Above, l-r: Buddhist hand-bell; Schoolmarm's Bell c. 1930; bottle of Courvoisier; Capital Building, Denver, Colorado; Bodnath Stupa, Kathmandu
Now we turn our rancher's boot atop the fence post on its head, tip the wine glass upside down-
From Robert Beer, 1999 “The ritual hand-bell or vajra ghanta (Tib. rdo rje drilbu) ... [incorporate] the two main ritual [Buddhist] implements that symbolise the perfections of method or skilful means (vajra), and wisdom or emptiness (ghanta). As a sexual symbol, the hollow 'lotus' of the bell represents emptiness as the vagina, and the prongs of the vajra - symbolising the four nadi which emanate from the 'jewel-wheel chakra' at the tip of the male sexual organ- represent form or appearance. When paired [ed: separated], the vajra is held in the right hand, and the bell in the left, representing the inseparable union of method and wisdom. Their union is the coincidence of great bliss and compassion as pure emptiness and form.”
citation: Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, Shambhala (1999) ISBN: 157062416X, page 243
Symbolism for the stupa
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