Tyger - TygerModern dZi beads are far cheaper, and made of the same material, with the old patterns....

6
igers are powerful animals, and a symbol important to many cultures where tigers have lived, or are still living. Historically they ranged over vast areas of Asia - right from the very south, up to the north of the continent - and in this wide spread there are a number of sub-species of this mighty cat. These sub-species include: the Siberian or Amur Tiger, which lives in Northern China and South Eastern Siberia; the Bengal Tiger, which lives in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan; the Indo- Chinese Tiger, which lives in Cambodia, South West China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam; the Malayan Tiger, which lives in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula; the South China Tiger, which lives in Southern China, and which may now be extinct; and the Sumatran Tiger, which only lives on the island of Sumatra. In addition to these living sub- species of tiger, there are three other recently extinct sub-species: the Bali Tiger, from the island of Bali - which became extinct in the late 1930’s; the Javan Tiger, from the island of Java - which became exstinct in the 1970’s’, and the Caspian Tiger. It is the Caspian Tiger which lived over the widest range - from Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Syria in the West, through all the countries of Central Asian, such as Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, and across to Turkmenistan, Mongolia and Western China. This tiger was last seen in the 1970’s in Central Asia, and now is presumed extinct, although even nowadays there are occasional sightings of tigers reported in remote parts of eastern Turkey - none of which have been confirmed - however, we live in hope. It is likely that this tiger was also native to Northern Tibet, close to the Central Asian deserts, but no physical remains of it have been found there to confirm this. The Caspian tiger is most likely to be your ‘ancestral tiger’ if you are of white European stock, as many of our ancestors came from Tyger - Tyger T Tigers in the Buddhist and Shamanic Traditions of Tibet Nicholas Breeze Wood Above: painted tiger on the lid of a trunk Inset: Tibetan tiger amulet Below: Tibetan tiger dancer H OOP ISSUE 93 2016 www.sacredhoop.org 42

Transcript of Tyger - TygerModern dZi beads are far cheaper, and made of the same material, with the old patterns....

  • igers are powerful animals, anda symbol important to many

    cultures where tigers have lived,or are still living. Historically theyranged over vast areas of Asia -right from the very south, up to thenorth of the continent - and in thiswide spread there are a number ofsub-species of this mighty cat.

    These sub-species include: theSiberian or Amur Tiger, which livesin Northern China and SouthEastern Siberia; the Bengal Tiger,which lives in India, Nepal,Bangladesh and Bhutan; the Indo-Chinese Tiger, which lives inCambodia, South West China,Laos, Burma, Thailand, andVietnam; the Malayan Tiger, whichlives in the southern part of theMalay Peninsula; the South ChinaTiger, which lives in SouthernChina, and which may now beextinct; and the Sumatran Tiger,which only lives on the island ofSumatra.

    In addition to these living sub-species of tiger, there are three otherrecently extinct sub-species: the BaliTiger, from the island of Bali - whichbecame extinct in the late 1930’s;the Javan Tiger, from the island ofJava - which became exstinct in the1970’s’, and the Caspian Tiger. It isthe Caspian Tiger which lived over

    the widest range - from SouthernRussia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkeyand Syria in the West, through allthe countries of Central Asian,such as Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, andAfghanistan, and across toTurkmenistan, Mongolia andWestern China.

    This tiger was last seen in the1970’s in Central Asia, and now ispresumed extinct, although evennowadays there are occasionalsightings of tigers reported inremote parts of eastern Turkey -none of which have been confirmed- however, we live in hope.

    It is likely that this tiger was alsonative to Northern Tibet, close tothe Central Asian deserts, but nophysical remains of it have beenfound there to confirm this.

    The Caspian tiger is most likelyto be your ‘ancestral tiger’ if youare of white European stock, asmany of our ancestors came from

    Tyger - Tyger

    TTTigers in the

    Buddhist and Shamanic Traditions of TibetNicholas Breeze Wood

    Above: paintedtiger on the lidof a trunk

    Inset: Tibetantiger amulet

    Below: Tibetantiger dancer

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  • theMiddleEast, fromaround Turkey,Iran and Iraq, and your ancestorswould therefore, almost certainly,have encountered tigers at somepoint in the past.

    In the South of Tibet the BengalTiger can be still be found, in verysmall - but happily, growingnumbers - in the high Himalayaswhich border their homelands ofIndia and Nepal.

    Tigers are the very stuff oflegends in Tibet. Their skins are anessential part of the costume of thewrathful Tibetan spirit beings, who

    are depicted in thangka paintings.Many of these Buddhist and Bon -the original pre-Buddhist shamanictraditions of Tibet - beings also rideupon the backs of tigers. Tigersare painted on temple anddomestic walls and furniture as

    both decoration and as sacredprotectors. Tiger bones and skinshave been used to make ritualobjects, as well as having a longand dubious use in traditionalChinese and Tibetan medicine.

    In Tibetan Buddhist folklore, atiger bone is believed to bring therain when it is thrown into a pool orwell in which nagas dwell, and atiger claw is believed to be an

    extremely potent amulet for thegeneration of personal power.

    Brass and bronze amulets oftigers are worn for personalprotection and empowerment;

    tiger skins are kept in temples asofferings to wrathful protectorspirits; high ranking lamas,rinpoches and tantric magicians situpon them in rituals, and nomads -when they can - often wear tiger orleopard fur trims on their clothes.

    All in all, tigers are deeplyconnected to many aspects of Tibetanritual and secular life, probably morethan any other animal.

    The tiger is one of the guardianspirits of the four directionsaccording to Tibetan cosmology,

    and their fierceness has often meantthey are associated with warriorship.Warriors were sometimes described

    Left: front andback view of

    a C19th Tibetanleather quiver,

    painted torepresent tiger

    skin rather thanactually being

    made out oftiger skin

    Below left:a Tibetan

    protector spiritwith the body of

    a serpent-likenaga with a

    tiger’s head,riding upon theback of a tiger

    Below:a Tibetan dancerwearing clothesdecorated with

    leopard skin instead of tiger

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  • Right: a thangkapainting ofPadmasambhavariding on a tigerwho is actually hisconsort YesheTsogyal. The pair aretravelling toTaktsang in Bhutanto subjugate alocal demoness.Once there,Padmasambhavavanquished thedemoness, andthen entered aretreat in the cave

    Inset top: anantique copperTibetan protectionamulet in the formof a snow leopard

    Inset bottom:‘tiger tooth’ dZistone bead amulet

    Right: a thangkapainting of aMongol leadinga tiger.This is a paintingwith two meanings.The firstinterpretationrepresents threeimportantBodhisattvas.

    Its second meaningis more political,as it symbolises thesupremacy of theyellow-hattedGelugpa school(represented bythe Mongol) overthe older 'red-hatted' schools,representedby the tiger

    as ‘conquering male tigers in theirprime’ - skyes-pa stak-’gugs - andthe proud swagger of a warrior,known as the ‘tiger’s gait’ - stak-’gros - was later adopted as a sortof dance step used in wrathfulrituals. Warriors often used aquiver of arrows made of tigerskin, a coat trimmed with tiger furwas awarded to brave warriors -who were called ‘tiger-dresshero’ - dpa’-bo tak-chas; and inboth ancient Buddhist and Bontraditions, tiger fur was seen aninsignia of distinction forpowerful magicans and yogis.

    Wrathful Tibetan deitiesgenerally wear a loinclothmade of a flayed tiger skin,and the same can be saidfor both mountain spirits,and the male dakas - thespirits of the Earth.

    Many Tibetan deities -especially the wrathful protectors- have large entourages, whichare made up of other spirits.These will often include eithertigers, or half-human, half-tigerbeings, generally with a human-likebody and a tiger’s head.

    In Tibetan symbolism, the tiger'sphallic-like stripes, means that theyoften represent maleness, whereasthe spots of a leopard, whichresemble vaginas, often representfemaleness. This is why tiger skinsare worn more by wrathful malebeings, and leopard skins are wornmore by the female dakinis -female sprites or fairies found inTibetan cosmology, or by wrathfulgoddesses.

    Tigers also appear asspirit helpers for someTibetan shamans, and

    according to Tibetantradition, peopleand deitiesoften havewhat they call

    ‘soul-forceanimals’ - which

    we might call ‘spiritanimal helpers’ - which

    serve as protectors. Tigers are seenas important and powerful spiritanimals to have, and the tiger spirithelper of a shaman is said to beable to assist in healing a widerange of illness and problems,afflicting both humans and livestock.

    Ledgendary, historic, tantricpractitioners, magicians andshamans were supposed to havekept animals such as tigers andleopards, in the same way that

    other people kept goats, sheep anddogs. They were also said to havebeen able to shape-shift into theseanimals when needed, in order toperform magical acts.

    Padmasambhava, the C8thtantric magician who is creditedwith bringing Buddhism to Tibet, issaid to have ridden on the back ofa tiger - and in some accounts thistiger was his consort, YesheTsogyal, who had shape-shifted inorder to carry him.

    There are also ancient storiesfrom the region about a divinecouple who shape-shifted intotigers, so as to mate and conceivea powerful king, or clan leader.The warrior leaders of clans weresometimes said to appear astigers, which gave rise to severalancient Tibetan clans havingtotemic tigers as their symbols.The Buddhist victory banner - rgyalmtshan - is sometimes made from,or decorated with, a tiger skin, orcloth that represents a tiger skin.

    The ‘divine tiger’ is also stillcalled upon by shamans and lamasto attract good luck to people whohave suffered misfortune,sometimes an actual tiger’s skinbeing used in the rituals.

    Amulets of tigers - in some formor another - are very popular. Thesemay be made from metal, but arealso found in the form of dZi stoneswhich represent tiger teeth. Thesestone beads are made out of agate,which has been marked by chemicalmethods to create patterns. Theyare very ancient beads, with ahistory stretching around 3,000years, and‘true dZi’(old ones)

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  • Left: Taktsang -Tiger’s Nest -

    Monasteryin Bhutan

    Below: tigerpetroglyph in the

    North of Tibet

    Bottom:tiger thighbone

    takling trumpet,used in rituals.

    It has a skincovering at the

    knuckle end,and silver

    decoration, setwith red coraland turquoise

    are very rare, and highly valuable,selling for as much as a million USdollars each. Modern dZi beads arefar cheaper, and made of the samematerial, with the old patterns.

    Amber is associated in Tibet withtigers too. Historically amber wasobtained from either the Baltic -traded on protracted routes acrossEurope and Asia - or from Yunnanprovince in 'China. Its Chinesename is hu p'o, which means'tiger's spirit', and this name comesfrom a belief that the spirit of adead tiger enters the ground andtransforms itself into amber.

    There are many places in andaround Tibet that take their namesfrom tigers. The most famous ofthese is Tiger’s Nest - Taktsang - inBhutan, to which British Royalsrecently made a visit. Taktsang is asmall monastery, perchedprecariously upon a ledge on highcliffs, and it gets its name from alegend that Padmasambhava flewthere on the back of a tiger to entera retreat in a cave there. Themonastery is built over this cave, andthe cave is still used for retreats.

    Other tiger places in Tibet includeTiger God Fortress - Tak-lha mkhar -an ancient fortress said to pre-dateBuddhism, once part of the CentralAsian, pre-Buddhist shamanicsuperstate, called Zhang Zhung - ofwhich Tibet was a province. There is asacred gorge, complete with geysers,called Tak rong, which is associatedwith the ancient Bon tradition, andthere are several Tiger Valleys and atleast one Tiger Mountain, thepowerful spirit of which comes intothe bodies of local shamans whenthey go into trance.

    Within Central and NorthernTibet, ancient rock art depictingtigers can be found. These tend todate to between about 600-100BCE, so are only some 2,500years old.

    Some of the very oldest Tibetantexts mention ritual musicalinstruments made from tigerremains. The tiger skin would havebeen used to make drums, andsome shamans in Nepal - evenuntil quite recent times - used tigerskin for this purpose.

    Tiger bones would have beenmade into ritual trumpets calledtaklings, which are similar to theTibetan human thighbone trumpets,called kanglings. As they are

    associated with the most wrathfulof spirit beings, a tiger bonetrumpet is considered to be verypowerful.

    Today tigers are, quite rightly, afiercely protected species, but thiswas not always the case. Beforethe British conquered Indiabetween the C18th - C19th, tigerswere plentiful, as they were in thevast cold lands of Siberia before theRussians ventured east around thesame time.

    Tigers were always hunted, oftenfrom self defence, but they werealso respected as sacred animals bythe local population. However, therifles of the British Raj and theRussians decimated the populationof the tigers worldwide, and had afar more of a disastrous effect ontheir numbers than Tibetans armedwith bows and arrows. The peltshunted as sport quickly becameBritish fireside rugs, and their headsbecame snarling stuffed trophies tobe hung on a wall.

    In Tibet, until quite recently,tigers were still hunted if they werea problem to local villagers,although this is now dying out, duemainly to ecological education.

    When a tiger is killed in Tibet,because it was such a powerfuland sacred animal, its pelt andbones are often given to a local

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  • monastery, where it can be usedfor sacred craftwork, or used as anoffering to the wrathful protectors.

    Before hunting controls, tigerskins were incorporated intofurniture - set into panels on thefront or top of pieces, althoughvery often, instead of fur, thesepanels were painted to representtiger stripes.

    But perhaps the main use of atiger pelt in Tibet was as aceremonial rug. Shamans andtantric practitioners greatly prizedthese and sought them out to sit orstand upon while they performed,

    practiced or undertook rituals andceremonies.

    Practitioners generally sat ontwo types of rugs - depending ontheir spiritual practice. If they wereengaged in peaceful practices -such as those devoted to peacefulgods and beings, like Tara, or thehistoric Buddha - a practitionerwould generally sit on either aChinese carpet, or a deer skin.

    But if the tantric practitionerwas engaged in a wrathful, orviolent practice, with beingssuch as Mahakala, Ekijati, orDorje Drolö - a wrathfulmanfestation of Padmasambhavawho is always shown riding a tiger- then a tiger skin would beemployed if at all possible.

    As a substitute for the rapidlydeclining genuine tiger skins, and asan act of conservation, woollen rugs,which had always been popular inTibet, began to be created. Thesewere made with designs inspired byactual tiger skins.

    Rug making has a long history inCentral Asia, which is where rugswere first made - some two

    thousand years ago. In Tibet, rugsfrom Central Asia and China, as wellas Tibet’s own, home-produced rugs,have long been treasured. ManyTibetan rugs have tantric or magicaldesigns on them, and these newrugs, generally called ‘tiger rugs,’became an important aspect of bothsacred and domestic carpet weaving.

    These tiger-patterned smallcarpets have increased inpopularity, both in Tibet and theWest since they were first made,and are now sought out by Westerncollectors and interior designers.

    Today, high quality rugs aremade by Tibetan refugees in Nepaland India, and low quality ones aremade in factories in China. RecentlyI even came across (and bought) awashable mass-produced bathroomshower rug with a Tibetan Tiger rugdesign - a sign they have reallyentered the mainstream.

    Tiger rugs vary both in design andform. Some are quite abstract, withjust a series of stripes, often withstylised rainbows at the ends; othersrepresent whole skins, laid out onthe floor; some are more pictorial,showing actual tigers on rocks orbeside trees. The shape of most ofthese rugs are rectangular, but in

    Above: Tibetanwooden trunkwith an insetpanel of tiger skin

    Above right:contemporarytiger rug cushionmade by Tibetanrefugees in Nepal

    Right:Dorje Drolö, awrathful form ofPadmasmbhava,riding upon apregnant tigress.Padmasmabhavashape-shifted intothis form at thecave of Taktsang -Tiger’s Nest - inBhutan, in order tomagically vanquisha demoness wholived in the area

    Far right:a painted canvastiger skin from aTibetan Monastry

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  • recent years a new form of rug whichfollows the actual outline of a flayedtiger skin, have become more popular.

    It is also possible to buy smallsquare rugs, with a striped design, onwhich to meditate, and high quality (andhigh cost) cushion sets for yourfavourite sofa - thereby supportingTibetan exiles by helping to keep theirculture alive, and generating somemuch needed money.

    Woollen tiger rugs are nowconsidered equally as auspicious asactual tiger skins - and much moreethical. It is said that the dakini areattracted both to actual tiger skins andto well-made tiger rugs, and theycome around a practitioner and blessand empower their work when thepractitoner ‘rides the tiger.’

    The tiger is a magnificant animal,and has become somewhat of asymbol for conservation work overrecent years. Real, old skins are stillaround - the tigers shot when it waslegal to do, and tiger parts dating tobefore 1947, are perfectly legal to buy,sell and own. Personally, I thinkit is morally

    alright to use these old skins, as todestroy an old skin seems to me to addan even greater disrespect to the tiger.

    However, it is in no way condonableto hunt tigers nowadays, and old skins- which are, thankfully, an everdecreasing commodity, are veryexpensive - well outside of the averagebudget. Although, if tiger wants todance with you, there is no end to thepossibilities of what might manifest.

    Nicholas Breeze Wood is the editor ofSacred Hoop Magazine and has had alifetime interest in sacred objects.www.NicholasBreezeWood.me

    Above left: a Tibetan official sitsupon a tiger skin. Photo 1937

    Above: a Buddhist monk with atiger skin offering to the wrathfulprotectors in a monastery

    Right: two Tibetan tiger rugsone naturalistic and the othermore abstract in design

    Below: Tibetan wooden trunkpainted with a tiger design

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