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Rolang Dojeh-o-Dohi

I am often asked about Tibetan Buddhism. The interest may lie in the fact that this form of Buddhism contains so many shamanistic and magical elements. Why is that?

Among the original inhabitants of Tibet were powerful sorcerers, the Boen-Po. When Buddhist warriors conquered the country, they killed all the Boen-Po, but made sure to blackmail their knowledge beforehand. We know very little directly about the Boen-Po; since they did not know how to write, nothing has been handed down. But there are some monasteries in Tibet that keep secret scrolls, which are themselves direct transcripts of interrogations and observations of the time. My professional occupation with the spiritual and magical aspects of Tibetan sand painting gave me the opportunity to get to know these transcripts as well. I describe here a ritual called Rolang to give a little taste of Boen-Po magic.

Rolang means translated: "The corpse stands up." For the faint-hearted, I suggest that you stop reading. This is no longer light-and-love esotericism, but pure shamanistic occultism! There are many types of rolang. Grong Hjug is the familiar form, in which the corpse is possessed by the wizard's spirit. Once he retreats, the corpse is dead again. The rolang I am describing reactivates the dead man's original spirit under the Boen-Po's will.

The magician locks himself in a dark room with the corpse. He lies down on the dead's body and recites a certain magical formula (dojeh-o-dohi) mouth to mouth while holding the corpse tightly. The intensity of the intonation increases rapidly until the dead begins to move: first the eyes open. Then awareness steps into the broken gaze. The wizard now holds the corpse to the ground with his full weight, undeterred in increasing the power of its magic. Now the body begins to defend itself more violently. It leaps and soars to amazing heights, sweeping away the wizard who is clutching him with his hands. All the while, the Boen-Po recites the magic words mouth-to-mouth. Finally, the critical moment arrives: the dead's tongue protrudes from his mouth. The sorcerer immediately bites off the tongue and the corpse immediately collapses. A mistake by the Boen-Po at this point means certain death for him.

The tongue is carefully dried and is a powerful battle-magic utensil (phurba), which - last but not least - can rule over the now undead.

The phurba is also used for demonology: in another shamanistic Boen-Po ritual, the goddess climbs down from her sword at the 'Red Meal' and decapitates the aspirant. His head serves as food for the demons. But only a few highly initiated magicians know the 'Black Meal' so feared by demons, in which the tongue phurba also plays the decisive role.
 

Ancient

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Was the tongue used in a crafting of the three sided dagger also known as a phurba or is this a separate instrument?

What do you mean when you say they ‘blackmailed their knowledge’?
 

Öwnchef

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I hesitated to use "blackmail" indeed. Of course they used torture. At the end all shamans and their friends and families were dead. Like in Hawaii, were Christians did that "for Jesus".

Phurba means weapon here. This magical weapon was worn in a leather bag between other phurbas.
 

Diluculo_DelFuego

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That's fascinating. Not something I care to take a stab at, but me being anthropologically minded, this is fascinating.
 

haak0n

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There is a short passage in the book blazing splendor by tulku urgyen about a lama carrying a zombie with him. BTW best book about old Tibet. Good stuff.
 
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