Robert Fitzgerald: SHARP PRACTICE
1st 2019 80pp Three Hands Press hardback in dustwrapper. Illustrated by Johnny Decker Miller. NEW.
The ritual dagger in Bon sorcery and Vajrayana Buddhism. Ritual daggers have long been vital accoutrements in the exercise of magic, sorcery and shamanic practice. As a means of subduing demonic forces, their essence is derived from their power to penetrate and transfix. In India and Tibet, they are the centre of a vast and ancient spiritual lineage of devotees, who use the dagger or phurba as a means of both exorcism and enlightenment.Sharp Practice is a short exposition upon 'Dagger as Deity' as purely expressed within Bön animist practice and Vajrayana Buddhism. It further delineates the evolution of the Phurba as ritual weapon. Examining its deific essence, as well as its iconography, the book concludes with a rite dedicated to the Three Jewels, inspired by each tradition.