Jason Miller Phurba Course

Reference Images and

Supplemental Study Guide
Lessons 1-3
What this is
• A supplement to Jason Miller’s Phurba course with reference images
to support the practices given to us.
• For visualizations I’ve included some thangkas as reference images
with labels – I’ve found these to be useful references.
• Light historical/structural information to locate where the course is in
the broader context of Buddhism.
• Links/references to other teachers/videos that I have found useful in
things such as setting up a shrine, understanding these sadhanas in
other contexts.
 What this is not
• An attempt to reproduce the course material in full – I’ve copied prayers
where it may be helpful, but this is just a supplement so you’ll need to
reference your notes or study guides to make full use of it.
• An attempt to undermine the course material as it’s given to us – some of
the references I link to are Dzogchen and while there will be a lesson on
that at the end of the course I’m not trying to insist that some other teacher
is right and Jason is wrong. Please do not bug him in the Q&A insisting
some source you found in this guide is the ‘right’ or ‘orthodox’ way to do
things. I just find these other perspectives helpful in rounding out my own
understanding.
• A perfect distillation of all of Buddhism – I don’t consider myself a Buddist
and was not raised as one so I may word things imperfectly – if I make any
egregious errors and someone comments on it I’ll revise. My intent is not to
be perfect, just to provide links and additional information for the curious.
Yanas are not sects and vice versa
• Yanas are ‘vehicles’ or paths to attaining enlightenment.
• They are all valid but very different and often incompatible.
• Jason references three of these in the last two lessons of Part 1: Mahayoga,
Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. Mahayoga is gradual generation of self as deity/yidam and
anuyoga and atiyoga are more instantaneous.

Recommended Reading:
• David Chapman’s Vividness.live, especially the following pages:
• https://vividness.live/yanas
• https://vividness.live/yanas-are-not-buddhist-sects
• https://vividness.live/vajrayana-is-not-tibetan-buddhism
• https://vividness.live/yana-shock
• https://vividness.live/yana-slip
Nyingma Classification

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/snem2f/nine_yanas_chart/
 Nine Yanas (Nyingma Classification)

Source: https://vajrayananow.com/the-structure-of-buddhism
 Buddhist Sects

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/xjqzb4/buddhist_sects_vehicles_diagram/
What is a Bodhisattva?
• Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings that have delayed their ascension
to Buddhahood so as to better help the rest of us reach enlightenment.
• The Bodhisattva path is an important idea in Mahayana Buddhism –
less prevalent in Theravadin Buddhism.
• Bodhisattvas have taken vows to not ascend to Buddhahood until all
sentient beings have reached enlightenment.
• If you’ve seen the entirety of the tv show The Good Place this may
sound familiar – the writers were definitely influenced by Buddhist
ideas in S4!
Padmasambhava and Yeshe
Tsogyal
Left Hand: Cup and
Bell
Right Hand: Flower
Left Hand: Bell
Right Hand: Dorje
Padmasambhava and Yeshe
Tsogyal
HUM! ORGYEN YUL GYI NUBJANG TSAM
Hūṃ! In the north-west of the land of Uḍḍiyāṇa,
PEMA GESAR DONGPO LA
In the heart of a lotus
YATSEN CHOK GI NGÖDRUB NYÉ
Endowed with the supreme attainments,
PEMA JUNGNÉ SHYÉ SU DRAK
You are renowned as the ‘Lotus-born’,
KHOR DU KHANDRO MANGPÖ KOR
Surrounded by many hosts of ḍākinīs.
KHYÉ KYI JESU DAK DRUB KYI
Following you in my practice
JINGYI LAB CHIR SHEK SU SOL
I pray to you: Come, bestow blessings
GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG

https://www.linebyline.app/ for memorizing texts

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

 Padmasambhava and Yeshe
Tsogyal

HUM! ORGYEN YUL GYI

NUBJANG TSAM
PEMA GESAR DONGPO LA
YATSEN CHOK GI NGÖDRUB NYÉ
PEMA JUNGNÉ SHYÉ SU DRAK
KHOR DU KHANDRO MANGPÖ
KOR
KHYÉ KYI JESU DAK DRUB KYI
JINGYI LAB CHIR SHEK SU SOL
GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG

https://www.visiblemantra.org/padmasambhava.html

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

 Vajrasattva and Dorje
Nyema (Vajragarvi)
OM VAJRASATTVA SA MA YA
MA NU PA LA YA
VAJRASATTVA TE NO PA
TISHTHA DRI DHO ME BHA WA
SU TO KA YO ME BHA WA
SU PO KA YO ME BHA WA
ANU RAKTO ME BHA WA
SARVA SIDDHI ME PRA YATSA
SARVA KARMA SU TSA ME
TSITTAM SHRE YAM KU RU HUM
HA HA HA HA HO
BHA GA WAN SARVA TA THA GA TA
VAJRA MA ME MUNTSA
VAJRA BHA WA MA HA
SA MA YA SATVA AH

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

 Vajrasattva and Dorje
Nyema
• Note the abstract representation of the 8
offerings in the foreground, and the four
trees each bearing three fruits – I believe
these are a representation of the three
jewels (Triratna) and the four times
(past, present, future, timeless time).
• Vajrasattva normally depicted as white –
this red depiction is not the norm (I just
think it’s neat and it’s the one I have at
home).
• https://www.visiblemantra.org/vajrasattv
a.html

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

Typical Vajrasattva + Consort
• Bluish white Vajrasattva and Pinkish
White Consort
• Per Lama Lena he is tinted with
moonlight and she is tinted with
sunlight. (see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk
NmZETREHA&pp=ygUVbGFtYSBs
ZW5hIHZhanJhc2F0dHZh
for her version of this practice)
Ngondro
• Preliminary practices common among Tibetan schools of Buddhism
• The preliminaries we are partaking in are refuge, cultivating
Bodhichitta, and 100,000 recitations of the 100 syllable mantra,
100,000 mandala offerings, and 100,000 guru yoga practices.
• When we do our framing rites, guru yoga, and Vajrasattva purification
we’re taking part in the same practices which other Buddhists must do
before doing deity yoga.
• Tracking recitations is what mala counters and bhum counters are for!
See slide 25
• Om at head, ah at throat, and hum at heart.
• White om, red ah, blue hum (depicted at right)

https://www.samyeinstitute.org/wiki/om-ah-hum-the-three-syllables/
Vajrakilaya with Kilaya bottom

• Used for Black Hung practice.

• Differences: per Jason’s instruction the upper left hand
should be holding a mass of fire, middle left holding a
kathvanga, here they are holding even more phurbas.
• Should have a markava at the waist from which the phurba
bottom emerges – very hard to see here but the other
thangka on the previous slide is more legible as a crocodile
with its mouth wide open.
• However the other thangka also shows him in yab-yum with
Diptachakra, which is not how Jason described the Black
Hung visualization, so I have included both for reference.
• Note the triangular features at the bottom of both thangkas,
to which the obstacles/maladies/demons are nailed. This is
similar to the instructions for Lesson 3 part 1
 Vajrakilaya and
Diptachakra
• Three left arms Descending: Fire mass, Kathvanga,
phurba
• Three right arms descending: 9 point vajra, 5 point
vajra, phurba
• 8 Charnel Ground Ornaments: Ash on forehead,
Blood on cheeks, Fat on mouth, Human, Tiger,
Elephant skins, Naga and Skull jewelry
• Vajrakilaya has four legs, his consort has 2
• In union but not yab-yum position.
• Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri in yab-yum
above them in this thanga
• Also a Geruda bird
• I can’t fully make out the objects in the foreground
but I believe the ‘fruits’ are the 7/8 offerings as
described in Lesson 3, the red and blue cups are
kapalas with red and white substance respectively

https://www.visiblemantra.org/phat.html
OM VAJRA KILI KILAYA SARVA VIGNAN BAM
HUM PEH!
Offerings and Tibetan Buddhist Altars (Example)
 Offerings and Tibetan Buddhist Altars
Dharma text (not pictured, stupa, and ‘image’
are the minimum – both statues and thangkas
count as images.
I have put a thangka of Vajrakilaya above the
top shelf which has L-R:
Statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, a stupa, and a
statue of Vajrakilaya w/phurba bottom in yab-
yum with consort
These three things represent the Buddha’s
speech, mind, and body.
Middle row is ritual implements L-
R: Dorje and bell, Kapala, phurba,
mandala, Kapala, bhumpo, serkyem.
You don’t need all of these, they are
just common.
Bottom row: water for washing,
water for drinking, flowers, incense,
butterlamp, perfume, food, music.
Width between bowls the size of a
rice grain.
 Offerings
• The previous slide was just an example – you do not need everything even if you want
a permanent altar. Electric tealights are acceptable to use with your butterlamp, if
you’re going to light real fire put a coaster underneath so it doesn’t wreck your shelf.
• It is perfectly acceptable to fill the offering bowls with water – Jason even stresses in
lesson 3 part 1 that the inner and secret offerings are even more important than just the
physical representations of these offerings.
• Never place an empty vessel on the altar, they’re an invitation. Per Lama Lena, keep a
clean cloth just for wiping out your bowls at the end of every day.
• Instruments such as the dorje and bell are usually placed on top of a cloth, dharma
texts are wrapped in cloth, even phurbas often have cloth cases or pieces of fabric tied
to them – if you already have a beautiful piece of fabric use it to cover your
altar/shrine or store your implements.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/live/_9PX3XXzsaU?si=wLWKoF9mrySfIpeo
https://youtu.be/Q6CL1A4WbCg?si=6KQfUW2iiJwn_1ua
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9690NrZ284
Dissolve into Five-Colored Light
Lesson 2 and 3 – Five colors for elements
Lesson 3 Part 1: Stacking of
the Elements
Ah – Blue inverted tetrahedron
• This will be elaborated on
Yam – Round Blackish Green Air
in later lessons, but it is
Ram – Red Square Fire
present from the start.
Bam – Circular White Water
• My representation may be
Lam – Golden Earth Square Mandala
inaccurate, will revise as
Sum – Great Jeweled Mountain
course goes on.
Brum - Celestial Mansion
• Vajra tent extending in all10 directions.
• This mandala centered over 8 charnel
grounds (NSEW and cross quarters) with a
gruesome palace made of human remains Just picture a really fucked up
below (I’ll make my best attempt at depicting skull palace draped with
that one after the next lesson). intestines here
• See https://vividness.live/charnel-ground And
https://vividness.live/pure-land for an
interesting perspective on charnel grounds in
these visualizations.
Mala and Mala Counters
• Here is a 108 bead full size mala for
reciting mantras with two mala counters
attached. One is used to track 1000s
(each bead represents 100) and the other
tracks 10,000s (each bead represents
1000).
• Bhum counters clip onto a space
between beads and are used for tracking
100,000 recitations
Jason’s Secondary Sources
• Under construction – will include a list of all other sources Jason
mentions in audios 1-3.