A symbol is a sign or an identification mark of a thing. The original Greek word symbolon means a sign by which one knows or infers a thing. Symbols are signs for expressing the invisible phenomenological meaning by the means of visible or sensuous representation. All our contact with the world outside is based on symbols. Our language is nothing but symbols. The written scripts are still full of symbol form. Our art, our poetry, in fact every aspects of our life is based on symbols. We think in symbols, we act in symbols, we live in symbols, we learn in symbols. For example, here I am writing few symbols, which are called alphabets. One, who reads, knows very well that a particular alphabet has a particular phonetics and reads together and finds meaning. This is the phenomenology of symbols. Through the visible symbol, we give the invisible meaning to it.

Today the modern society has become very fast in its movement of day to day activities. It has no time to read into lines or listen to others. It wants to understand many things in symbolic ways. It finds difficult to move further in certain field without this symbols. For example, the transport cannot function without the traffic signals or symbols. Likewise, there are many things in the world, particularly that of the sacred symbols. Nobody have seen God in visible form, because He is impersonal God (Nirguna Brahman), but everybody wants to see him at least in a visible form of anything as personal God (Sarguna Brahman). Therefore, today the symbol has become a part and parcel of human life in all the levels of his day today life.

The same symbol plays a vital role in the religious aspects of man. The symbols express to man the invisible God’s experience to man in the visible symbols. For example, when a Christian sees the Cross on a building, he may recognize it as a Church, whereas a non Christian may not identify it as a Church, but only as a building. This is the phenomenological understanding of the Sacred Symbols of the Christian religion. Here, in this assignment I am going to deal in detail with the Symbols and its phenomenology in Indian Religions.

1. Sacred Symbols in Indian Religions

1. 1. Impersonal God (Nirguna Brahman)

There are various concepts of God. One among them is this impersonal God. Here God is not seen as a person. God is not personified rather God is phenomenologically symbolized. Impersonal God is expressed only through the symbols.

To realize the impersonal absolute, mediation is enjoined considering the soul as a spark, or a river flowing into the sea, or a fish or pot in the ocean of the absolute, or the bird in the infinite space or a ray of light reflected in the body. Meditation on God of the microcosm leads to the realization of God in the macrocosm.¹

All the religions give important to this impersonal God. They use many symbols to express this impersonal God to the followers of the particular religion. This we call the religious symbols or the sacred symbols. People honour and even worship and pay homage to these symbols, thinking that as their God. Sometime people become so violent,² when the brothers of the other religions dishonour the symbol of their religions. Therefore, it is not a mere symbol, but the phenomenological expression of their invisible God in the visible symbol.

1. 2. Personal God (Sarguna Brahman)

The personal God takes innumerable forms in all the religions. Here God is seen as a person or a deity. The absolute power of God is personified in the form of persons or deities. “God as the indwelling spirit is also a thought symbol. The idea of visualizing the chosen deity in the heart has developed from this conception. The worship of the incarnations or Avatharas of God again is also a very common and they are regarded as the veritable representation of God on earth”.³ Some personified Gods of Hinduism are: Siva, Natraja, Vishnu, Iyyappa, Subrahmaniya, Ganesha, Goddesses are Kali, Devi, Lakshimi, Durga, etc. Mostly, all the world religions have used both impersonal God (Nirguna Brahman), and personal God (Sarguna Brahman), therefore, we find many sacred symbols to express their faith and their belief in their God.

1. 3. Hinduism

Among all the Indian religions, Hinduism has consciously and boldly accepted so many sacred symbols in their religious practice, and all other religions of Indian origin have done the same. According to Hindu Philosophy, “the Divine has both the personal and impersonal aspects. Symbols of the personal aspects satisfy the sense of the devotee, yet make easy the understanding of the absolute. Hinduism recognizes that all finite things are symbols of the infinite”.⁴

For Hinduism the Aum is the sacred symbol. Aum is the symbol of sacred sound. The most important mantra Aum represents the three fold operations of God. The final letter of the three great powers made the Aum; they are BhramA, VishnU and ShivaM. Their works are creation, preservation and consummation (Srishti, Sthiti, and Laya). The Baghavad Gita, the Sacred Scripture of Hinduism speaks about the Aum as follows: “Uttering the monosyllable Aum (the sound), Bhraman, and meditating on me, he who departs, leaving his body, he attains the supreme goal” (Gita 8:13).

1. 4. Christianity

Like all other religion, the Christianity has also accepted the symbolism, but later on it denounced the use of personal images as idolatry. But still there are symbols and images even in Christianity, which has become the part and parcel of Christian faith. Though these symbols and images are the manifestation of the divine presence, they are not worshiped or adored in Christianity as they do in Hinduism. Each symbol is a representation of Christian faith; it reveals a wealth of meaning. In course of time each character of Christian faith gathered round itself in different symbols. Thus, Christ was symbolized in a fish, a candle, a crown, a lamb, etc. The Holy Spirit is represented by a dove, fire and by various forms of the candle’s stick. The greatest sacred symbol of the Christianity is the Cross. It stands for Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and the redemptive love of Christ for his people.

1. 5. Islam

Among all religions Islam had strong objection to use the symbols. it is said that there is no exact equivalent word for ‘symbol’ in Arabic language. The Muslim rulers have used different colours of flags to indicate their sovereignty and power. In course of time the Byzantine Cresent and the Star became the Islamic symbol. However, the Sufis (one of the sects in Islam) have specialized in the symbolic language. They even explain much of the Koran, the Sacred Scripture of Islam as elaborate symbolism.

These are the most important Indian religions in India today. The minor religions too have their own signs and symbols to uphold their religious faith. Some minor religions in India and their important Sacred Symbols are as follows: Buddhism – Dharmachakra, Jainism – Swastika, Sikhism – Sword, Dagger and Shield, Judaism – The Menorah, Zoroastrianism – The Cauldron of Fire, Taoism – The Tai-Chi.⁵

Buddhism–Dharmachakra Jainism–Swastika Sikhism–Sword, Dagger and Shield

Judaism–The Menorah Zoroastrianism–The Cauldron of Fire Taoism–The Tai-Chi

2. Natural Symbols in Indian Religions

The nature in itself has got many symbols to give us the phenomenological meaning of the religious understanding. All the living beings or non living beings of the universe have something to tell us in symbolic form. The phenomenological meaning of the nature is not that much easy to comprehend by man, but in symbolic form it seems easier. Here, let us see a few symbolic expression of the nature, which also has the phenomenological religious aspects in Indian religions.

2. 1. Trees

The trees are universal symbols representing the axis of the world. They can also symbolize the cosmos. The trees are also the manifestation of God himself, because the Hindus worship the trees personifying it as their deities:

O king of trees! I bow before you. Brahman is your roots. Vishnu is in your body, and Shiva is in your branches. In every one of your leaves there is a heavenly being.⁶

Claiming up in the tree is always symbolic of the aspiration to reach higher realms of life, God, heaven and reality. The tree also re-enacts the whole cosmic order in that it dies and comes to life again; it is a symbol of regeneration and resurrection. Jesus also tells Zaccheus, the tax collector to climb down quickly from the tree to symbolize to come out of his sinful status (Lk 19: 1-10). Therefore, the tree has a phenomenological religious sense in all the religions.

2. 2. Flowers

The flowers are symbolized as the dwelling place of the Lord. The personal God is viewed as the indwelling sitting in the lotus of the heart of man. For this reason the physical heart of man is symbolized as lotus. The devotees are asked to meditate on the chosen deity, who is seated on the lotus of heart, which is the center of life. Externally, it is also expressed that the deities are seated on the lotus. It expresses the phenomenological religious experience of Adhyamiham-the internal beauty and the Adhibhutikam- the external beauty.

2. 3. Animals

Animals have got its own symbolic expression in our human life. Animals are little less than man, because most of the animals have got all the qualities of men except that of rationality, which is particular to men alone. So animals have got many things to express us in a symbolic and phenomenological manner.

God’s nature is also expressed through the animals in Hinduism. Most of the Avataras in Hinduism have been expressed through the symbolic expressions of animals. They are: Matsya - the Fish; Kurma - the Tortoise; Varaha - the Boar; Narasimha - the Man-Lion. Here, God has expressed or manifested himself in the symbolic expression of animals.⁷ In Christianity, the sheep and the lamb represent the Christ. Whenever we see a sheep or a lamb, we remember Christ and his words ‘I am the good Shepherd’ (Jn 10: 14), and ‘I lay down my life for my sheep’ (Jn 10: 15). Here, the nature of Christ expressed through the symbols of animals which is spotless.⁸

2. 4. Birds

“Birds in general if a symbol of the Soul; Spirits of the air; the Spirit freed from the body; or they can be a manifestation of the Divinity”.⁹ The most widely used symbol of the Holy Spirit in Christianity is Dove. All the four Evangelists record the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove at the baptism of Christ. “When Jesus had come been baptized he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him” (Mt 3: 16; Mr 1: 10; Lk 3: 22 and Jn 1: 32). It proves that the birds are used as the symbols for the Sprit, which is free from the body.

2. 5. Fish

Fish are used as the symbols of religion. In the image of fish most of the religious meanings are expressed. “In Hinduism the fish is a vehicle of the Lord Vishnu as savior, in his first incarnation or Avataras, through the form fish - Matsya he saved the mankind from the flood. In Buddhism it appears on the ‘foot print of the Buddha’ and indicates freedom from the desires and attachments of the world. The Buddha is also called a fisher of men. Christianity used fish symbols extensively. Christ was depicted by rebus ICHTHUS-a fish, as Isous Christos Theos Huios Soter (Jesus Christ is Son of God and Saviour). The three fishes interwined or three fish with one head, was adopted from earlier religions as denoting baptism under the Trinity”.¹⁰

It shows that most of the natural symbols have been used as religious symbols. God created the nature and all the symbols, but it is man who gave the phenomenological spiritual meaning to all the natural elements. The creator expresses himself to the creation in different natural forms, and through which we are trying to comprehend the presence of God in all the natural symbols, which are available in the nature.

3. Mathematical Symbols in Indian Religions

The symbols, which I am going to deal here are not mathematical in its streaked sense. Only the numerical symbols may fall into the category, but the rest may be called as symbols of forms or figures. Since, these figures and forms are more related to geometry I call these symbols as mathematical symbols.

3. 1. Circle

Roundness is most natural and perfect shape in the nature. The circle has always and universally held as a sacred symbol by all the religions. It expresses archetypal wholeness and totality and thus the divinity. The circle has no beginning and end. It obviosly stands for eternity and shapelessness. It represents the space and time. And as the round, the wheel, it also signifies perpatual re-occurrences and cyclic movement of the reality. The discovery of the circle or wheel paved the way for the great civilization of the world. For Indian philosophy most of thoughts are cyclic such as Kalas-seasons; Avataras-Incarnation of God, birth and re-birth of man. It Indian who introduced zero to the whole world, without which the mathematic cannot exist today, which also has the circle shape.

3. 2. Triangle

This form has three edges, the number three has a lot of sacred meaning in all the religions of the world. For Hindus, they are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Their works are creation, preservation and consummation (Srishti, Sthiti, and Laya). For Christians, they are Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity. The triangle also has many other meanings; one among them is male and female unity. The gender discrimination is one of the big issues in all the religions but the male and female unity symbol that is the double triangle shows how they are united as one body, mind and soul. In Indian Philosophy the downward triangle ▼ which symbolizes the Yoni (female organ-vagina) and the upward triangle ▲ symbolizes the Linga (male organ-penis), therefore the perfect union of this two triangle is double triangle, which is important for the procreation, which is the first commandment of God in the Bible, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28).

3. 3. Cross

The cross is inseparably connected with the circle and the squire. It is an ancient and widespread symbol that no country, age, culture is without it. It appears in innumerable forms. Most obviously the cross represents the four cardinal points of the North, South, East and West and the four seasons of the year namely Spring, Summer, Winter and Autumn. It also represents all human potentiality and possibility of endless sxpansion in every direction. Later Christianity adopts it and thus it became very famous and sacred, since Christ has died on the Cross. And now it represents the Christ and Christianity.

3. 4. Swastika

Possibly the oldest form of the cross is the swastika; indeed, it is so old that its exact origins are unknown. The origin of the word we use is taken from the Sanskrit Sv-Asti, “it is well” or “thou well”. Therefore, it is always a symbol of good fortune and good luck.

It has been suggested that it arose from two sticks being rubbed together to produce fire in early days. To support this theory, there are representations of the vedic fire queen Arani, whose name means the two sticks, holding them, with four nails and a cup or fosette in the center, into which a pice of wood was placed upright and twirled violently, by wipping to produce fire.¹¹

This swastika symbols are depicted on door or wall of the houses, because they believe that it will protect them from the evil spirits. And thus it is also used as a symbol of the protection and good fortune and luck.

3. 5. Numbers

In many ancient traditions number was considered to be a fundamental principle. All things originated from number and it was responsible for the harmony of the universe. Numbers were not merely a question of quantity but also it was an important symbol of quality, i.e. they are both of quantitative and qualitative. According to Pythagoras, whose system of philosophy and cosmology was based on mumbers, ‘everything is disposed according to numbers’. This number has been symbolized in all ages, starting with zero, which is the symbol of nothingness, the non existance. It takes the full symbolism of the circle, most of the numbers have got its own symbolic expressions. Therefore, mathematics also plays a vital role in the symbolic expression of symbols.

4. Phenomenology of Symbols

Symbols are the expression of our experience. What we have experienced in our life, we express through the symbols in order that the other may understand it, for the phenomenological expression, the symbols must have the following aspects.

4. 1. Perceivable

The symbol, which is expresses before us must be perceivable through any one of the five senses. If not it is wrong to call it as a symbol, because a symbol should have a quality of being perceivable to others.

4. 2. Beyond the Symbol

The symbol, which we percieve through our empirical senses, is not thing in itself. But it is only a representation of a thing. So we have to perceive the symbol beyand its nature, because it is not the thing, which we see but it is beyond that.

For example, we see a Cross and bow down before it. It does not mean that we worship the wooden cross, but we worship the Lord, who hanged on it for our salvation. This we call beyand the symbol or in other word phenomenology.

4. 3. Understandable

All the symbols should be understood by all people, but in contrary may of the symbols are not understood properly by all due to its nature. They are not thing in itself, if so it is easy to understand. It is only a representation and thus we should be aware of the phenomenology which is beyond every symbols. Therefore, sometime the same symbols express different meaning to different people in different time. Each one understands the symbol in his own way, therefore a right and correct understanding is needed.

For example, two persons see a Croos. One sees as a holy thing to be venerated. The other sees as a symbol of Christianity, and burns it. Here, meaning is in the thing or in the person who gives meaning to it. Therefore, a right understanding is must to understand the phenomenology of the symbols in our day to day life.

4. 4. Unforgettable

The symbols are expressed in an aesthetical manner, which is very beautiful and attracts the mind and heart of the people. So it remains in the memory and mind of the people for long time. Today many of the students study their subjects in a figurative form or symbolic for to keep in the menory for long time, because it is very easy for the students to remember and recall. Therfore, the symbols gives long life to the idea or the phenomenology of a particular aspects.

Conclusion

Today man experiences the symbols in different ways. To understand them properly he needs the right perception of the phenomenology of the thing. The symbol can not live by itself with out the phenomenological understanding. The symbols are only the skeleton, it is our phenomenological understanding and experience gives flesh and blood to the skeleton and makes a wonderful being of symbols.

Today most of the things are expressed in the symbolic ways. In this symbolic world, the phenomenology have played a vital role in order to keem the symbols alive and active. All the symbols, wether it is sacred or profane, there is some beyaond meaning or phenomenology of the particular symbol. It is very important to identify that phenomenon of the particular symbol, otherwise, we lose the sense of the symbol.

This small work that I have done to understand the real phenomenological meaning of few symbols used in Indian religion have helped me a lot to understand the religious understanding of each symbol in different religons in India. The course also helped me a lot to understand the history and the phenomenology of all the religions. It is not the religons make the different but the understanding of the persons makes the difference in the religon. Therfore, I wish to conclude this work with the prayer to the Holy Spirit, who can inspire all to understand the exact phenomenological understanding of each religon and the symbols in the religon and in the world. “May all be one as you Father are in me an I am in you. May they be one in us” (Jn 17:21), for the good correct phenomenological understanding of symbols of the Indian religions.

Bibliography

Appleton and bridges, Symbolism in Liturgical Art, New York, Charles Scribner’s Son, 1959.

Cooper J. C., Symbolism: The Universal Language, Wellingborough, The Aquarian Press, 1982.

Ranchor Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth, London, Cassell, 1992.

Swahananda Swami, Hindu Symbology and other Essays, Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1992.

Internet Sources: (only for clips)

A Perfect World: http://www.aperfectworld.org/clip_art.html on 13th January 2010.

Religions of the World Clip Art: http://www.wisegorilla.com/worldreligions.html on 13th January 2010.

1 Swami Swahananda, Hindu Symbology and other Essays, Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1992, P. 14.

2 There are so many examples in India for these kinds of violence; one among them is the demolishment of Bhaber Masque in Delhi on 6^th December 1992. Which killed so many people in India, even this is evident in Orissa and other northern sates in India.

3 Swami Swahananda, Hindu Symbology and other Essays, Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1992, P. 14.

4 Swami Swahananda, Hindu Symbology and other Essays, Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1992, P. 14.

5 The clips of the religious symbols and other symbols are taken from the net, Religions of the World Clip Art: http://www.wisegorilla.com/worldreligions.html on 13th January 2010 and A Perfect World: http://www.aperfectworld.org/clip_art.html on 13th January 2010.

6 Ranchor Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth, London, Cassell, 1992, P. 80.

7 Ranchor Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth, London, Cassell, 1992, PP. 36-42.

8 Appleton and bridges, Symbolism in Liturgical Art, New York, Charles Scribner’s Son, 1959, PP. 55 & 89.

9 J. C. Cooper, Symbolism: The Universal Language, Wellingborough, The Aquarian Press, 1982, P. 64.

10 J. C. Cooper, Symbolism: The Universal Language, Wellingborough, The Aquarian Press, 1982, PP. 72-74.

11 J. C. Cooper, Symbolism: The Universal Language, Wellingborough, The Aquarian Press, 1982, P. 26.

Sr: Pauline Indra

SUORE FRANCESCANE DI S.LUIGI GONZAGA .FSAG - MISSION DER FRANZISKANERINNEN V.HL.ALOUSIUS V.GONZAGA

Friday, August 24, 2012

The Symbols in Indian Religions and its Phenomenology

Introduction