Auspicious Symbols and Paintings

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Auspicious Symbols and Paintings

There are eight auspicious symbols in Tibetan Buddhism. Each one is said to represent a Buddhist teaching and when they appear together their powers get multiplied. They can be painted on the road, on doors, carved onto tables and so on.

Deriving from Indian iconography these are the symbols:

The parasol or ‘chattra’ represents royalty and spiritual power. The fishes or ‘suvarnamatsya’ depict good fortune, while the treasure vase or ‘kalasha’ symbolizes spiritual and material abundance. Spiritual purity is characterized by a lotus or ‘padma’. While a conch shell or ‘sankha’ - illustrates the fame of Buddha's teachings. The complex geometrical endless knot or ‘shrivasta’ shows the infinite wisdom of Buddha. A ‘Dhvaja’ or victory banner signifies the victory of wisdom over ignorance. And finally, the ‘Dharmachakra’ that symbolizes Buddhism as a whole.

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