Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Implement from the 19th-20th Century - Single-Prong Vajra (13.1 cm length)

Acquired from an overseas collector. The collector stated it was from the Edo period (1603-1867 AD, early 17th-19th century). This corresponds to the late Ming to mid-Qing dynasties in Chinese history. Vajras from the Edo period generally have a history of 150-420 years. However, having handled cultural artifacts for many years, I tend to conservatively estimate the age slightly lower, placing it in the early 19th-20th century. A religious artifact with a century of history is a more fitting description. This vajra is made of a rarer red copper alloy. It is hand-carved and finished. A special Vajrayana implement with a tangible history of practice. It measures 13.1 cm in length. This Japanese Esoteric Buddhist implement features four rings in the mid-section of the vajra, which are commonly carved. These four rings represent the four eyes of Vairocana Buddha, subduing all demonic obstacles... ********************************** Regarding the energetic resonance of ritual implements, I do not possess such sensitivities. Whether it's ancient Tibetan Phurba or vajras, or even Japanese Esoteric Buddhist single-prong, three-prong, or five-prong vajras, I feel nothing. However, when I acquired a large collection of Tibetan vajras this year, I also obtained a few Japanese vajras. One evening, while handling a single-prong vajra, I placed it under my pillow before sleeping. Unexpectedly, I dreamt of a fire ritual, smelling the scent of burning pine resin. As I often burn broken amber and beeswax prayer beads for friends in recent years, allowing them to experience the aroma of genuine beeswax and amber when burned... In my dream, I specifically inhaled the scent carefully... three times consecutively... Thus, I confirmed in my dream that it was indeed the scent of burning resins like pine and beeswax... Upon waking at dawn... after over 30 years of touching countless ritual implements... I remained desensitized. To receive such a dreamlike resonance from this single-prong vajra... A fellow practitioner from the south, who deals in antiquities, once remarked: "The spiritual power of Japanese practitioners surpasses that of Tibetans. Do not underestimate Japanese ritual implements..." On December 7, 2024, a fellow Taoist practitioner who engages in long-term spiritual cultivation and meditation visited. After sensing the energies of several of my ritual implements, both Tibetan (11th-18th century) and Japanese old vajras... Upon holding them, he couldn't stop yawning uncontrollably, exclaiming that the energetic field was incredibly powerful... He then looked at me with disbelief, asking if I felt nothing when touching these implements. After sensing them, he took photos to show his master. Then, after I explained the age and acquisition price of each implement, the next morning he sheepishly requested to acquire three Japanese Esoteric Buddhist implements (single-prong, three-prong, and five-prong vajras) from me. He noted that the energetic fields of the Japanese implements felt almost as powerful as the Tibetan ones. Yet, the price difference is substantial. Much like the price disparity between Tibetan Dzi beads and West Asian beads. He believed he could afford them based on their appraised value... On December 19, 2024, he specifically traveled north to meet me and reported that the evening he brought the Japanese implements home, he placed two of them by his bedside table. That night, he dreamt of two dragons, one large and one small, appearing within the vajra. Having cultivated his sensitivity for many years, he was genuinely surprised and delighted by this experience. ********************************** On December 18, 2024, I made an offering to Lama Ugyen Khenpo at the Dharma center. I inquired if there were any practices in Tibetan Buddhism involving the three-prong vajra. The Lama stated that it is primarily for lay yogis in their personal practice. It is a meditative practice, a visualization, imagining the three-prong vajra in one's mouth. In essence, the physical ritual implement is not used. 6500-114.05.01