Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on May 23, 2006 13:29:46 GMT -5
Five-Point: According to Wikipedia, "The five pronged vajra (with four makaras, plus a central prong) is the most commonly seen vajra. There is an elaborate system of correspondences between the five elements of the noumenal side of the vajra, and the phenomenal side. One important correspondence is between the five 'poisons' with the five wisdoms. The five poisons are the mental states that obscure the original purity of a beings mind, while the five wisdoms are the five most important aspects of the enlightened mind. Each of the five wisdoms is also associated with a Buddha figure. (see also Five Wisdom Buddhas)
poison : wisdom (associated Buddha figure)
greed = wisdom of sameness (Amitabha)
hatred = mirror like Wisdom (Akshobhya)
delusion = reality wisdom (Vairocana)
pride = wisdom of individuality (Ratnasambhava)
envy = all accomplishing wisdom (Amoghasiddhi)"
The Japanese name for the five-point is goko. It is the most flexible vajra: Beginning practitioners, those with limited space, and others not fully committed to vajra work almost always have a five-point on them. (Quion is a rare exception, as always deliberately defying convention and retainining no five-points, keeping only a nine-point of his own design.)
Six-Point:
Zodiacal Vajra: These twelve-tined vajra represent each point of the Zodiac. They
thus have use in cosmological, scrying or soothsaying, and fate-altering applications.
poison : wisdom (associated Buddha figure)
greed = wisdom of sameness (Amitabha)
hatred = mirror like Wisdom (Akshobhya)
delusion = reality wisdom (Vairocana)
pride = wisdom of individuality (Ratnasambhava)
envy = all accomplishing wisdom (Amoghasiddhi)"
The Japanese name for the five-point is goko. It is the most flexible vajra: Beginning practitioners, those with limited space, and others not fully committed to vajra work almost always have a five-point on them. (Quion is a rare exception, as always deliberately defying convention and retainining no five-points, keeping only a nine-point of his own design.)
Six-Point:
Zodiacal Vajra: These twelve-tined vajra represent each point of the Zodiac. They
thus have use in cosmological, scrying or soothsaying, and fate-altering applications.