Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture

An Investigation of the Nine Best-Known Groups of Symbols

Loden Sherap Dagyab, Maurice Walshe

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780861710478
• eBook ISBN: 9780861718108
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Art

In this fascinating study, Dagyab Rinpoche not only explains the nine best-known groups of Tibetan Buddhist symbols but also shows how they serve as bridges between our inner and outer worlds. As such, they can be used to point the way to ultimate reality and to transmit a reservoir of deep knowledge formed over thousands of years.

THE NINE BEST-KNOWN GROUPS OF SYMBOLS IN TIBETAN CULTURE

The groups of symbols chosen for this study are those which are most frequently used in Tibet and Mongolia. They adorn religious buildings and private homes, they decorate furniture and other objects, and articles of clothing. They are thought to be recognizable in certain landscape formations, such as in mountain ranges. Innumerable forms of expression in public and private life are associated with them. The most favored group, by far, is that of the Eight Symbols of Good Fortune.

1. The Eight Symbols of Good Fortune

(bkra-shis rtags-brgyad, Skt. aṣṭamaṅgala)

From the early days of religion in India, a number of auspicious signs and symbols have come down to us, the origin, age, and development of meaning of which can often scarcely be established. These are usually objects, animals, or plants which, because of their value or the manner of their employment, served as ritual objects, symbols of deities, or, generally, as status symbols. As they were always used in established ways, such as for daily worship or for ceremonies on particular occasions, it seemed natural to ascribe a special significance, transcending their individual importance, to these specific combinations. Such groups of symbols are found, with many variations, in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.³ One such group (p. 16) consists of the Eight Symbols of Good Fortune, also called the Eight Auspicious Symbols. It is one of the most popular symbol groupings among the Tibetans, and also one of the oldest, being mentioned in the canonical texts,⁴ which means that it goes back at least to the Sanskrit or Pali texts of Indian Buddhism. The following are the Eight Symbols of Good Fortune:

• the Parasol

• the Golden Fishes

• the Treasure Vase

• the Lotus

• the Right-Turning Conch Shell

• the Glorious Endless Knot

• the Victory Sign

• the Wheel

I will first describe the individual signs, and attempt, as far as possible, to explain their origin, meaning, and use. In describing them, I shall refer to the usual objects or representations, since the descriptions in the texts are in part symbolic, and not, in our sense, realistic. Often, too, the meanings of the separate signs overlap, or at minimum, they are not clearly distinguished from one another (e.g., wheel/parasol, glorious knot/swastika, parasol/victory sign, seashell/conch shell, etc.). Thus, for instance, the first of the Eight Symbols of Good Fortune, the parasol, is described as a construction with a thousand spokes.⁵ I shall not indulge in any conjectures about what this might mean and whether this statement is due to ritual exaggeration. I shall confine myself to the description of parasols such as are actually made in Tibet or depicted by artists, and which possess a perfectly normal number of spokes.

The Parasol

(gdugs, Skt. chattra)

This is an open, single- to triple-parasol of honor, big enough for at least four or five people to stand under it. Yellow, white (according to the literature), or multicolored silk is stretched over wooden spokes. It is completed by a broad, folded silk valance. Each additional parasol is indicated by folded strips of silk, which are sewed to the lower edge of the parasol immediately above them. Eight single- or multicolored silk ribbons with fringes hang from the upper edge of the highest valance exactly down to the lower edge of the lowest one. The top is formed by a gilded pommel which may be of any shape or height. The staff is also of wood, sometimes gilded, but usually painted red.

The significance of a parasol as a symbol is not too mysterious. The ability to protect oneself against inclement weather has always, in all cultures, been a status symbol. In fact, even in Europe until a few decades ago, a sunshade was a status symbol for society ladies. A few thousand years ago in a country like India, anyone who owned such a luxury object was certainly one of the well-to-do. And if, in addition, one had servants who carried the parasol, then indeed one’s rank and wealth were made very clearly manifest. Thus, the development of the meaning of the parasol as a symbol of power or of royal rank is easy to trace. Also, the fact that it protected the bearer from the heat of the sun was transferred into the religious sphere as a “protection against the heat of the defilements (nyon-mongs, Skt. kleśa).”

There may have been parasols in India of more than three stages. For example, we learn from the biography of Atιśa that he was entitled to thirteen parasols of honor.⁶ In Tibetan art, these are represented in pictures and on painted scrolls (thang-ga) as being piled up one on top of the other.⁷

The Tibetans took over the parasol from Indian art. High religious dignitaries were entitled to a silk parasol, and secular rulers to one embroidered with peacocks’ feathers. If some personality in public life, such as the Dalai Lama, was entitled to both, first a peacock feather parasol was carried after him in the procession, and then a silk parasol, each with one or three valances. But the number of valances was not taken to symbolize more than one parasol; it was just a matter of personal taste. In Tibet, there never seems to have been a large number of parasols heaped one above the other as there was in India. Practical considerations kept this down to the usual, portable form.

Within the Eight Symbols, the parasol stands as a sign of spiritual power in a positive sense; as with many other signs (e.g., the Seven Jewels of Royal Power, p. 65), the meaning of the symbol is transferred from the worldly to the spiritual level.

The Golden Fishes

(gser-nya, Skt. suvarṇamatsya)

This symbol consists of two fishes, which usually appear standing vertically and parallel, or slightly crossed, with heads down and turned toward each other. Originally, in India, the fishes represented the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna.⁸ As early as the second or third century C.E., they were put on clay vessels.⁹ As symbols of good fortune they found their way into the traditions of Jainism¹⁰ and Buddhism. In Tibet, they are only found in pictorial representations in connection with the Eight Symbols. The Tibetans did not give them any special meaning of their own.

The Treasure Vase

(gter-chen-po’i bum-pa, Skt. kalaśa)

The vase is a fat-bellied vessel with a short, slim neck. The upper opening is formed by a kind of turned-down, fairly broad rim with decorations. The base is a round stand, also decorated. On top, at the opening, there is a large jewel which indicates that it is a treasure vase.

As regards the general meaning of vases and similar vessels, it can be said that their cult employment goes back to the early days of religion. Their symbolic mean...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Foreword
• Publisher’s Note
• Preface
• Introduction
• The Nine Best-Known Groups of Symbols in Tibetan Culture
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• About the Author
• Also Available from Wisdom Publications
• About Wisdom Publications
• Copyright