འཕགས་པ་འཁར་གསལ་གྱ་མད intro.2

intro.2

Buddhism is replete with symbolic objects, ranging from the well-known eight-spoked wheel representing the eightfold path of noble beings to esoteric maṇḍalas that represent entire pure universes. The subject matter of this sūtra is one such article known as “the ringing staff” (Skt. khakkhara,¹ Tib. ’khar gsil, Ch. xizhang), which is one of the requisites of a fully ordained monastic.² Though textual sources report the existence of the renunciant’s staff in India prior to the time of the Buddha, the staff used by Buddhist monastics is unique. Buddhist texts associate the ringing staff and teachings on its symbolic significance with the Buddha himself. In South Asian Buddhism, Vinaya texts as well as pilgrims’ accounts furnish references to the ringing staff, and its representations can be found in visual art. In Central, East, and Southeast Asia as well as in Tibet, an even wider range of evidence attests to its presence in Buddhist cultures.³