Phurpa

Phurpa is in fact a deity.  There are five aspects or manifestations of Tonpa Shenrab for body, speech, mind, superior quality and superior deed.  Each of these elements is represented by a deity.  Phurpa is the superior deed manifestation of Tonpa Shenrab.  The superior deed is now used as a symbol that is held in the hand.   

The top of the Phurpa has intricate knot, that is the divine palace of wrathful father deities and the mid section of a Phurpa has flame symbolizing wisdom and intricate knot that is the divine palace of wrathful mother deities. The center of the Phurpa has eight sides and is hollow inside symbolizing unification of emptiness and clear light. To completely subdue the negative emotions, it has very sharp point.  The figure under the sharp point of the Phurpa is representation of our negative emotions that the Phurpa destroys.   

Materials used for making Phurpa: Phurpas  can be made from different materials.  Iron,  kyerwa, ( a plant from which a kind of yellow dye is made in Tibet.) Glass, Seng ding, (an acacia tree with very hard wood used for the point of ploughshares.) and Chu shing (Banana or plantain trees.)etc


During the Phurpa ritual with HE Menri Lopon Rinpoche at Menri 
monastery, in India.

The symbol of Yungdrung Bon

The unique symbol of Yungdrung Bon is the Yung Drung Chag Shing, the double headed Yungdrung, which represents the eternal nature of the Bon faith and the attainment of enlightenment.

To describe the syllable of Yungdrung Chagshing, Yung represents the absolute truth, uncreated nature or beyond-birth nature of the Bon faith. Drung represents superficial reality, ceaselesse phenomena of Bon.Chag represents the annihilation of the wrong views.Shing represents straightforward nature of the path to enlightenment just as

                         trees grow straight up.

The physical depiction of Yungdrung Chagshing is a double headed Yungdrung with a middle handle held in the right hand of Tonpa Shenrab and the three together represents the Sutra and Tantra and Dzogchen.  You will often see the symbol of the double headed Yungdrung on Bon flags.    

Tibetan Alphabet

According to Bon history, the original Tibetan alphabet was copied from the ancient Zhang-Zhung alphabet before the reign of the second Tibetan king, Mukri Tsedpo. Later, in the 7th Century AD, Songsten Gampo, the 33rd king of the Yarlung Dynasty of southern Tibet and the first Emperor of Tibet, sent Thonmi Sambhota, one of his ministers, to India to gather information on Indian Buddhism. The minister then reputedly devised a new script for Tibetan based on the Devanagari model and also wrote a grammar of Tibetan based on Zhang-zhung grammars. Here is an example of Zhang-Zhung text, the words "Yungdrung Bon", followed by the same text in the newer Tibetan script that is better known by the world: Throughout the centuries, Tibetan has been written using different types of scripts. 

Two of those scripts, U-chen and U-me are the most common. U-chen is the script you see on this site. It has been used for centuries to print religious books and today it is used for books, newspapers and other media. U-me is more of a handwriting script, although it is sometimes used in Books. Below is a guide on how to draw the U-chen script. Horizontal lines are drawn from left to right and vertical lines from the top down. The letters should align with the top line, thus the first line you draw is the base line. 

Origin of Bon

According to tradition, Bon originated in the land of Olmo Lungring, located in a larger country known as Tazig. Ol symbolizes the unborn; Mo the undiminishing; Lung the prophetic words of Tonpa Shenrab, the founder of Bon; and Ring his everlasting compassion. Olmo Lungring constitutes one-third of the existing world and is situated to the west of Tibet. It is described as an eight-petalled lotus under a sky which appears as an eight-spoked wheel. In the center rises Mount gYung-Drung Gutseg, which symbolizes permanence, indestructibility, and the Nine Ways of Bon. At the base of Mount gYung-Drung spring four rivers flowing towards the four cardinal directions. The mountain is surrounded by temples, cities, and parks. To the south lies the palace Barpo Sogye where Tonpo Shenrab was born. To the west and north are the palaces in which the wives and children of Tonpa Shenrab lived. The temple Shampo Lhatse is to the east. The complex of palaces,rivers, and parks with Mount gYung-Drung in the center constitutes the inner region of Olmo Lungring. 

The intermediate region consists of twelve cities, four of which are aligned with the cardinal directions. The third region includes what is known as the outer land. These three regions are encircled by an ocean and by a range of snowy mountains. Access to Olmo Lungring is gained by the arrow way, which takes its name from an episode in the life of Tonpa Shenrab who, before visiting Tibet, is said to have shot an arrow to create a passage through a previously impenetrable mountain range.

Tibetan Dzogchen Tradition

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

The founding of Dzogchen tradition in Tibet by Shenrab Miwo proves that Tibet not only was in possession of an advanced culture and a cultural history but also possessed a profound and magnificent science of Nang-don Rig-pa (inner Philosophy or Philosophy of the mind)

Some scholars might object to the statement that Shenrab Miwo propounded the Dzogchen since it originally came to Tibet from Ogyen. This objection is valid. The origin of Dzogchen is generally traced to Lord Ga-rab Dor-je Ogyen. Not only that, but all the secret Mantra or Anuttara Tantra, highest level of Buddhist Tantra are supposed to have originated from Ogyen. But it has become difficult to locate and conclude that exact location and identification of Ogyen. Some Western scholars identify Ogyen with Swat in Khotan and all the records of antiquity agree that Ogyen is to the North-West of India.

Similarly, Shambala, despite its history, defies exact geographical location. Judging the real sense of the history of Shambala and of Ogyen, it appears probable that they are the same country. These famous places of ancient Tibetan legends-Shambala and Ogyen-where the Indian Arhats retire after countless penance, may have been a part of Zhang Zhung empire. Even if these famous places were not within the Zhang Zhung empire, these countries undoubtedly bordered on Zhang Zhung…………..

From The Necklace of gZi