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Contributing Writer
Western visitors to Korean Buddhist temples are often mystified by the symbols carved and painted on walls and ceilings ― the lotus, the fish, the elephant.
But what shocks Western visitors is the swastika ― a cross with its arms bent at right angles to form a kind of broken wheel.
To Western visitors, the swastika, adopted by the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) in 1920, represents the cruelty and aggression perpetuated by the NAZI regime before and during World War II.
I spoke to Ven. Chong Ah, a Korean Buddhist monk with a background in Western science, to gain some insight into this controversial symbol.
He explained that the swastika was a religious symbol long before it was used by Buddhism and that several religions use it as their symbol.
``Nobody knows who created it. It was used in Asia and the Middle East long before Buddhism adopted it," he said.
He said the symbol itself is neither good nor evil. ``The problem is how it is used by people."
He explained that the swastika is a doubled-cross and that at the core of the swastika is a cross ― itself a religious symbol long before it was adopted by Christianity.
It represents the intersection of two truths ― the vertical line indicates truth of the universality, meaning truth remains equal for all life forms. The horizontal line indicates the truth of eternity, meaning truth remains unchanged over time.
The bending of the arms of the cross to create a wheel-like symbol added the idea that truth never stops moving. ``Truth is flowing, not static and is present everywhere," he said.
In Buddhism, he said, ``we use it to signify truth, to show that nothing is stationary. Everything is impermanent. Truth is moving everywhere all the time. It is dynamic."
He said that Buddhists generally use the symbol with the arms pointing counterclockwise so that the spin comes inward to the person looking at it, which means a person should find truth inside himself not outside himself as the NAZI's did.
The symbol has been found on artifacts from the Neolithic (new stone age) period. Historically, it has been found mainly in modern-day India, sometimes as a simple decorative motif and sometimes as a religious symbol.
But it has occurred in many other cultures as well, including some North American Indian cultures. Besides its use in Buddhism, it is used by other major religions such as Hinduism and Jainism.
The word itself, swastika, is derived from the Sanskrit word svastic, meaning a lucky or auspicious object or a mark that denotes good luck. The word first appears in classical Sanskrit in the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics.
The swastika may be the most confusing symbol encountered by Western visitors to Buddhist temples, but it isn't the only one. Western visitors are mystified by the prevalence in temples of the lotus flower, which has no symbolic significance in Western culture.
Ven. Chong Ah explained that the lotus, a type of water lily, rises from the mud and dirty to water to blossom, symbolizing that ones true self can emerge in the natural or mundane world. ``You can bloom, you can reach enlightenment, you can achieve truth above defilements."
The Lotus is one of the eight auspicious signs of Buddhism. It symbolizes enlightenment, cosmic harmony and, when in the form of a bud, spiritual potential. ``Om mane padme," a well-known Buddhist chant refers to the ``jewel in the lotus."
Another of the eight auspicious signs of Buddhism is the fish. It symbolizes fearlessness, freedom and spontaneity since the fish migrates from place to place without fear of drowning in an ocean of suffering. Because a fish never closes its eyes and is always ``awake," it symbolizes earnest dedication to Buddhist practice.
The elephant symbolizes the strength of the mind, reflecting the noble gentleness and calm majesty of one who is on the path. The elephant embodies the boundless powers of the Buddha, which are aspiration, effort, intention, and analysis.
These symbols, deeply ingrained in the minds of those raised in Buddhist homes and societies, can be confusing to Western visitors, and a quiet explanation is often appreciated.
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