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What does the swastika represent?

Unfortunately, there is common ignorance in society regarding the meaning of
the symbol.  Many people do not properly understand the swastika.

It did not derive from, the sign the Nazi's used in Germany last century.
The Nazi version is a distortion and not the same as the original.  The Nazi
swastika is tilted as opposed to the Indian (Asian) symbol being more of a
horizontal and vertical cross.   They are not one and the same and do not
have the same meaning.


The swastika is an ancient symbol of Asian Indians.  Actually, it can be
found used throughout Asia and very commonly in the Indian subcontinent from
which it originated.  It means spiritual victory, sentient victory as
compared to dark victory. Its proper representation is as follows:
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All lines are joined and of equal length (not possible on ASCII text).  This
is its strict original structure.  It origins are 7,000+ years old and
derives from tantric spiritual philosophy which evolved 10,000 years ago to
become a systematic practical science about body, mind and soul about 7,000
years ago.


The first tantrics (spiritual practitioners/scientists) observed the horizon
and drew a horizontal line to represent the Supreme Cognitive Principle
(Shiva).  Then the vertical line crossing it represents the causal matrix or
Supreme Operative Principle (Shakti).  The cross later entered the Brahmi
Khraosti scripts as the symbol for the sound "ka".  The English letters "k"
and "ka" when used in Hindi and Sanskrit scripts also have similar
structures like a cross.  When clockwise handles were added to the cross,
the swastika of India was formed.  It symbolises the preservation of
Creation.  The arms represent the anti-clockwise movement of
"kundalinii"(spiritual energy and awakening).

The swastika in terms of its Sanskrit meanings, is also that the cross
represents the place in which all things meet and from where all things are
possible (in the tantric philosophy this is the Universal Nucleus of the
Cosmos and that Universal Nucleus is in all things at all times - the centre
of all - Brahma - the Supreme Consciousness). The horizontal line represents
Shiva, pure consciousness and the vertical line represents Shakti, or the
creative principle. The handles represents the cosmic motion or turning  of
these universal principles.

The handles are placed so that the cross rotates in a counteclockwise
motion.  This movement represents evolutionary movement towards the Supreme
Consciousness - ie merger of unit consciousness with Cosmic Consciousness
and so symbolizes the Spiritual Victory. This is the reason why certain
collective spiritual dances (called Akhanda Kiirtan) is done in a
counterclockwise motion.

It can also be said that the horizontal bar of the spinning cross is a
symbol of the Nirguna state (ie Non-Attributional Cosmic Consciousness) in
the tantric philosophy and the upright is the expressed Saguna state
(Attributional Cosmic Consciousness), ie influenced by the Qualifying
Operative Principle (Prakrti or Shakti).  When the qualifying force of
creation (Shakti) is allowed to qualify the Non-Attributional Cosmic
Consciousnes, this is the origin of the Attributional Cosmic Consciousness
or the endless qualification of the universe from Oneness to multiplicity -
and so the expressed creation or universe arises.

This fits with a beautiful posture adopted as a mudra (posture) by Lord
Buddha and Lord Anandamurti (a tantric yogic preceptor of this century), in
which He lays on His side fully extended, one hand gracefully holding up His
head, so that a swastika image is perceived in that style.  Several yoga
books also suggest that a good sleeping position is to place arms, body and
legs in a quasi-swastika posture.


To the Jains of India the swastika symbolized their seventh saint.  The
swastika is also a Hindu symbol meaning good luck and the Nazi's reversed
the direction of the tips to pervert it into the 'dark' swastika.

Look at what the Oxford dictionary says about swastika:

    Sanskrit - svasti wellbeing (su- good, asti- being).

Thus "swastika" is a sanskrit word and a very old symbol used all over Asia
to generally mean good fortune and spiritual victory. Many Asian temples
have swastikas all over them. Hitler turned the swastika around and used it
to mean  worldly victory, but because he misued it, it rebounded onto him.

The word swastika (svastika) is a complete Sanskrit word of itself.
Sanskrit being a language of the Indian subcontinent, although not a
language or ordinary discourse and conversation, but primarily a language
for spiritual purposes.  There are many reasons for this as each sound of
the language equates with a particular propensity (tendency) of the human
mind and its associated vibration.  It is an intricate science and very
subtle.

Strictly, the symbol is of tantric origins.  Hinduism is only a word
invented by the British and of very recent origin (compared to the culture
of India as a whole).  Hindu is a conglomerate word invented as a result of
British imperialism (as is the Hindi language).


Other cultures have used the swastika or variants as well.

The Native American Indians used it.  The symbol was used by the Navajo.
However, the Asian Indian symbol is at least 7,000 year old (from the time
of Shiva).  Although it is believed that several tribes in North America
used the symbol with the arms bent the other way from the way the Nazis had
it.  It is a symbol of the earth turning like a cross in a circle and so is
a symbol of the earth. It was an earth symbol common in the south
west of North America, particularly.  It has nothing to do with superiority
over other races.  The symbol was used by Hopi and some Plains tribes. The
Hopis of the south western USA have used the swastika for hundreds if not
thousands of years.  Its not used any more because of the association with
Nazi Germany during WWII, to avoid confusion that may occur.  But the symbol
is still used (with the arms bent the other way) by the Cherokee.  To the
Native Americans the cross represented the four directions.  The swastika to
the Hopi also represents purity and is female, a producer of life.

In the New Mexico State University it was the cover of their yearbook.  The
yearbook symbol was derived from the south western American Indian usage of
the symbol.  Only recently (1985 or so) was the yearbook cover dropped due
to too much "controversy".  But people felt that Hitler should not have been
allowed to "apropriate" a bit of culture, and that they did not want to
"give" it to him and his evil Nazi party.  There was even a Canadian hockey
team that used it on their uniforms in the early 20th century.

The Nazis gave it a wrong representation.  For North American Indians it can
also be a good luck or religious symbol.  It is not much seen nowadays
because of its association with Nazi Germany.  A web site that describes a
variety of North American Indian symbols is
http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa040.shtml


In addition the symbol was also used by some ancient Egyptians to represent
the Sun [Sun God] and its rotation around the earth.  So it was in use for
other reasons, long before Hitler usurped it for Nazi so-called superiority.
Accordingly, the symbol was only a spiritual symbol of good.  That is why it
will also be found in many spiritual sites, cultures from Egypt,
Greco-Roman, and right across South East Asia.  It is important to
understand that the swastika has been in use amongst the Greeks, the
Vikings, The Egyptians, the Indians and so on for thousands of years. . It
is an old spiritual archetype, but which was exploited, misused and
twisted by Hitler.

It seems that the Nazis also picked it up due to its being an ancient Viking
symbol.  On a ship called the Oseberg, found in Norway, there are swastikas
in the front of the ship.  In Denmark you can find it in several places,
amongst one is a runestone with the swastika and an inscription explaining
who put the stone there.
Hitler then further explored its Eastern origin - where in fact it is found
the most in public places, temples, etc and that clearly shows that it has
the strongest heritage on the Indian sub-continent.

In Ireland it was even used during the war as a symbol for a washery and
never there was it seen upon as being controversial.   In the swastika
(fylfot cross) of the Celts the members, of equal length, are bent at the
ends.  It is in mosaics in European castles from 1300.


So, the swastika, with the ends of its cross bars bent to the right, was
common in both the Old World and the New World.  It originally represented
spiritual victory, spiritual good, creation, the revolving sun, fire, or
life and later, by extension, good luck.

Prior to the 1930s swastika-like symbols were fairly common.  They can be
found on old china patterns.  Many things like this became unpopular after
the 1940s.

Interestingly, if you get a good book on the Jewish Kabbala, you will
discover that the swastika is the symbol used for the topmost controlling
point of the Sepherraiha.  This point is called the Kether, and is the point
for the link to Godhead.  Visit a Kabbala study group and in some texts this
can be immediately verified, ie
that indeed the Jewish Kabbala uses the swastika as a symbol.

The Kabbalah is very fascinating and points again to the universal origin
and acceptance of many symbols. The late Father Thomas Merton, a Roman
Catholic monk deeply influenced by Eastern religion, and in
particular Zen Buddhism, wrote a very interesting article called "Symbolism:
Communication or Communion." He writes: "...often the symbols of different
religions may have more in common than have the abstractly formulated
official doctrines."  And: "The true symbol does not merely point to
something else. It contains
in itself a structure which awakens our consciousness to a new awareness of
the inner meaning of life and of reality itself. A true symbol takes us to
the center of the circle, not to another point on the circumference. It is
by symbolism that [humanity] man enters effectively and consciously into
contact with [her] his own deepest self, with other [people], and with God."

A spiritual symbol is thus an object pointing toward our inner subject, our
inner being. Its significance and power is awakened in accordance with our
own understanding of its deep significance.

However, as we have seen with Hitler, spiritual symbols can be given twisted
interpretations or negative/evil connotations that can have destructive
consequences. Furthermore, symbols are also expressions of the collective
consciousness of a society or group of people.  That Hitler slightly altered
the swastika is not insignificant in terms of its effect on the psyche of
him and his followers and also ultimately of the destruction of
the Third Reich.

Clearly, the symbol was in common use by a lot of people/societies/cultures
prior to Adolf Hitler capitalising on it.  The swastika is a very ancient
symbol

The Boys Scouts used it before WWII.  Baden Powell spent time in India and
used the symbol.The problem now is that Hitler has turned that symbol into a
symbol of evil.  The orginal swastika of Asian Indian original
always meant, and continues to mean, spiritual victory and is of spiritual
significance.  The Nazi's, in a sense, depicted it backwards.  Baden Powell
used it as a symbol for the Boy's Scouts well before WWII and Rudyard
Kipling was familiar with it.  Old Boy's Scouts buildings had the floor
littered with swastika tiles.  Old copies of "The Jungle Book", have
swastikas decorating the faceplates and title page. The book had been
printed way before Hitler corrupted the symbol, back when it still meant
good, health, and prosperity

The Buddhist temple in Wollongong in Australia also uses it - it is the
biggest Buddhist temple in the Southern
Hemisphere.  This carries over from other traditions, eg you will find it in
Burma also where it is used in relation to Buddha. In many temples and
indeed in public buildings all over Asia it is found.

Several spiritual organisations still use it today.  Given its positive
symbolisation and strong inner meaning, it should really be flying over the
United Nations.  It is  a pity that the Nazis bastardised it.  Several texts
will tell you that Hitler briefly had an interest in Eastern mysticism and
that is how the symbol got distorted

If one explores there is much to discover and learn about the svastika.

There is an anectodal story about a meditation group in London who had a
meditation centre (jagrtii) in the late 1970s which was located in a Jewish
predominant area. and some of the jews didn't welcome people doing
meditation there. During some days the meditators seem to have felt some
interference of something unpleasant, uncomfortable, but didn't notice it
much.

One day a Rabbi came to visist the centre as a neighbor, and he was shown
the place and when seeing the meditation hall and the huge symbol (yantra)
the inner part of which included the swastika (the other parts of the symbol
being one upwards and one downwards pointing triangle over each other so as
to form a star and in the middle in the top half there is a rising sun (in
which was placed the swastika)).  The Rabbi said something like some hostile
jews were using black magic to expell the people living in and visiting the
meditation centre from the area, and that it didnt work due to the postive
powerful symbol of the yantra in the hall.  He was supportive of it.


Hitler scouted out occult (not spiritual) power wherever it could be found,
and co-opted it in whatever way he felt would work, toward his own ends.
The problem with the swastika is that Hitler was not appropriating something
in the sense that it belonged to someone else. Many people have used or
discovered a symbol like the swastika. Its a different issue from going
outside of one culture and appropriating another's.  Although the strongest
historical claim to the origins of the swastika is that of the ancient
Indian (Asian) tantrics.  Basic geometric symbols have been repeated by all
cultures.  It is true that variations of this symbol may be found in a great
many cultures, so some may say that Hitler didn't co-opt it in the sense of
stealing someone else's intellectual property.  But he did co-opt it in the
sense of perverting its intended purpose.  The design suggests variously:
the sun, turning toward the good, realisation of one's God-nature, etc. But
Hitler took that design and used it for something bad.

Although the sight of a Nazi swastika still gives people a jolt, if they
look deeply and try to remember that the older meaning is benevolent, it
will be very uplifting.



The swastika as follows is a spiritual symbol of good, spiritual victory,
betterment.  It should be flying over the United Nations.

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--
'The main characteristic of PROUT-based socioeconomic movements
is that they aim to guarantee the comprehensive, multifarious
liberation of humanity.'  P R Sarkar

PROUT - PROgressive Utilisation Theory http://www.prout.org
http://www.globaltimes.net
New Renaissance: A Journal for Social and Spiritual Awakening:
http://www.ru,org