Thursday February 4, 2010) This is a literary allusion to the anointing of 'sacred ash' (Sanskrit: bhasma;

vibhuti In Hinduism, ''vibhuti'' ( sa, विभूति, vibhūti), also called ''bhasma'' or ''thiruneeru'', is sacred ash made of burnt dried wood, burnt cow dung and/or cremated bodies used in Agamic rituals. Hindu devotees apply ''vibhuti'' tradit ...

) especially associated with

who applies it all over his body. Dyczkowski (1988: p. 26) relates how Kṛṣṇa Miśra (c. 1050–1100) casts the character of a

Kāpālika The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 7th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term '' kapāla'', meaning "skull", and ''kāpālika'' means ...

in his play, the '' Prabodhacandrodaya'' and then quotes verbatim a source that renders the creed of this character into English: In Vajrayana poetry, literature and song, particularly that of the '

songs of realization Songs of realization, or Songs of Experience (; Devanāgarī: दोहा; Romanized Sanskrit: ''Dohā''; Oriya: ପଦ), are sung poetry forms characteristic of the tantric movement in both Vajrayana Buddhism and in Hinduism. Doha is also a spec ...

', charnel grounds are often described as containing "rivers of blood", "poisonous waterfalls", and depicted as localities containing dangerous wild beasts. The

two truths The Buddhist doctrine of the two truths ( Sanskrit: ''dvasatya,'' ) differentiates between two levels of ''satya'' (Sanskrit; Pali: ''sacca''; word meaning " truth" or " reality") in the teaching of the Śākyamuni Buddha: the "conventional" or ...

doctrine though iterates this view and when perceived differently, charnel grounds are peaceful places of beatific solitude and this

symbolism and the twilight language and iconography accrues a rich

polysemy Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, a morpheme, a word, or a phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word has a sin ...

. When perceived differently, the charnel grounds are places of 'peace' (Sanskrit: ''shanti''), pleasant groves, populated by wildflowers and fruit.

Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds ( Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 50 ...

s, tame lions and tigers, and the vast open vault of the sky, fruit and flowers are often used in Vajrayana iconography and poetry and Beer (1999) explains their symbolism and how they are understood in the tradition in fine detail. They are all included in depictions of the charnel ground. The

Upa-yoga Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism refers to the categorization of Buddhist tantric scriptures in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism inherited numerous tantras and forms of tantric practice from medieval Indian Buddhist Tantra. There were ...

scriptures first appeared in 'Mount Jakang Chen' (alternate names: Riwo Jakang,

Mount Jizu Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish ...

) and the charnel ground of Cool Grove . Cool Grove is also known as 'Śītavana' (Sanskrit). Gray (undated: c. 2009) provides an excellent survey of chthonic charnel ground accoutrement motif such as skull imagery in the textual tradition of the Yogini tantras.

Baital Pachisi

Baital Pachisi ''Vetala Panchavimshati'' ( sa, वेतालपञ्चविंशति, IAST: ) or ''Betaal Pachisi'' ("''Twenty-five (tales) of Betaal''"), is a collection of tales and legends within a frame story, from India. It is also known as inter ...

* Somadeva

Beyond social convention

In the charnel grounds of Vajrayana, there are no social conventions to conform to and no distractions to be seduced by for the

siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...

. Dakas and dakinis gather there to celebrate ceremonial tsok 'feasts' (Sanskrit: ganachakra). The lion's roar of

discourse resound as do the liturgy and the specific 'hourglass drums' (Sanskrit:

damaru A damaru ( sa, डमरु, ; Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Tan ...

) of the

chöd Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the ego ...

pa and the light of the inner 'joy of bliss' (Sanskrit: ananda) radiates and this dynamic movement is represented iconographically by the 'bliss-whirling' (Sanskrit: ananda-chakra). In his ''Manual'' on the practice of the '' Longchen Nyingtik'', Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche holds that:

"Right now, our minds are very fickle. Sometimes you like a certain place, and it inspires, and yet with that same place, if you stay too long, it bores you. ��As you practice more and more, one day this kind of habit, this fickle mind will just go. Then you will search for the bindu interpretation of the right place, and according to the classic tantric texts, that is usually what they call the “eight great charnel grounds”. So then, you have to go to a cemetery, especially to one of the eight cemeteries. There, under a tree, in the charnel ground, wearing a tiger skin skirt, holding a kapāla and having this indifference between relatives and enemies, indifference between food and shit, you will practise. Then your
bindu Bindu ( sa, बिंदु) is a term meaning "point" or "dot". Bindu may also refer to: * Bindu (symbol) * Bindu, India, village in Darjeeling district of West Bengal India * Anusvara, a diacritical mark represented as a ''bindu'' or dot * ''B ...
will flow. At that time, you will know how to have intercourse between emptiness and appearance."

In the life in which a pratyekabuddha attains the fruit of their 'path' (Wylie: lam), they are naturally drawn to charnel grounds. "When reflecting on the bones found there, the pratyekabuddha inquire "Where do these bones come from?" This samyama (Sanskrit) on the bones awakens knowledge of their many lifetimes of investigation into the 'Twelve Links of Dependent Origination'. These twelve links then unfold in their

as a 'blessing' (Sanskrit: adhishthana), in both forward and reverse sequence and on that foundation they yield 'realisation' (Sanskrit: siddhi).

Vajrayana iconography

The charnel ground, cremation ground and cemetery is evident as a specific region within wrathful Indo-Tibetan sand mandala iconography. As the anthropologist Gold (1994: p. 141) relates in his comparative study drawn from his professional fieldwork into the symbolic universals of the sacred circles and

sand-painting Sandpainting is the art of pouring coloured sands, and powdered pigments from minerals or crystals, or pigments from other natural or synthetic sources onto a surface to make a fixed or unfixed sand painting. Unfixed sand paintings have a long es ...

s of the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...

and

Tibetan people The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans ...

s, parses the sacred precinct and motif of the charnel ground as a locality in the symbolic grammar of the Indo-Tibetan 'fierce yidam' or '

wrathful deity In Buddhism, wrathful deities or fierce deities are the fierce, wrathful or forceful (Tibetan: ''trowo'', Sanskrit: ''krodha'') forms (or "aspects", "manifestations") of enlightened Buddhas, Bodhisattvas or Devas (divine beings); normally the sam ...

' (Sanskrit: heruka) sand mandala: The region of the charnel grounds in many wrathful mandala often hold eight specific charnel grounds where certain key events take place in the life of

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

. The Vajrayana yidam Citipati is said to be the Lord of Charnel Grounds.http://www.androgynylist.com/categories/Essence%20of%20Indistinction/sub/citipati.html Blood is thematic in Charnel Ground iconography where it may be understood as lifeblood, a symbol of viscous 'compassion' (Sanskrit: karuna) of 'sacrifice' (Sanskrit:

yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

), and attendant with the symbolism of blood, bones ground our shared humanity and solidarity in the wider

Mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

of life and the ancient lineage of '

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

' from which all sentient beings are of lineal descent. The tradition and custom of the 'sky burial' (Tibetan: ''jhator'') afforded

Traditional Tibetan medicine Traditional Tibetan medicine (), also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior ...

and ''

thangka A ''thangka'', variously spelled as ''thangka'', ''tangka'', ''thanka'', or ''tanka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scen ...

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

such as the '

Tree of physiology The tree of physiology is a Tibetan thangka depicting human physiology and certain pathological transformations. Epistemology Tibetan medicine had developed a rather sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and physiology, which was acquired from ...

' with a particular insight into the interior workings of the human body. Pieces of the

human skeleton The human skeleton is the internal framework of the human body. It is composed of around 270 bones at birth – this total decreases to around 206 bones by adulthood after some bones get fused together. The bone mass in the skeleton makes up a ...

were employed in ritual tools such as the

skullcup A kapala (Sanskrit for "skull") is a skull cup used as a ritual implement (bowl) in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra (Vajrayana). Especially in Tibet, they are often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels. Etymol ...

, thigh-bone trumpet, etc. The 'symbolic bone ornaments' (Skt: ; Tib: rus pa'i rgyan phyag rgya) are also known as "

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

" or 'seals' are also known as 'charnel ground ornaments'. The '' Hevajra Tantra'' identifies the Symbolic Bone Ornaments with the Five Wisdoms and

Jamgon Kongtrul Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (, 1813–1899), also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, poet, artist, physician, tertön and polymath.Jackson, Roger R. The Tibetan Leonardo, 2012, https://www.lionsroar.com/th ...

in his commentary to the ''Hevajra Tantra'' explains this further.. The important Varnamala (or 'garland of bija phonemes' in twilight language is iconographically represented by a 'garland of severed heads or skulls' (Sanskrit: Mundamala).

Padmasambhava

Beer (1999: pp. 277–278) relates how

received the siddhi of the kīla transmission from a gigantic

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always endi ...

at the charnel ground of

Rajgriha Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the ...

Eight great charnel grounds

The 'Eight Great Charnel Grounds (Sanskrit: aṣṭamahāśmāśāna; )

'The Most Fierce'

'The Most Fierce' ()Dudjom Rinpoche and Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (1991). ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: its Fundamentals and History''. Two Volumes. Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein. Wisdom Publications, Boston. , p. 157 Enumerations

'Dense Thicket'

'Dense Thicket' ()

'Dense Blaze'

'Dense Blaze' ()

'Endowed with Skeletons'

'Endowed with Skeletons' ()

'Cool Forest'

'Cool Forest' or 'Cool Grove' (Sanskrit: Śītavana; Devanagari: शीतवन; )

'Black Darkness'

'Black Darkness' ()

'Resonant with "Kilikili"'

'Resonant with "Kilikili"' ()

'Wild Cries of "Ha-ha"'

'Wild Cries of "Ha-ha"' ()

Charnel ground relics

Dudjom ''et al.'' (1991: p. 626 History) relates how "earth, stone, water, and wood" gathered from The Eight Great Charnel Grounds and auspicious objects such as the flesh of a seven-times-born

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...

and 'relics' (Sanskrit: Śarīra) of the Tathagatha amongst other items were used to sculpt a statue of 'Yangdak Heruka' (Wylie: yang dag heruka; Sanskrit: Viśuddhaheruka) modelled on Zurcungpa (1014–1074 CE; alt. Zurcung Sherap-tra)''The presence of light: divine radiance and religious experience''
/ref> holding the aspect of the yidam after a

vase empowerment The ''bumpa'' ( bo, བུམ་པ་), or ''pumpa'', is a ritual vase with a spout used in Tibetan Buddhist rituals and empowerment. It is believed, in some contexts, to be the vessel for the expanse of the universe. There are two kinds of ...

was given to the sculptors by the "master" (Zurcungpa):

References

Bibliography

* Nagar, Shanti Lal. ''The Cult of Vinayaka''. (Intellectual Publishing House: New Delhi, 1992). . Chapter 17: "The Travels Abroad". * . * Gold, Peter (1994). ''Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit'' (Paperback). Inner Traditions. , p. 141 * Getty, Alice. ''Gaņeśa: A Monograph on the Elephant-Faced God''. (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1936). 1992 reprint edition, . Individual chapters are devoted to individual countries and regions of the world. * * Tsuda, Shinichi (1978). 'The cult of śmaśana, the realities of Tantra'. In Goudriaan, Teun (ed.)(1978). ''The Sanskrit Tradition and Tantrism''. Leiden: E.J. Brill, pp. 96–108. {{DEFAULTSORT:Charnel Ground Vajrayana Newar Buddhist philosophical concepts Religious terminology ru:Шмашана