OK, wait a sec here. So dinosaurs looked like oversized peafowl, primordial humans grew bigger brains by honey-maxxing, and the art of Graeco-Roman antiquity was multi-colored rather than austerly white???
It´s almost as if Earth history is...I don´t know...gay or something?!
It seems this dude is no longer a "moderate". Here, he goes all fringe, claiming that the Olmecs and other high cultures in pre-Columbian America had a selective breeding program featuring archaic species of humans (Neandertals, Denisovans, etc). The result was deformed Homo sapiens, who were venerated as gods or turned into rulers.
Oookay.
But sure, this *can* be empirically tested. Just show us the Neandertal and Denisovan DNA in Olmec skeletons. It has to be at least 50%. Or even 100%.
Won´t happen, of course. Next question!
Jaså, den ökände ryssagenten (från nästa blogginlägg) Chang Frick ligger bakom parodiska "valaffischer". Han har ju en *viss* poäng när det gäller den svenska valkampanjen. Eller åtminstone affischerna!
Translation: Ethnic icons aren´t heresy at all, as long as they depict Christ as an idealized light-skinned Levantine Jew. Got it, bruh.
Den här "utredningen" är helt jävla fjollig. Det är uppenbart *inte* fråga om "falska valaffischer" (bara en byfåne kan förväxla dem med originalen) utan ironiska konstverk. Men okej, för att undvika "utredningar" kanske konststudenterna borde koncentrera sig på att håna Trump. Som nästan ingen i Sverige stödjer...
Någon på Aftonbladet tycker att det här är roligt. Jag antar att de syftar på Blondies gamla låt "Maria". Vilken tur att det inte finns polska katolska terroristgrupper. Än så länge.
Den bisarra rubriken är från startsidan. Själva artikeln har en mer lämplig rubrik...
I never heard of Ushnishavijaya before. Or "The Crown Ornament of Victory"...of all the Buddhas of all time. No less! The two short clips above deal with her Tibetan iconography. Apparently, Ushnishavijaya is associated with Amitayus and Amitabha. There seems to be an obvious family likeness with Tara.
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| Credit: The Devonshire Association(?) |
I never heard of the mysterious Three Hare symbol before, so here we go! It must be some kind of swastiska stuff...
Can you tell me about the Three Hares symbol?
The Three Hares is one of the most fascinating and mysterious symbols in world art. It consists of three hares running in a circle, with each hare sharing an ear with its neighbor. Although there are only three ears in total, each hare appears to have two—a clever visual illusion.
What makes the symbol especially intriguing is that it appears across a vast geographical area—from China to the Middle East and Europe—over more than a thousand years.
At first glance, you see three hares chasing one another.
Looking more closely, you notice:
This ingenious construction has fascinated artists and mathematicians alike.
The earliest known examples appear along the Silk Road.
Some of the oldest surviving examples are in the Mogao Caves, dating to around the 6th–7th centuries CE.
These Buddhist cave temples contain paintings of the Three Hares on their ceilings.
The motif spread westward along Silk Road trade routes.
Examples occur in:
The design appears in medieval Islamic decorative art, where geometric and symbolic motifs were highly developed.
It seems to have been appreciated primarily as an elegant ornamental pattern.
The motif eventually reached Europe.
It is especially famous in:
Many medieval churches have the Three Hares carved into wooden roof bosses.
This is the mystery.
No medieval text explicitly explains the symbol.
Scholars therefore propose several possibilities.
Because the hares form an unbroken circle, the symbol may represent:
Each hare shares an ear.
Nothing is completely separate.
Modern interpreters often see this as expressing:
This interpretation resonates well with Buddhist philosophy, although we cannot say with certainty that it was the original intention.
Since hares are ancient lunar animals throughout Asia, the Three Hares may have had lunar symbolism.
Possible meanings include:
This fits comfortably with both Chinese and Indian traditions.
Because the oldest examples are found in Buddhist cave temples, many scholars think the symbol originally had Buddhist significance.
Possible associations include:
However, no Buddhist scripture specifically explains the motif.
When the motif appears in churches, some have interpreted it as representing the Holy Trinity:
The geometry certainly lends itself to this reading.
However, there is little evidence that this was the original meaning. It is more likely that medieval Christians adopted an already existing motif and gave it a Christian interpretation.
Quite possibly.
Unlike symbols with a fixed doctrinal explanation, the Three Hares seems to have been remarkably adaptable.
As it traveled across cultures, different communities could understand it in ways that fit their own traditions:
Hares themselves already carried rich symbolism across Eurasia.
They were associated with:
Using three hares naturally amplified these associations.
The Three Hares also appeals because of its mathematical elegance.
It demonstrates how:
can all appear anatomically complete.
The design beautifully balances:
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| Credit: Chi King |
So why is a buddha (including Amitabha) shown with a swastika on his chest in Chinese Buddhism?
Gemini:
In Chinese and broader East Asian Mahayana iconography, seeing a swastika placed directly on the chest of a Buddha statue like Amitabha is incredibly common.
This symbol has absolutely no connection to modern 20th-century political hate movements. Instead, it is an ancient Sanskrit emblem called the Svastika.
When placed on a Buddha’s chest, it carries three profound scriptural and linguistic meanings:
In Indian Buddhist tradition, the swastika is known as "The Seal on the Buddha's Heart". According to Mahayana sutras, a Buddha's body possesses 32 major and 80 minor supernatural physical markings (lakshanas) that visibly prove their complete enlightenment. The swastika is one of these ultimate primary markings. Placed over the heart chakra, it serves as a visual shorthand indicating that the figure possesses the entire mind, absolute realization, and universal compassion of a Buddha.
When Buddhism migrated into China around the 2nd century CE, the swastika was integrated directly into the Chinese writing system.
In the year 693 CE, the famous Chinese Empress Wu Zetian officially decreed the left-facing swastika (卍) to be a legitimate Chinese character pronounced wàn.
Wàn is an exact homophone for the Chinese word for "ten thousand" or "myriad," which culturally signifies infinity, eternity, and immortality.
Therefore, when placed on Amitabha Buddha (whose very name means "Infinite Light and Life"), the symbol acts as a visual seal declaring his boundless, immortal nature.
Etymologically, the Sanskrit root words are Su ("Good/Auspicious") and Asti ("It Is"). It literally means "All is well" or "Conducive to well-being". Much like the Dharmachakra (the Wheel of Dharma), it represents the perfectly harmonious, unshakeable movement of cosmic law.
If you ever feel a momentary, conditioned alarm when looking at a statue, look closer at the design metrics:
The Nazi Hakenkreuz: Is almost always sharp black, turned at a tilted 45-degree angle, and faces right.
The Buddhist Swastika: Is traditionally painted brilliant gold, yellow, or ruby-red, sits entirely flat (horizontally stable), and most frequently faces left (卍) in East Asian art.
It is a beautiful mark of pure, boundless peace and sanctuary.
ChatGPT:
Yes. The swastika (Chinese: 卍, wàn; Japanese: manji) is a very common mark on the chest of Buddhas in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese Buddhist art. It is not a sectarian symbol or an emblem of Amitābha in particular; rather, it is understood as one of the auspicious marks of a Buddha.
The swastika was already an ancient auspicious symbol in India long before Buddhism. It signified ideas such as:
When Buddhism arose, it adopted this ancient symbol and gave it additional Buddhist meanings.
In some Indian Buddhist traditions, the swastika came to be regarded as one of the auspicious bodily marks (lakṣaṇas) of a Buddha or a great being.
According to Buddhist tradition, a fully awakened Buddha possesses extraordinary physical characteristics known as the Thirty-two Major Marks (Mahāpuruṣa-lakṣaṇa) and Eighty Minor Marks.
The exact textual traditions differ on where the swastika fits. In Indian and East Asian traditions it is often treated as an auspicious emblem associated with these marks, especially as a radiant sign displayed on the chest.
Chinese Buddhists therefore came to depict:
and other Buddhas with the same symbol.
It is a mark of Buddhahood, not of one particular Buddha.
The chest is symbolically appropriate because it is associated with:
Especially in Mahāyāna, the chest is the place from which the Buddha's compassionate light is imagined to shine.
For Amitābha, whose name means "Infinite Light," this symbolism fits particularly well, even though the swastika is not unique to him.
In China, the character 卍 came to be read as wàn (萬), meaning:
Thus the symbol acquired additional associations with:
This interpretation is especially congenial to Mahāyāna thought.
In East Asian Buddhism, both left-facing and right-facing forms have historically been used.
There has never been complete uniformity.
Some traditions preferred one orientation; others used the opposite. Ancient Indian Buddhist art also contains both orientations.
In East Asia, the symbol's auspicious meaning has always been far more important than the direction in which the arms appear to turn.
For Amitābha specifically, the swastika can be understood as symbolizing:
It is therefore not an "Amitābha symbol" as the lotus is, but rather a universal sign that he is a fully awakened Buddha.
Although the same ancient Indian symbol appears in all three traditions, its emphasis differs:
| Tradition | Primary meaning |
|---|---|
| Hinduism | Auspiciousness, cosmic order, blessing, prosperity |
| Jainism | The four destinies of rebirth and the path to liberation |
| Buddhism | The auspicious marks of a Buddha, infinite merit, enlightenment, and the boundless qualities of Buddhahood |
So when you see a Chinese image of Amitābha with a swastika on his chest, it is best understood as saying:
"This is a fully enlightened Buddha whose wisdom, compassion, merit, and auspicious qualities are immeasurable."
It is a visual shorthand for the perfection of Buddhahood, deeply rooted in Indian Buddhist tradition and given an additional resonance in East Asia through the Chinese interpretation of 卍 as "myriad" or "infinite."
A very short introduction to the swastika problematique (which seems to be vast) in Buddhism and the related Bon religion. Apparently, Buddhists don´t care if the swastika is turning left or right. In Bon, by contrast, the "yungdrung" must always turn left.
According to the videos, at least in Buddhist Himalayan art, swastikas are often purely decorative in character. Some may turn right, others left, for the sake of symmetry and balance. In Chinese Buddhism, a buddha is often shown with a swastika on his body for some kind of theological reasons, but the videos never explain why. There is also the idea that Siddharta Gautama was born with small swastikas on his toes!
Kind of interesting, actually. I´ve seen the Chinese stuff before, in the AI-generated videos of that Buddhist nun I sometimes link to...
Some Buddhist "goddesses" from Tibet and Nepal. The enchanting Kurukulla simply *must* be a hybrid between the Hindu deities Lalita Tripura Sundari and Kali. What Simhamukha might be is anybody´s guess, but there is a rare Tantric form of the wrathful Hindu god Narasimha called Narasimhi. The Nepalese Vasudhara seems more normal, LOL. From the ultimate nerd channel "Himalayan Art Resources".
Himalayan Art Resources (Inc) strikes again. This time with strange forms of Saraswati. Also featuring the five protector goddesses known as Pancha Raksha, who were originally personifications of scriptures containing spells. Tibetan Buddhism seems to be more insanely complex and diverse than Hinduism. Even Jeff (the lecturer in the videos) is confused! I mean, dude.
I can´t stop looking at this peculiar YouTube channel, Himalayan Art Resources. This short video deals with Shiva-like figures in Tibetan Buddhist art. Frankly, some of them are so similar to Shiva that I suspect scholars of religion would argue that they *are* Shiva. Or rather that the Mahayana Buddhists appropriated symbols and myths associated with the Hindu god and projected them onto Avalokiteshvara, one of their most popular bodhisattvas. Note the strange female form of Shiva, also called Shiva (but pronounced Shivaa)!
OK, so I learned something new today. Maybe.
This is obviously a hoax or some kind of avantgarde art project. Of course it´s not ancient aliens. Why? Because the "carvings" look exactly how ancient aliens are supposed to look like *according to the expectations of current (mostly American) pop culture*. What are the chances?
Even Dan Dedunking doesn´t seem to believe in these "artifacts". Yes, we´re talking about the guy who thinks Easter Island is Atlantis! I mean, dude.
Thomas Sheridan is...well, controversial. Often coded as Alt Right or even Satanist. But listen to this old video from 2009, which apparently got him banned from (Irish?) public access TV. He sounds like somebody who old fashioned feminists might want to take a bear with!
What happened, Thomas me man?
The title of this video is evidently click bait, since the "anti-Hindu temple" or "Hindu anti-temple" is really a medieval royal cremation ground in Cambodia. It´s popularly known as the Terrace of the Leper King.
The content-creator ("Ancient Aliens" personality Praveen Mohan) treats it as Hindu, but according to all-knowing Wikipedia and ChatGPT, the site is Buddhist but with Hindu admixture. Hardly surprising in a syncretic religious environment. Besides, Buddhism took over much of the South Asian ("Hindu") cosmology.
For a moment, I assumed Mohan had come across some kind of truly demonic super-Tantra stuff, but naaah, apparently not.
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Vi tackar! Hälsningar Max Shachtman.
