Buddhist Culture is known as one of the oldest cultures in the world. It’s more than twenty-five centuries old. The ideals and idea of Buddhists have guided innumerable people around the globe. Buddhism culture is principally related to the knowledge of “Siddhartha Gautama” popularly known as “Buddha”. The names of two most important branches of Buddhism are “Theravada” and “Mahayana”. In the ancient times people did not use the statues of Buddha for worship. Instead, they preferred to symbolize the Buddha. Some basic Buddhism symbols are Buddha’s footprint, stupa, dharma wheel and the lotus. As Buddhism ideas spread around the globe, it also helped Buddhism symbols to reach many new and different people.
The most common Buddhism symbol is the Buddha’s footprint. According to Buddhists these footprints of the Buddha symbolize the bodily occurrence of the Lord. These images were reproduced from ancient stones at Bodh Gaya, India. It is the place of Buddha’s enlightenment. This Buddhism symbol has some more symbols within it like swastikas, lotuses and dharma-wheels. These footprints exist in many countries like India, China, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka. According to traditions, the legend of Buddhists say that after the Buddha attained enlightenment, his foot created an impression in the pebble where he stepped.
Another Buddhism symbol is stupa. The basic meaning of stupa is “heap”. It is a structure like knoll which contains Buddhist leftovers. So in this way these stupas are very holy for these people. These stupas are vitally made up of five constituent parts. Each part has its own meaning and representation. There is a square base in stupa which represents earth. The hemispherical part represents water. The conical portion represents fire. There is a crescent moon which is the symbol of air and the dissolving point as well as the circular disc which represents space.
The Lotus and the Dharma-wheel are the other parts of these symbols. The lotus is deep-rooted in mud however the blossom is open in the sun. It appears very good-looking and fragrant. In Buddhism the lotus represents the real character of beings, who ascend through “samsara” (“samsara” is a process of defining the cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Buddhism and Hinduism) into the simplicity and magnificence of enlightenment. Dharma-wheel contains eight spokes. They represent the eightfold path. According to traditions, it symbolizes the Buddha’s spinning the Wheel of Law or reality.
Some other important Buddhism Symbols are various colors. The special five colors are white, yellow, red, blue and green. Like white color is considered to include an extremely chilly quality, as in snow, or a very burning quality, such as a flaming metal. Either can threaten life as well as it reminds us of bereavement with the ending of things. It also represents cleanliness, holiness and purity. Moreover it also tells us to lead out further than the dimness of bondage. These colors symbolize a condition of mind. It is well-believed that spiritual transformations can be achieved with the help of meditation on these different colors.
Tibetan Art is rich and beautifully done as well as some of the most diverse cultural and religious artwork outside of the Catholic Church. There are auspicious (good) symbols, cosmological (astrological) symbols and many animals both real and mythical are part of the Tibetan panoply of symbols. There are a number of ritual weapons and a whole host of ritual hand gestures.
There are prayer wheels, prayer flags and the ever present Kalachakra which is found in virtually every Buddhist temple in the world. It is also known as the “Ten Fold” logo. This refers to the outer world, the body in its whole form and inner parts and the practice of Kalachakra. It is probably one of the most complex tantric systems in Buddhism. You will find prayer flags at temples, homes and businesses in areas that are dominated by the
Buddhist faith.
Prayer flags will have many different mantras, prayers and auspicious (good) symbols on them. The premise is that as the flags blow, the prayers are spread around the world by the wind. In fact the “Wind Horse” is printed on a large number of prayer flags. Prayer flags usually come in five colors representing the following – blue (sky), red (fire), white (clouds), green (water), and yellow (earth).
The Lung-Ta or Wind Horse is a creature from pre-Buddhist times that was able to use the power of the wind and strength of the horse to transport anyone’s prayers from this world to the heavens. Accompanying the Wind Horse on a typical prayer flag will be the Four Dignities – Dragon, Garuda, Snow Lion and Tiger. The Dragon represents gentle power, Garuda represents wisdom, Snow Lion represents fearless joy and Tiger is confidence.
Whether you are a Buddhist seeking Tibetan symbols and motifs for your own use or you just enjoy the intricate artwork of Tibetan symbols and motifs you cannot go wrong in getting a Wind Horse prayer flag.
There are numerous religions in the world. Each religion has various symbols which contain a specific meaning in that religion. These symbols can be in the form of artworks, acts, events and natural phenomena. Religious symbols have a history dating back more than 100,000 years. The studies of these symbols are either around the globe or they can have some specific boundaries which depend upon the type of religion.
Christianity has basically three symbols. These symbols are Ichthys (fish), Christian cross and Patriarchal cross. Ichthys is an ancient Greek word meaning fish. It means “Jesus Christ, God’s son, savior”. Jesus compares the judgment of God on who will go to heaven and who will go to hell at the end of this world to fishermen cataloging out their catch, keeping the superior fish and throwing the terrible fish back into the ocean. The Christian-cross is a well known religious symbol around the world. The cross is a type of crucifix which does not have Jesus’ body. During the earlier two centuries people didn’t use the cross as a symbol of worship. They used the fish symbol for that. There are many types of crosses like the Andrew Cross, Anthony’s Cross, Canterbury Cross etc. The patriarchal cross is very similar to the Christian Cross. It is very similar to the Latin cross which has a minor crossbar located on the top of the main one.
The three basic symbols of Hinduism are Omkar, Lotus flower and Swastika. The syllable “Aum” was first described in the Hindu holy books called Upanishads. The word “Omkar” is sited at the opening of many holy Hindu books. The lotus symbol has been a godly symbol in the Asian community. It represents a virtue and sexual purity. In Hindu religion God Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi are repeatedly portrayed with pink lotus. Goddess Saraswati is portrayed with white lotus. The word swastika came from the Sanskrit language. It is considered as a lucky object. This mark made on different things considers the bringing of good luck.
In Islam there are fundamentally four basic symbols. The names are Rub el Hizb, Star and crescent which is also called the ottoman symbol, name of Allah and Kalima/Shahadah. The Rub el Hizb is an Islamic symbol which is found on various flags and emblems. It was initially used in Quran. Rub el Hizb can be seen in current arms of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The Star and crescent symbol is widely used as a symbol of Islam nowadays. Many Muslim countries like Pakistan, Turkey and Algeria use this symbol in their flags. The name of Allah is a general Arabic word of God. According to Muslim culture the correct name of God is Allah. Shahadah is the Muslim declaration that they believe in one God. It also shows that they accept Mohammad as their prophet.
So in this way each religion has its own symbols and meaning. It possesses a deep meaning in their respective religion. People use these symbols as a medium of connectivity with God.
If you are trying to find spiritual symbols then you need not go anywhere. You are surrounded by spiritual symbols and they are touching your life either directly or indirectly. Still most people do not understand this fact because they do not have a lot of knowledge about it. Each spiritual symbol has its own meaning and representation. Anything related to our spirit generates curiosity. We are always eager to know how these things are affecting our life because they are not visible. If we talk about spiritual symbols then some questions come to our mind and this is natural. What is the meaning of spiritual symbols? How does it make any difference in our life? Do they really exist or are they a myth? However I would like to mention that the upshot of spiritual symbols can only be felt. We are not always able to see it physically. Our inner spirit talks to us with the help of these symbols without using a word. With the help of these spiritual symbols our inner spirit is able to communicate with our mind. It tells us the difference between a right path and the wrong path in our life. You can find spiritual symbols in art, architecture and various religions.
Ever since primeval times people have used art to convey life on earth. There is also the utilization of easy shapes like spiritual symbols. Some simple shapes like sphere, square and triangles have different meanings. The sphere is the representation of corona on the top of angels. In view of the fact that a sphere does not have any starting and ending point, it therefore represents infinity. The square is the representation of shelter, hardness and protection. The triangle is the sign of holy trinity. Directing up it represents the rise up to paradise and directing down the triangle represents grace sliding down from paradise.
In the proportions of a lot of structures particularly blessed ones it was supposed that the utilization of certain geometric plans would fill up the construction by resources of blessed energy. Tombs were in the early days, the passage to the afterlife. They were constructed with care thus the departed would have everything that was required on the journey between the material world and the afterlife. Symbolism was cautiously selected to make sure that the journey would be safe. Stone circles were utilized as astrological markers, for worship, and represented the outer space observation or mother earth. Churches as well as temples are constructed to grip the holy knowledge and to motivate religious living. They tell the stories of religiously momentous actions in the paintings, sculptures and good-looking stained glass windows. These structures were constructed to represent the space as a whole.
Similarly we have different religions in the world and each religion has its own spiritual symbols. The Bible is full of spiritual symbols in the form of numbers. According to The Bible numbers can be used as the measurement of distance, time, age and quantity. Like the number 1 tells that what is genuine and what is perfect. Similarly number 2 tells that kindness and truth are tied together and so on. In the same way different religions have different spiritual symbols.