Encyclopedia of Buddhism

and vessels for offerings of food are positioned in the
four corners.

The final group includes various musical imple-
ments such as bells and cymbals used to gain the at-
tention of the deity, entertain it with sound, and then
to provide it with melodious accompaniment upon its
departure. Bells are also used to awaken the enlight-
ened mind of the practitioner. Although single exam-
ples are frequently used in rituals, handheld bells also
occur in sets of five, consisting of a single-pronged
vajra-handled bell, a three-pronged vajra-handled bell,
a five-pronged vajra-handled bell, a jewel-handled bell,
and a pagoda-handled bell. The five bells are placed on
the ritual altar, along with vajraof similar forms. The
five vajrarepresent the samayaform of the five wis-
dom buddhas and their secret wisdom, while the five
bells represent their outwardly directed teachings.

A metal ritual tray, frequently raised, is placed on
the ritual altar in front of the practitioner. On it is
placed a set of implements to be utilized during the

ceremony. Usually a single-pronged vajra, a three-

pronged vajra,and a five-pronged vajrasurround a

vajra-handled bell, but the arrangement of the imple-

ments and the placement of the tray itself vary ac-

cording to sect and to school.

Bibliography

Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Morse, Samuel Crowell. Object as

Insight: Japanese Buddhist Art and Ritual.Katonah, NY: Ka-

tonah Museum of Art, 1995.

Reynolds, Valrae. From the Sacred Realm: Treasures of Tibetan

Art from the Newark Museum.New York and Munich, Ger-

many: Prestel, 1999.

Yamasaki Taiko
. Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism,trans-

lated and adapted by Richard Peterson and Cynthia Peter-

son. Boston and London: Shambhala, 1988.

ANNENISHIMURAMORSE

RINZAI ZEN. SeeChan School

RNYING MA (NYINGMA)

The Rnying ma (ancient) school is one of the four

main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the other three

being the BKA’ BRGYUD(KAGYU), the SA SKYA(SAKYA),

and the DGE LUGS(GELUK). According to the Tibetan

historical tradition, Buddhism arrived into Tibet in

two waves. The “early spread” (snga dar) arrived over

the seventh to the ninth centuries, during the height

of the Tibetan empire, and the “later spread” (phyi

dar) came after the late tenth century. Adherents of

the Rnying ma school trace their roots back to Bud-

dhism’s early spread, while followers of the three

newer (gsar ma) schools adhere to those traditions

that arrived during the later spread. In this way, the

Rnying ma school is defined in juxtaposition to the

other schools of Tibetan Buddhism; Rnying maas a

term only began to be used in the eleventh century,

after the later spread had begun.

From an early date, criticisms were leveled against

the tantric traditions of the Rnying ma pa (adherents

of the Rnying ma school). The period that separated

the two waves of Buddhism (roughly 842–978 C.E.)

witnessed the collapse of the Tibetan empire and a

subsequent breakdown of any centralized authority.

Buddhist monasteries throughout Tibet lost their of-

ficial patronage and were closed down. Traditional

RNYING MA(NYINGMA)

A monk holding a vajrarings a small bell as an aid to ritual chant-
ing at a monastery in Bhutan. © Hulton/Archive by Getty Images.
Reproduced by permission.