How do you explain the swastika in Buddhism?

Swastika:

The meaning of the character "卍" (pronounced "万")

The character "卍" (swastika in English) is called Srivatsa in Sanskrit , transliterated as "Sri Jucai Luosha Na", the old translation is "auspicious sea and cloud phase", which means "the gathering of auspiciousness". Bodhiliu Zhi of the Northern Wei Dynasty translated the word "ten thousand" in the 12th volume of "The Sutra of the Ten Grounds"; while Kumarajiva and Xuanzang both translated it as the word "virtue", taking the meaning of the solemnity of ten thousand virtues and emphasizing the Buddha The merits are immeasurable. It is generally believed that the reason why the "卍" character is pronounced as "Wan" was decided by Wu Zetian in the second year of Changshou (AD 693). In the sixth volume of the "Collection of Translation Names" compiled by the Song Dynasty, it is said that "the Lord (Wu Zetian) made this article , written on Tianshu, the sound is Wan, which means that it is a collection of auspicious virtues."

There are two ways of writing "Swastika"-shaped symbols: left-facing "Swastika" and right-facing "Swastika". . Tang Huilin's "Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras" proposed that "卍" should prevail. Tibetan Buddhism uses the right-handed "swastika" as the formal symbol. This is the difference between the use of "swastika" symbols in Han and Tibetan areas. However, the ancient Tibetan religion, Bon religion, uses the "卍" as the symbol of worship. In Tibetan, "卍" is called "Yongzhong", which means "firm", symbolizes light, and also means endless reincarnation.

Extended information:

1. Swastika (two Z-turns to the left) or swastika (two anti-Zs to the right), both have ancient origins.

(1) Swastika: It is an auspicious symbol of Han Buddhism in the period after Wu Zetian and Yongzhong Bon religion in Tibetan areas. A golden light appeared, and there was a swastika on the chest of Tathagata Buddha. The pronunciation of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty of China was "wan", and the left-hand rotation was definitely used. Meaning is "a collection of auspicious virtues".

"Yongzhong" is the Tibetan name for the "卍"-shaped symbol. It is still popular among Tibetan people to use the word "Yongzhong" as the name of the Yongzhong Benji temple or the name of the believer of the religion.

(2) Swastika: It is a charm of many tribes in ancient times. It appeared in the history of ancient India, Persia, Greece, Egypt, Troy and other countries, and was later adopted by some ancient religions. Used. Popular in Tibetan Buddhism, Mongolian Buddhism, Korea and Japan.

(3) Oblique swastika: It is a variation of the swastika. It exists in cultural areas where the swastika is used. It was also used by the Nazis as one of the three elements of the logo.

The history of the "Swastika" (pronounced "Wan") character: The swastika character has been circulating for thousands of years and can be found in almost every nation living on the earth. It symbolizes good luck and harmony. God's protection also represents life and the change of seasons. The swastika represents many things, far from what the Nazis intended. Long before the Nazis, the swastika had been a symbol of good luck for thousands of years. According to our latest discovery, the "Swastika" character symbolizes our Milky Way, and it is a counterclockwise rotating Milky Way. It seems that there are many mysteries in this "Swastika" character.

2. Many folk (for reference only) sayings:

(1) The swastika in Buddhism is right-handed, usually written as "卍", which is translated as "auspicious sea cloud, auspicious sea cloud" Happy spinning". The character "卍" is not a word, but a symbol, which refers to the right-handed appearance of the Buddha's hair, which is one of the 80 good features of the Buddha's thirty-two appearances. It is a virtue that appears in the minds of Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten realms, and has now become a symbol of Buddhism. ?

(2) The party flag designed by Hitler himself was a red background with a white circle center and a black "swastika" embedded in the middle. Hitler was very satisfied with their design and considered it "a true symbol." He said in his book "Mein Kampf": "The red symbolizes the social significance of our movement, and the white symbolizes the nationalist ideology. The 'swastika' symbolizes the mission of fighting for the victory of the Aryan people." The reason why Hitler chose the word "swastika" as his logo:

The first possibility is that it was designed based on the name of the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party means "National Socialist Party". In German, the prefixes for "state" and "society" are both "S". The two prefixes are staggered and overlapped to form a "swastika" shape. However, The Buddhist "swastika" is golden, while the Nazi "swastika" is black;

The second possibility was proposed by American scholar Robert Payne. Payne believed that Hitler had a tendency to worship authority and pursue power since he was a child. Strong desire.

When he was a child, there was an old monastery near his home. The aisles, stone wells, monks' seats and the sleeves of the dean's coat were all decorated with "swastika" signs. Hitler admired the power of the dean and regarded "swastika" as a symbol of the dean's authority. He hoped that one day he could have the supreme authority like the dean. Payne believed that this was the reason why he later chose the "swastika" as the symbol of the party flag.

The third possibility is that Hitler was influenced by an anti-Semitic organization called the "New Knights Templar". This organization believes that the Aryans are the best nation and must maintain their pure bloodline before the world can have hope. This is consistent with Hitler's views. The founder of this organization was a missionary and astrologer who divined Hitler and predicted that he would be a person who shocked the world in the future. After hearing these words, Hitler was very excited. The logo symbol of this organization is the word "swastika".

(3) Explanation: The "swastika" symbol of Nazi Germany has nothing to do with Buddhism. One is a war demon mark that brings infinite painful memories to all mankind, and the other is a symbol that has lasted for thousands of years. The Buddhist symbols of great love and compassion are vastly different in both their connotation and denotation.

Reference material: Swastika_Baidu Encyclopedia ?