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laken1


Hermes

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Need help identifying Buddist (?) symbols
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Here is the story:

My MIL is building a prayer / meditation alter in her house. She is collecting objects that are representative of different faiths & spiritual objects - they are obviosly VERY non-denominational. i was thinking today that it would be neat for me to embroider something on a canvas & frame it for her space, but I must admit that I'm not familiar with the objects in this set of patterns. I am assuming that something here would be appropriate, but if you google "Buddist symbols" it's a bit overwhelming! So can someone help me name these objects or point me to a site that will explain what they stand for? Then I can decide what to do for her.

TIA






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Maddie


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I only know a few of these and don't know very much about them so my explanations are really simplified and probably pretty ignorant.

The red embroidery (it's on the black and white part a couple of times too) is the symbol for Om (peace, tranquility, etc). In my experience this particular symbol is more associated with Hinduism, but it's also significant for Buddhism and Jainism.

The flower is a lotus flower, which to my understanding is kind of a general symbol of Buddhism. I know it has some specefic meanings but I've never really been able to pin it down. Enlightenment, purity, etc.

The elephant is Ganesha, the Hindu god of wisdom and is thought to give good fortune (thus making him one of the most popular Hindu gods). Maybe there's some sort of elephant thing in Buddhism too, but to the best of my knowledge that's pretty strictly Hindu.

Yin and yang is about balance. I've seen this more associated with Chinese religions than Buddhism.

I think the hands are the Buddhist symbol for prayer.

The script on the right appears to be Hindi, I have no idea what it says.

Incense at the bottom right.

The dots or a swirls between the eyes are something often show on the Buddha and is described as his "third eye" which represents omnisence.

Sorry, that's all that I know anything about and I could easily be wrong. Maybe it can point you in the right direction of where to look.

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laken1


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Well, the reason I put buddist (?) was that I wasn't sure what faith they were associated with, so just knowing that some of it is more hindu may be enough for me to figure out some of it! I was hoping this wasn't an offensive question- I was brought up in a Christian environment so it's really new to me - and I am super sensitive to religious / spiritual issues. But i couldn't find any of it - well, i found ganesha & the lotus flower but that's about it. I posted the same question on craftster.org because the designer is a moderator on her area of the site...we'll see what i can find out. That definately points me in the right direction though.

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Who do you have to probe around here to get a Chardonnay? - Roger the Alien from American Dad
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