Vajra

Vajra in Sanskrit means thunderbolt or diamond; that which is hard, impenetrable; that which destroys but is itself indestructible. The vajra is a symbol of the thunderbolt representing the adamantine nature of Truth.

A vajra

In Tibetan, it is called a dorje. In Tibetan Buddhism, the dorje is a masculine symbol that stands for the skillful means used to liberate beings. It is often used in conjunction with the ritual bell, the feminine symbol of wisdom.

According to Buddhist teaching, the vajra cleaves through ignorance and therefore symbolizes the indestructible nature of the Buddha’s wisdom and the victory of knowledge over illusion. In Buddhism, the vajra also symbolizes the essence of everything that exists as well as universal love and compassion.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, it is the symbol of bodhicitta, or enlightenment. In some traditions, the vajra signifies the union of man and the Buddha; one end of the vajra symbolizes the macrocosmic realm of the Buddha and the other end the microcosmic realm of man.

The vajra is used in rituals, especially the exorcism of evil spirits. In the 8th century, Padma Sambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, used the vajra to conquer the demons opposing the establishment of Buddhism.

Vajras can have three, five or nine spokes. Nine-spoked vajras are least commonly used. When the spokes of a vajra meet at the tip it is a peaceful vajra. When the spokes are splayed, or spread outward, at the tips, it is a wrathful vajra.

The nine upper spokes represent the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the four mothers. The lower spokes represent the five wisdoms and the four immeasurable wishes of love, compassion, equanimity and joy.

It is said that each spoke emerges from the sea monster's mouth, which symbolizes freedom from cyclic existence.

In Hinduism

Prior to the founding of Buddhism, the vajra was used in Hinduism. The Hindu god Indra used the vajra to destroy the serpent Vritra, who had confiscated the waters of existence and was guarding them in the hollow of a rock. Indra wielded the vajra to smite the head of Vritra and cleave the rock, allowing the waters of creation to flow.

Scholar David Frawley says that as Indra's weapon, the vajra symbolizes "the lightning-bolt of illumined perception, the flashing of power of the Divine Word that is the solar weapon of the enlightened mind."

Stabilizing the earth

In Buddhism, Gautama's gesture of striking the earth is equivalent to Indra's hurling the vajra. Both are seen as symbolic of stabilizing the earth. Gautama used the earth-touching gesture when the forces of the evil Mara challenged his right to attain enlightenment and Buddhahood. Mara's armies assailed Gautama with hurricanes, a flood, flaming rocks, boiling mud, a storm of deadly weapons, hordes of demons and total darkness. Immovable, Gautama tapped the earth, and the earth thundered her answer, "I bear you witness!" whereupon Mara fled.

In certain Buddhist rituals the devotee touches the earth with a vajra and uses Gautama's earth-touching gesture. These actions are symbolic of stabilizing the earth and activating the mind of enlightenment.

Sources

Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 31, no. 21, May 22, 1988.