bow down before the flaming thunderbolt

[ununoriginal]

lolz.  and one of our fav deities is 济公 too.  why am i not surprised? :p

'A sense of humour, even mischief, runs through Bhutanese Buddhism, whose earthy exuberance differs sharply from the ethereal calm of the better known Theravada Buddhism.  The profusion of deities and demons can leave other Buddhists dazed.  Sexual imagery also abounds, reflecting the tantric belief that carnal relations can be the gateway to enlightenment.  Nobody embodied this idea more provocatively than the 16th-century lama Drukpa Kunley, better known as the Divine Madman, who remains a beloved sain in much of Bhutan.  Carousing across the countryside, Kunley slew demons and granted enlightenment to young maidens with the magical powers of his "flaming thunderbolt".  To this day, many Bhutanese houses are adorned with his sign of protection: an enormous painted phallus, often wrapped in a jaunty bow.'

----brook larmer, from 'bhutan's enlightened experiment', national geographic

Comments

[dark3princess.livejournal.com]

OMW-I watched a small documentary on Bhutan and how it switched from dictatorship to democracy, and I SAW those phalli (is that the right plural form?)
"flaming thunderbolt" eh? LMAO-thanks for sharing:D
<33

[ununoriginal.livejournal.com]

lolz i think it's phalluses? and yeah, i jus totally cracked at the 'flaming thunderbolt' XDD