A kangling is a trumpet made froma human thigh-bone, played
intantric Buddhist rituals, particularlya ritual called chd
(Tibetan:cutting) which is designed toremove your emotional
attachmentto your body. Putting a deadpersons leg bone to your
mouth -to blow the kangling whilepracticing - is an intimate
reminderof your own mortality.
Chd is also a celebration ofgenerosity and of your connectionsto
people and other creatures inthe web of life and death.Recognising
your place in the foodchain is a part of that. In chd, you
blow the kangling to summondemons to a ritual feast - and youare
the main course on the menu.
High quality kanglings are nowrare and expensive - making
yourown is more affordable andcreates a stronger personalconnection
with the instrument.
Conceptually, making a kanglingis very simple, you start with
ahuman femur (thighbone), whichyou can easily find lying about
inany local charnel ground (you dopractice in a charnel ground,
dontyou?). You cut the hip end off,poke two holes in the knee
end,
clear the bones central channel,and blow through it.
Cleaning and especially sawinga bone will put quite a lot of
bonedust in the air so wear a dustmask; any kind of dust in
yourlungs is unhealthy - but even withthe mask, you are almost
certainto ingest some bone. It has quitean odd taste, but thats
part of thefun - and heightens your intimateconnection with the
dead. If youare squicked by a little recreationalcannibalism, you
might not beready to practicechd - consult yourlocal Buddhist
lamabefore proceeding.
Theres a hitch however, livingbone is a combination of
mostlycalcium phosphate and collagen.Calcium is a hard but
brittlemineral; collagen is an elasticprotein (it also makes up
tendons,cartilage, and skin) Together, theyare extraordinarily
strong. However,when a bone is cleaned and dried,all the collagen
goes, and thatmakes it surprisingly fragile. So,the knee end of
kanglings arecovered, both to protect them andto hide the fact that
they aredisintegrating. The covering can bemade from skin or
metal.
Skin coverings are normallycoloured dark reddish-brown to
looklike theyre covered in dried blood,and if it is covered it in
metal, thatmight as well decorate as well.
Everykanglingcombineshorror and
beauty. Itsparticularaestheticsmayemphasise one
or the other ofthose aspects.
FIRST FIND A BONEYou probably already have at leasta couple of
thighbones around thehouse. However, it is usually bestto find one
whose original ownerno longer has any use for it. Thiscan be
something of a challenge.
Leaving aside various esotericand improbable options, there
aretwo main approaches. You can buya cleaned, intact femur, or you
canbuy a badly made tourist kanglingand upgrade it. Try eBay,
orGoogle to find an antiques shop orsimilar that may be able to
sell youpart of an old anatomical skeleton
theradiantgift of
bones
The Tibetan kangling -human thighbone trumpet
David Chapman
Top: a tantricpractitionerblows a kanglingduring aceremony
Inset: MachigLabdrn, theC10th Tibetanwoman whoorginated chd -a
mix of tantricBuddhism andshamanism.
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Around page:kanglings withskin covering
and one with asilver covering.
Care needs tobe taken when
buying silverended kanglings
as the silver may hide burned
bone if the bone has been
taken from acremation fire.
This is notconsidered good
David Chapmanpractices TantricBuddhism in theTibetan Aro gTr
lineage. He writesabout Buddhismat the web sites
Buddhism forVampires (buddhism-
for-vampires.com),Approaching Aro(www.approaching
aro.org), andMeaningness (www.
meaningness.com).His background inbiomedical science
contributed to hisarticle about human
thigh-bone trumpets.
etc1. Do not buy a femur that isburnt at all; those usually
havebeen stolen fromcremation sites.
Perhaps somewhatsurprisingly, it isentirely legal toown
humanbones inmost
places. Youmay want to
check local law,however.
Kanglings made for touristsmay be available in Tibetan
importshops or Buddhist centers, theskin will be painted bright
red.These are minimally adequate forBuddhist practice, but cheesy.
Thegood thing is that they are usuallyno more expensive than a
barefemur. You can rescue the boneand turn it into
somethingworthwhile. High quality kanglingsused to turn up in
Tibetan shops,but are now rare and cost manyhundreds of pounds.
In Tibet, kanglings weresometimes made from animalbones, wood,
or metal. Theseseem to me poor substitutes, theysimply wont have
the emotionalcharge of part of a deadperson. Using a plaster
cast,or a plastic or other artificialreproduction femur, is
rightout. If you try to summondemons with a plastickangling, they
will justlaugh at you and it willserve you right.
CONTEMPLATING CONNECTIONBefore you start working on
yourkangling, I suggest contemplatingthe bone: both its appearance
andits significance.
Horror or disgust may make itdifficult to face it squarely. It
can beeasiest to start by thinking of it assomething youd find on
the beach,like a piece of coral. It is, indeed, abeautiful piece of
natural history.
Examine it closely. The shape,and the surface texture,
areextraordinarily complex. There arerough and smooth areas,
roundedpieces and sudden edges. Thereare subtle variations in
colour, frompure calcium white to caramelbrown. There are channels
forblood vessels, and grooves wheremuscles attached. You might find
itintriguing enough to learn a littleabout how each of the
partsfunction in the body. Every femuris unique. My kangling has a
rough
area that I suspect may be a signof arthritis. The details are
theresult of a subtle interplay ofbiological pattern and
randomcircumstances.
The bone you hold in yourhands is the product of four
billionyears of evolution: a vast history ofpurposeful lives and
accidentaldeaths. It is, thus, a manifestationof the endless dance
of form andemptiness.
You have two bones very muchlike this one inside your
body,mirror images of each other. Youcould hold the bone against
yourleg to see how it fits.
It is remarkable how well bodieswork without our thinking
about
them, orhaving much
understanding orappreciation for them.
Many religions are anti-body -bodies, they say, are
messy,disgusting, and impure. They tieyou to physical reality, and
are fullof hormones that drive you intonasty unspiritual sins.
Buddhist tantra is pro-body,bodies are amazing, wonderful,and
sacred. They connect you tophysical reality, and are full
ofhormones that drive you towardglorious this-world
enlightenment.
Its inescapably obvious that youare holding a piece of
deadperson. Soon you will be dead too.Remember, you will probably
nevertouch the bones of the peopleclosest to you, so by holding
thisbone, you have an extraordinarilyintimate connection with its
originalowner - now dead. Probably theywere someone about whom
youcan know nothing. How did theylive? What were their hopes,
theirfears; their triumphs and disasters?How did they die? How are
theyremembered?
This bone is, in a sense, theirfinal gift - even if they did
notparticularly intend that. Youshould be grateful, in any case.Chd
is a feast of generosity, itaffirms that you are willing togive
your life, and even yourbody, for the benefit of others. Itis a
celebration of yourconnections in the world-wideweb of life and
death. Your life,and your death, may touchothers profoundly, we are
allinterrelated in ways we can
never fully comprehend.
This article is greatly edited from a muchlonger article which
goes through thewhole process of making a kangling in astep-by-step
description enabling you tomake your own if you wish to.The full
text of the article - together withmany photographs of kanglings
and thestages of construction can be found
at:www.buddhism-for-vampires.com/kangling-chod
NOTES 1: The UK Tibetan Buddhist Aro sangha(group of
practitioners) has femurs andmay sell to the public.Contact:
[email protected]
Remember,you will
probablynever touch
the bones ofthe people
closest to you,so by holding
this bone, youhave an
extraordinarilyintimate
connection withits original owner
Its inescapablyobvious that youare holding apiece of deadperson.
Soonyou will bedead too
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