Learning Buddhism From The Start
Merapi Volcano from Borobudur Temple
Java/Indonesia
chocolust asked: When you are really upset (over failing an exam let's say) how do you calm down? How do you stop basing your happiness off of marks?
Failure is not the end of all things, but failure is a human truth we need to accept this failure and move on for it. It is a lesson to try harder next time. It will affect to many things in our life if we continue to just be upset about it.
:)
The Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism: 2) A Lotus
The lotus, interestingly, doesn’t grow in Tibet so they use stylised versions of it. Every important deity is show either sitting or holding one in their hands.
The lotus grows in mud, the stem grows up through the water and the flower goes above on the water surface.It’s the only flower to go eight to twelve inches above the water surface.
It is the It is very symbolist, with the mud being materialist needs, the water is experience and finally reaching the sun which is enlightenment.
(via journeytobuddhism)
Protective Buddhist tattoos on the chest of a villager that believes the tattoos are good luck and will ward off evil spirits.
These are Buddha Eyes (also known as Wisdom Eyes), and they look out in the four directions to symbolize the omniscience (all-seeing) of a Buddha.
The Buddha eyes are so prevalent throughout the country that they have become a symbol of Nepal itself.
Between the Buddha’s eyes where the nose would be is a curly symbol that looks like question mark.
This is the Nepali character for the number 1, which symbolizes unity of all the things as well as the one way to reach enlightenment—through the Buddha’s teachings.
Above this is a third eye, symbolizing the all-seeing wisdom of the Buddha.
(via journeytobuddhism)
The Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism: 1) The Conch Shell
The conch shell has survived as the original horn trumpet since time immemorial. Ancient Indian epics describe how each hero of mythical warfare carried a mighty white conch shell, which often bore a personal name. It is one of the main emblems of Vishnu, and his conch bears the name of Panchajanya, meaning ‘having control over the five classes of beings.’ Arjuna’s (hero of the Mahabharata) mighty conch was known as Devadatta, whose triumphant blast brought terror to the enemy. As a proclaiming battle horn, the conch is akin to the bugle. It is an emblem of power, authority and sovereignty whose blast is believed to banish evil spirits, avert natural disasters, and scare away poisonous creatures. Today, in its greatly tamed avatar, the conch is used in Tibetan Buddhism to call together religious assemblies. During the actual practise of rituals, it is used both as a musical instrument and as a container for holy water.
Ancient Indian belief classifies the conch into male and female varieties. The thicker-shelled bulbous one is thought to be the male (purusha), and the thin-shelled slender conch to be the female (shankhini).
The fourfold caste division is also applied as follows:
a). The smooth white conch represents the Brahmin caste
b). The red conch the kshatriyas (warriors)
c). The yellow conch the vaishyas (merchants)
d). The grey conch the shudras (labourers)
Additionally, there is a fundamental classification of conch shells occurring in nature: those that turn to the left and those which turn to the right.
Shells which spiral to the right in a clockwise direction are a rarity and are considered especially sacred. The right-spiralling movement of such a conch is believed to echo the celestial motion of the sun, moon, planets and stars across the heavens. The hair whorls on Buddha’s head spiral to the right, as do his fine body hairs, the long curl between his eyebrows (urna), and also the conch-like swirl of his navel.
First remove ‘I’ that’s ego.
The remove ‘want’ that’s desire.
Then you are left with is happiness.
