The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor

"As I explore the wilderness of my own body, I see I Am made of blood and bones, sunlight and water, pesticide and redwood humus, the fear and dreams of generations of ancestors, particles of exploded stars”

I don’t now who actually said this but the quote is found on Pinterest in a dozen or so places. It is a wonderful “mantra” to use when reminding ourselves that our body is not who we are. Not are we our mind. 

According to the Buddha, self is not truth. He declared," Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self is not. Self is the fleeting error of samsara; it is individual separateness and that egotism which begets envy and hatred."

He defined self as "that yearning which seeks pleasure and lusts after vanity where as Truth is the correct comprehension of things, which is the permanent and everlasting, the real in all existence and the bliss of righteousness."

The very existence of self is an illusion,. It is the Self, which through its activity, produces all the wrongs, vice and evil in the world. One can attain truth only when one accepts the self as an illusion. Righteousness can be practiced only when the mind is freed from the influence of egotism. Perfect peace comes only when all the vanity of the self has disappeared.

This week’s class is a short workshop in which we will work with a practice called “The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor”. It revolves around an interesting figure from Buddhist mythology called Vajrapani. Many scholars identify Vajrapāni with Vajrasattva This seems appropriate since last week we worked with the Vajrasattva Purification practice.

Vajrapāni is a compound word in Sanskrit in which 'Vajra' means "thunderbolt or diamond" and 'pāni' means "in the hand”. Vajrapāṇi (Sanskrit: "Vajra in [his] hand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power.

Importance of the Vajra Wheel Protection practice…

Vajrapāni means “bearer or holder of the vajra” and one translation of the word vajra is thunderbolt. In Indian mythology the thunderbolt was the weapon of Indra, the chief of the gods, who used it to destroy spells or charms. Vajra can also be defined as: “denunciation in strong language – compared to thunder.” In Indo-European mythology he often resembles Thor (Donner) the Germanic and Viking god of thunder.

It is easy to see how associations with thunder and with nature in general come to be associated with Vajrapāni. The transcendental nature that he embodies brings to mind all kinds of physical comparisons. Cyclones sucking up the earth and throwing down everything in their way: volcanoes vomiting boulders and liquid heat and submerging whole islands in their fiery spew; roaring waterfalls that are terrifying and beautiful in equal measure all comes to mind in envisioning the power of Vajrapāni. We becomes painfully aware of our insignificance in comparison to the rest of universe. Yet the possibility of meeting that power and eventually becoming it is an amazing trip. 

In An Introduction to Tantra the late Lama Yeshe writes: “the West has discovered how to tap many powerful sources of energy in nature, but still remains largely unaware of the tremendous force, even more powerful than nuclear energy, contained within each of us. As long as this powerful internal energy lies undiscovered, our life is doomed to remain fragmented and purposeless, and we will continue to fall victim to the mental and emotional pressures so characteristic of our age.”

Vajrapāni helps us to force our way through intractable bad habits and psychological traps    

Vajrapāni’s energy is not mere force, nor even power in a static sense. It is kinetic, what the Buddhist traditions call virya: “energy in pursuit of the beneficial.” This is energy directed towards the goal of Enlightenment for all beings — universal liberation. It is energy that perceives things as they really are instead of through the lens of the individual ego.

Vajrapāni’s mantra — om vajrapāni ah hum — is deep, untuneful and resolutely purposeful. It has a mysterious sound. The mantra seems to hurtle along the streams and currents of the universe itself as it reveals momentary images of immeasurable power. Perhaps, An echo of his heartbeat or a faint blue light emerges in the mind when meditating on Vajrapāni. There is even a faint cadence of his footsteps in the distance.

Vajrapāni is unpredictable. He is associated with the wisdom that goes beyond the rational mind. He is not irrational but “arational” or “non-rational”, transcending the superficial rationality of ordinary human thought.

Vajrapāni is associated with the Tantra. Tantra means both the movement of energy and direct experience. The word refers to the lead thread in the weaving of material together. In quantum physics Vajrapāni could be compared to the consciousness that weaves the very fabric of the universe together in a coherent form. The tantric tradition of spiritual practice is concerned with looking beyond the realm of the conceptual to the non-rational. Through the non-rational we can experience ourselves directly as pure energy or pure awareness that is unmediated by concepts.

Most of our energy is unconscious — largely submerged like icebergs — with only a visible tip. In opening up to Vajrapāni we look to make the submerged conscious awake and manifest working in support of our desire to grow and change.

Who is Vajrapāni?

Vajrapāni, sometimes called Vajrasattva in Mahāyāna Buddhism, is extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. Each of them symbolizes one of the Buddha’s virtues: Manjusri manifests all the Buddhas' wisdom, Avalokiteśvara manifests all the Buddhas' immense compassion, and Vajrapāni protects Buddha and manifests all the Buddhas' power as well as the power of all five tathāgatas (Buddhahood of the rank of Buddha).

Vajrapāni is one of the earliest Dharmapalas (Dharma Protectors) of Mahayana Buddhism and also appears as a deity in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school. He is worshiped in the Shaolin Monastery, in Tibetan Buddhism and in Pure Land Buddhism (there known as Mahāsthāmaprāpta forming a triad with Amitābha and Avalokiteśvara).

In human form Vajrapāni is depicted holding the vajra in his right hand. He is sometimes referred to as a Dhyani-Bodhisattva, equivalent to Akshobhya, the second Dhyani Buddha. Acharya-Vajrapāni is Vajrapani's manifestation as Dharmapala, often seen sporting a third eye, ghanta (bell) and pāśa (lasso). He is sometimes represented as a yidam with one head and four hands in a form known as Nilambara-Vajrapani, carrying a vajra, and treading on personage lying on snakes. Mahacakra-Vajrapani, also a yidam, is depicted with three heads and six arms, carrying a vajra and snakes whilst treading on Brahma and Shiva. He is often in union with his consort in yab-yum (Tibetan, “father-mother). Acala-Vajrapani is depicted with four heads, four arms and four legs carrying a sword, a lasso and vajra, treading on demons. Another depiction is in the form with the head, wings, and claws of Garuda.

Vajrapāni is anything but what one would associate with the peace Buddhism expression is wrathful, and is often symbolized as a yaksha (Pāli. yakka), a kind of sky “demon”, to generate fear in the individual to loosen up their dogmatism. His outstretched right hand holds a vajra, symbolizing analytical knowledge (jñanavajra) that disintegrates the grasping of consciousness. Although he sometimes wears a skull crown, in most depictions he wears a five-pointed bodhi crown.

There is a teaching in the Pāli Canon called Ambattha Sūtta that challenges the caste system, The Sūtta tells of one instance of Vajrapāni appearing as a sign of the Buddha's power. Egged on by Ambatha’s teacher, the young Brahmin visited the Buddha. Knowing the Buddha's family to be the Shakya clan, who are Kshatriya caste (military). 

Ambatha refused to show him the respect he would a fellow Brahmin. When the Buddha questioned his lack of respect, Ambatha replied it was because the Buddha belongs to a "menial" caste. The Buddha then asked the Brahmin if Ambatha’s family was descended from a “Shakya slave girl”. The Buddha knew this to be true, Ambatha refused to answer the question. Upon refusing to answer the question for a second time, the Buddha warned him that his head would be smashed to bits if he failed to do so a third time. Ambatha was frightened when he saw Vajrapāni manifest above the Buddha's head ready to strike the Brahmin down with his thunderbolt. He quickly confirmed the truth and a lesson on caste ensues. It's a bad idea.

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