Buddhist Symbols are figures full of spiritual content

Do you know that the name of the most recognized Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, means the one who fulfills a goal? This denomination or meaning was attributed to him by his parents at the time of his birth and it was at that moment that most of the Buddhist representations and symbols arose.

A little bit of history

It is important to start by having the proper context about the life story of the Buddha and how this ancient movement began. That's why we'll give you the story of the life of siddharta Before developing everything regarding the subject of Buddhist symbols, there are, but, so that you understand all this better, we invite you to read the entry on spiritual masters.

The meaning of his name calls our attention because it turns out that it has many later implications, for example, in the coincidence (which does not exist) that as an adult one of his goals was to achieve enlightenment, but on the way he almost killed himself. hunger, which made him understand that he would not achieve what he set out to do, so he changed his mind about his extremism in the way of achieving the objective, this being a show of flexibility.

One of the important considerations that we must put on the table before delving into the Buddhist symbology born from siddharta, its founder, approximately in the years 500 before Christ, is that we cannot know the Buddhist symbols without knowing the history of Buddha, or the Buddha as he is also called, since they all emerge from his life.

Siddhartha, according to historians, was a man of noble origin, it is not known for sure if he was a prince, but if he was, he was one of the sakias, who lived in northeast India between 500 and 300 before the birth of Christ and who laid the foundations of a doctrine with his example.

Especially the first 30 or 35 years he had a life that was within the normal for his social class and status, despite the fact that at the time of his birth there were omens that announced him as a divine being who came to change. the world.

Perhaps motivated by these same omens, the father of the Buddha He decided to raise his son in a way that would have minimal contact with the suffering of the land and so this man lived until his early thirties and beyond, never leaving his home or his castle and having an elite education in abundance. , which included everything from meditation to military training and many luxuries.

Until a turning point in his story arrives, regarding this point there are several versions of what happened, one of them is that he was already married to a beautiful young woman, with whom he apparently was happy and having children or a son, arrive at the castle and in the presence of his father and about three – or four – people, they would cause a great change in his life.

The vision he had siddharta it changed his life, since for the first time he observed what crude old age is like when he saw a humble old man arrive at his castle before his father and before him, they also observed on that occasion a sick person, a corpse and even a relative that he was in a dire situation like the previous ones. All these were tokens for the noble gautama of what suffering could be.

This marked him so much that he left that meeting determined to know the true life and not only the isolation of pleasures in which he was up to that moment. According to another version, instead of these beings arriving in front of him and his father, it happened that the Buddha He left the castle four times on escapades to see the world in the company and with the complicity of his coachman.

On these successive outings he first encountered an old man whose back was so bent that he walked and did all his activities with great difficulty; at the next opportunity siddharta He observed a sick man lying in the middle of the street, who was so bad that he was even wallowing in his own excrement and did not receive help from anyone.

The third time he left the castle, it was a little different, he did not see an individual but found a group of people dressed in black who were going in procession to bury a dead person; and in this version of the story the fourth time she went out she saw a ascetic, a monk who meditated in the mountains and decided to follow his example.

He went into the jungle in search of enlightenment or also called the Nirvana, from now on the two versions agree, that in this asceticism or isolation from pleasures and external stimuli he was in deep meditation for a long time, with lapses to make speeches. In this period he managed to influence many people and monks who ended up following him in his goal of achieving enlightenment.

siddharta he firmly held that the path to Nirvana by which all the sorrows and sufferings of humanity would be purged, was precisely a very simple life of abstinence in which he did not even eat enough to keep himself well nourished, for which he almost died of hunger in one of his last meditations in which he continued to think that the path was that extreme asceticism.

The revelation of balance came to him precisely in this trance or while in a meditation position, under a tree Bodhi, from which when he left he would live in a way in which he was not inclined towards either of the two extremes, he will only proclaim the middle point, neither that of deprivation, nor that of luxury. From then on, he began to communicate about the importance of balance in life, both for spiritual pursuits and for all the other engines of human life.

The image of Buddha (since called like that) that we usually have in mind is surely the one that corresponds to the later stage of this moment of no return and that is that otherwise, we would have as one of the Buddhist images or symbols a Buddha skeletal in exchange for the chubby Buddha that we know and is in meditation posture with different signs in his hands, which also have their meaning.

This is precisely an image that creates for many historical questions, since it is known that after the enlightenment Buddha He decided to eat cups of rice but it creates doubts that the figure we see in stores and in sculptural images is so generously proportioned, the real character having had such a sparse or simple diet since his arrival at the Nirvana.

Information about the death of Buddha are also a bit diffuse, as in turn happens with the case of the Jesus. It is said that the Buddha He entered a deep meditation from which he did not come out, but there is not much more information about his death apart from the place of it. What is evident is that he was a great spiritual leader, whose teachings, including philosophy and psychology, were greatly nourished by the entire corpus of thought that emerged from this movement.

One of the main ones is the division of life according to four premises that Buddhism uses to explain how the existence of the human being develops on earth, taking into account that everything is interconnected, these four postulates or «Four Noble Truths» that are connected to each other, are:

The noble truth of suffering, according to which life is made up of suffering, because from birth we have illness and death as future.
The noble truth of the origin of suffering, where we discover that suffering is motivated by desire, the desire for existence and the desire for non-existence.
The noble truth of the cessation of suffering, according to which eradicating desire is the way to avoid suffering.
The noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering, which also includes the Eightfold Path to the cessation of suffering, if you will, is the practical part of the third truth. Also understood in Buddhism as the medicine that is applied to the previous truths that come to be diseases.

By way of conclusion, the religious doctrine of Buddhism was born from Hinduism and shares with it a great variety of terms such as Samsara fleet, or principle of continuity of existence, Nirvana, which is a state of spiritual elevation where there is no suffering, among other similar aspects.

It is precisely the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that represent the ideas with which Buddha innovated and that ended up being the foundation of a new religion, which after more than 2.500 years has continued to maintain itself as one of the religions with the most followers in the world.

What are the Buddhist symbols?

Now if we will make the change of rudder towards the description, to the extent of our possibilities and our understanding from Western eyes, about the Buddhist symbols starting from the light that gives us to know in broad strokes the history of Buddha to know how to contextualize all those metaphorical objects, or not, that we find and understand what stage they correspond to in the case of not only relating to the birth of the Buddha.

First we must make a small point to make a general presentation of what the Buddhist symbols are and specifically what will be the ones we will focus on, since they exceed the limits of our characters to describe all the symbols of this doctrine, philosophy, psychology or religion.

Roughly these are: conches, lotus flower, precious vase, precious umbrella, gold fish and wheel of the Dharma (the opposite of kharma), those most recognized among most people, even non-practitioners of Buddhism, are called Ashta Mangala, which means eight auspicious signs, which does not have a defined number, there are really many more.

For example, one of them is infinity knot which is a series of lines that intersect in a way such as an infinity symbol or an eight. We could move our eyes infinitely in his drawing following a path without ever reaching an end and it is precisely because of this quality of eternity, which is associated with marriage and is usually given to the couple in that celebration.

Another example is the glass of abundance that shares aesthetics with the flags of Buddhism, both objects seen from the Western point of view are species of umbrellas through whose tube ornaments of colors, fabrics and varied shapes are released, in addition, other representations could be the buddha eyes whose image may perhaps remind the eye of Horus, but from an unusual frontality in the Egyptians.

We are already used to associating Hinduism and oriental art or artifacts with a category that is probably very simplistic or reductionist, which is to call them: baroque. What we really want to say with this is that all this real estate that contains the Buddhist symbols are precisely artifacts or images that are brimming with information, among which gold abounds, the variegated, what seems in many cases to be eccentric, the colorful and the sensual.

More than a simple object

Buddhist symbols are not exactly objects, but also metaphors that make communication possible, so we can understand that these are present in their scriptures and work for people as protection measures that accompany those who have faith during all their paths, especially your entire spiritual journey.

In addition to protection, Buddhist symbols are sought after by many people outside Buddhism to increase their luck and to celebrate marriages.

But in the context of religion, these Buddhist symbols also serve to exalt the spiritual authority of all those who have achieved a certain level within the hierarchies, for example, achieving enlightenment and awakening.

In summary these are the so-called auspicious symbols and are sought after for:

Protection.
Luck.
marriages

The eight Buddhist symbols of Tibet

The Buddhist symbols vary according to their origin or current within the same doctrine, according to the Buddhist accounts of Tibet, or it is also possible to use the typical one: as the legend tells, the following were given by the Hindu gods to Buddha with the aim of inciting To exalt their spiritual authority over the different environments of reality, the gifts were offered in the following order and as follows:

The wheel of authority

Also called wheel of dharma was delivered by Brahma, who in Hinduism is the lord of the kingdom of form, is very similar to a rudder or a mandala with eight rays that represent precisely the Eightfold Path, which is the path that must be followed for awakening and enlightenment.

It makes us turn our eyes specifically to the Buddhist doctrine and to the reality of suffering, its causes and everything that, if you will, we can find especially between the last two noble truths and the path that leads us to transcend suffering.

The conch or white shell

offered by Indra, the god of gods, refers to the sound of the Dharma or the way that with the fourth noble truth brings awakening to people.

gold fish

They were added later and represent sentient beings like humans who are in physical existence, in the so-called realm of form, where we see suffering and in which we find the experience of life that abounds in ignorance and pain.

This symbol reminds us that we are not beings full of sin, that the different things that afflict us in life are always transitory and that by cultivating spiritual practice we can transcend them.

Another meaning attributed to the Golden Fish is that of representing the primordial structure of energy in the human subtle body, which in Buddhism is divided into three poles: the central, the feminine and the masculine. These same fish represent those two connected canals, also with the kharma and the Dharma. To get an idea, they are located in the upper middle area of the human body, between them there is a parasol in which the central channel is located.

parasol of victory

Also delivered later, as well as the Golden Fish, it becomes the representation of the victory of wisdom over ignorance that within the Buddhist tradition is understood as the most important achievement that an individual can achieve in his life, visually it is seen as a series of puffy pieces of cloth that follow each other in a tubular structure.

precious vase

Also delivered after a while the glass, earth amphora or other names by which it is known, is the so-called precious vase, the aesthetics being very different in each case but in short it represents the offering of treasures and precious minerals that are made among kings, but in this case the gift is for Buddha to exalt him from the Hindu pantheon as King among men.

The lotus flower

It is one of the most popular symbols of Buddhism, it represents our essential nature and our purity that arise despite all the ignorance, pain and suffering that may be around, this metaphor is mainly due to the fact that this flower is born on the surface of the mud and it has an exceptional beauty that does not match its place of origin and that is precisely how enlightened beings are understood.

beautiful umbrella

The precious parasol, another delivered later, is one in which we find another symbol of protection as it represents the protection of those who have it from the affections of the Samsara fleet, or cycle of life and death of existence.

infinity knot

Representing the infinity of the union between compassion and wisdom reached Buddha by achieving awakening and enlightenment, this is an element that we also see represented in the clothing of Vishnu one of the primary gods of Hinduism.

These eight symbols are common within the Buddhist world in most of its variants, we usually see them in brocades, paintings, mandalas and any variety of artistic representations in everything that is Buddhism.

Meaning of Buddhist symbols

If we further develop the meaning of each of these symbols, and even other related ones, we will find that in addition to representing protection, luck or being an ideal gift for marriage, each of them also has a great story. Join us to discover more about these intriguing symbols.

Conch or white shell

As we have already seen, the conch is a symbol of great power because with just its sound it can call for spiritual awakening and in fact it is what it does, but there are many other curiosities orbiting around the spirals of the conch. It is attributed a rather feminine character and a container where all the teachings of the Dharma are found, having access to this wisdom opens the person to the path of spiritual awakening.

For all this, the conch, that smooth and rough spiral with a white tip, is spiritually and physically a symbol of power. Even long before Buddhism when conch shells were thought of, it was also remembered to mystify the moment in which they were used by heroes in war, to cause fear in the troops they were going to face and other slightly more frequent uses with the objective of to scare away malevolent spirits or any type of negative energies and influences.

In the same way there is also a belief by which they are classified as sacred, or not, depending on the direction in which their spirals run and if it is to the right. That is to say, the shells that when taken from the center the spirals go to the right are considered sacred for their intimate connection with the sun, the moon and the tides.

lotus flower

If you want one of the most beautiful Buddhist symbols and whose history also reveals a particular way of life, represented by a flower that is born in muddy waters from which it rises, unharmed, perfect and without any stain.

As a flower and as a symbol it refers us to the word purity and, together with the golden fish, it teaches us that the human being is not a being of sin but is capable of evolving following the impulse that guides him towards spiritual evolution to become just like the lotus flower in the beauty that arises from the swamp that comes to be ignorance, attachment, desire, anger and suffering.

The aroma of this flower is also very attractive and in addition to purity, it also represents the fact that both speech and thought can be kept above the mud of life. In the beautiful lotus flowers there are variations of colors that also overflow with different meanings, we will describe them below:

White, indicating spirituality and purity in people.
Red, symbolizing love and compassion that make up a binomial that is present in the human heart among many other qualities of it.
Blue, this very famous color in the history of art, be it ultramarine, cerulean or cyan, repeats the word wisdom again but highlighted to such a degree that blue takes the preponderance in lotus flowers to refer to knowledge and so important overcoming of ignorance in everything that has to do with Buddhist culture. Blue, and especially blue lotus flowers, are Buddhist symbols of knowledge and the triumph of the spiritual senses over the physical ones.
Pink, one of the most beautiful lotus colors and is considered among the highest, being reserved only for deities of high hierarchy or rank and being predominantly the flower associated with Buddha, the color pink reminds us of sweetened love or passed through the filters of purity that does not remind us of red that if you want is more passionate.

precious vase

The precious vase has many names, vase of endless treasures, clay vase, really many, but all of them come together in the idea of being a receptacle of the material abundance of the universe, which in the case of Buddha it was the container of his knowledge and spiritual riches, to which he could draw infinitely without ever drying up or closing, that is why it is said that inexhaustible resources can be obtained from this amphora.

At present or among non-practitioners of Buddhism, it is also customary to use this beautiful vase located at the door of the house as an auspicious symbol, since they use it to promote abundance and spiritual liberation in the home in all the inhabitants who live there. they inhabit it and also as a whole as a family, activating wealth, harmony and tranquility.

The images of these vases that we can find today, remind us of the closeness that the plastic representations of art, the imaginary and the Hindu craftsmanship can have to the baroque.

We really see in the vases a lot of preciousness, a lot of gold, floral decorations, variegation and a variety of colors that combine with the color of gold, the added image of a kind of multicolored lotus flower being popular, but above all pink in the sections bulkier than the amphora.

beautiful umbrella

The precious umbrella, plastically speaking, is a set made up of two parts that refer to two different meanings: the first, which is the dome, symbolizes all the wisdom that a human being can achieve or that Buddha in lighting; and the second represents the compassion that should be had, and Buddha had, for human beings.

The second part is seen as a sequence of fabric skirts that overlap each other as we visually go through a tube where the first and second parts of the umbrella are located.

The precious umbrella is above all a symbol of protection, since it is associated with the ideas of protection and power that drives away poisonous creatures, evil spirits, bad energies and thoughts, even from the people around them. Its destination, as well as that of the precious vase, is also at the door of the house, since it is believed that having it in this space the umbrella will keep away bad vibes and protect the house from thieves.

gold fish

The golden fish or the representation of ourselves, the humans, within the pantheon of Hindu gods reveal to us, among Buddhist beliefs, an image of wisdom, audacity, longevity, joy and purity.

But going back a bit in the set of beliefs from which the image of these goldfish comes, spinning together in a circular symbiosis that is very reminiscent of the Ying and Yang, we find that they are the direct representation of two sacred rivers of India such as the Ganges and the Yamura.

Words such as protection, fertility, abundance, good fortune and freedom are some of those associated with the image of the two fish in Buddhist doctrine, which is why it is one of the favorite gifts to give to the bride and groom who are getting married.

The people who receive them can have several ways of using the gift, one is as a protection amulet and the other is as a jewel that accompanies their clothing, in both cases the goldfish protect and auspicious those who believe in they.

In addition, they are also closely associated with the growth of wealth or fortune, this growth of economic abundance makes us think that it is not by chance that they are golden, although we must also consider that this is a very recurrent color in Hindu aesthetics.

On the other hand, one of the areas of application where the beliefs in these Buddhist symbols bear fruit is that when applied in the world of work, the goldfish promote income of fortune, wealth and success for the projects undertaken.

wheel of dharma

It is associated with ideas of change and evolution, its center is the representation of morality and discipline in which keys are found, which indicate that meditation is the main support of spiritual life, in the middle section of the wheel. signs appear that refer to learned wisdom that allows suffering to be eradicated, already on the edge we see signs towards concentration.

So on the wheel of Dharma or Buddhist rudder, discipline and wisdom are united through concentration, balance being relevant so that these three elements remain harmoniously united. It is also said that in each speech of the Buddha, the wheel was turned, that is why his speeches are known by the place where such action was carried out and even by the number of turns of the wheel.

infinity knot

In the infinite knot, cause and effect are present, but united as we had commented in previous lines, in that image composed of paths at right angles, intertwined that refer us to eternity or to an eternal movement within the same cycle. And just like the Wheel of dharma, the need for harmony is crucial.

This knot represents the connection and is given in gifts with the intention of establishing it between the giver and the receiver, to talk about those things that have neither beginning nor end, in which we can see and feel the infinite wisdom of Buddha. It is a good luck charm, because it allows to activate people's happiness and maintain harmony in the search for wealth.

parasol of victory

Also called banner or flag of victory, it is made up of two structures, one that looks like a dome that crowns a pole and from which fabrics come out that give the whole a very airy appearance. The flag represents the moment of success or victory in which Buddha he overcame his pride, his passions, his lust and everything that bound him to the world of desire and ignorance.

In contemporary uses we usually see it in the Hindu world very present in spaces of leadership or high political level, in the same way in places where the heads of companies meet to discuss the guidelines that the company is going to follow, another space where it is very frequent is in the military world.

The idea of always having the Parasol of victory in mind is to keep in mind this image of being aware of the domination of one's ego and how to focus instead on wisdom, compassion and meditation.

Other Buddhist symbols

The previous eight are symbols, if you want to say, exclusive to Tibetan Buddhism, although they are in all types of Buddhism but really there are so many symbols besides these eight that it was necessary to make the caveat that with the previous selection, we were only covering the which is common to the Buddhisms that have been developed over the years.

For this reason, below, we will present other Buddhist symbols and we will even walk through some of the types of Buddhism and the new or contemporary uses of this symbology that have even been upholstered in our skins.

buddhist obsidian

Obsidian is used as a kind of pendant or hoya among people who follow the doctrine of Buddhism, there are no clear records that Buddha used it but it has become extremely popular in this community, since they claim that with different therapies and its simple presence it helps reduce pressure, fatigue, pain and some other ailments.

The origin of this stone is volcanic and its tones are dark, mainly black, although you can also find very dark green or iridescent obsidian that even includes shades of blue.

mantras

Something very particular happens with the mantras, they are symbols of Buddhism but they are not an iconographic symbol, but rather in the literary sense of phrases that accompany the pujas which are, if we see it from Western culture, something very similar to prayers. These phrases induce meditation that is why in addition to being symbols, they are also part of their rituals and are strong hooks or psychological and spiritual enclaves.

The best known mantras or those that are common to most types of Buddhism are the following:

om mani padme hum

Representing compassion, the OM itself emits a sound of great vibration that when listening to it, we are part of an experience of collective elevation by itself, it is as if the waves that are emitted entered the body and made it vibrate inside, now om mani padme hum It is a powerful mantra that is also present in Hinduism and is associated with its gods.

Om a ra pa cha na dhih

Which seeks to establish an effective and pure communication from the soul, which also comes loaded with creativity and wisdom.

Om vajrap ani hum

Very suitable in military environments or issues, because it seeks heroism but also focuses on spiritual energy.

Om tare tuttare ture svaha

I sing that seeks balance and the path of wisdom.

om shanthi shanthi shanthi

It is also a mantra of great beauty that, in the same way, is present in Hinduism and encourages us to enter into reflection.

Gate gate paragate parasamagate bodhi svaha

This mantra is a call to consciousness where the tree under which Buddha reached the awakening

Om a hum vajra guru padma siddhi hum

It is a mantra that translates a beautiful truth, encourages knowledge of the universe but also causes or wants to cause the forgetfulness of the pain and discontent that exists in it.

Om muni muni maha muni shakyamuni swaha

It is another of those mantras that promotes effective communication.

om amideva hrih

This mantra is a bit difficult to pronounce, especially at the end, but it is very beautiful because it holds the truth of infinite love.

By the way, another heritage in the West of the Hindu world is undoubtedly the knowledge about the Chakras, we invite you to read more about them in chakras of the human body and how to open them.

OM

It is the simple but forceful Om, in which the divine or the spiritual merge with the intellectual, it is a liberation mantra and a mantra for mental power, it can also be carried as an object or have as an amulet in our homes. If it is written in its old language, it results in the well-known shape that looks like an upside-down 3 with other elements around it, but its power, as well as that of musical notes, is felt above all when it is being played.

The vibrations of this mantra in the body have very positive effects for people since the level of concentration and relaxation that they can reach during and after this mantra is very powerful and allows them to connect with everything that is around them and even in different planes that is to say also in the spiritual.

send them

The mandalas are the result of the combination of meditation and purification, both of the mind of the people who do it, and of the environment in which they do it, together with a transformation of materials in works or constructions that are called mandalas and that they arise from a design of man.

For this reason, they exemplify that the path to follow has both spiritual and physical aspects, in addition, it is one of the most popular, therapeutic and that has transcended the limits of India and the Buddhist world, because, for example, in the Today we can find in any bookstore mandala coloring books.

However, there is a whole established code to create and read these mandalas, but this applies more than anything to the interior of the Buddhist world and that is where there are even monks who make mandalas with colored powder where the instructions at the bottom of the page are followed. lyrics, we get a little closer to them, below:

Circle, in the mandalas when we see a circle we must know that it refers to distance, security and reality.
Square, representing stability and balance.
Triangle, referring to water that translates into vitality.
Spiral, symbolizing healing.
Cross, not the Christian one but one whose proportions are equal and are in relation to the four cardinal points, this cross is understood as an emblem of decisions.
Butterfly, As a sign of death and subsequent transformation, the butterfly undoubtedly points us to the word evolution.
Pentagon, that it is also possible to see it in Buddhist mandalas representing the human body itself and the union of earth, fire and water.
Heart, reminding us of love, union and happiness.

Although much has been said about what color means for the Western world, for its part, the colors in the mandalas also have their own meanings that are not far removed from the readings that European or American men make about the sensation that each color gives. Colour.

Red: red represents pride, perhaps it is not very common to see a Buddhist mandala full of red considering that this is one of the passions that they try to sublimate to reach enlightenment, but it is still present perhaps in small doses to talk about love. and compassion.

Blue: calm, clarity, clarity of mind, serenity, leadership and power are some of the words that come to mind from the color blue.
Yellow: the color of the sun and the color of joy also in the life of Buddhists.
Green: peace, nature, freshness, shelter, water, fertility, peace, calm. Green is indeed a more recurrent color in these representations.
Violet: It is the color of royalty, authority, transformation and holiness.
Rose: the color of friendship and love, it is also very common to associate it with one's own Buddha, for example, the case of the pink lotus flower.
Orange: It is understood as the color that represents vital energy, perhaps for this reason many of the monks, or their orders, wear orange robes, this for them is a color full of life and one of the most important.
Gray: this is the color of doubt, of indecision, of extreme neutrality.
Black: It is the color of mystery, of death, of the occult.
White: color of purity, divinity, new beginnings, impeccability.
Golden: It is widely used in all Buddhist imagery, not only in mandalas, they represent brightness, neatness, connection, abundance and the spiritual.

The different representations of Buddha

One of the examples of the representations of the Buddha is the call sakyamumi which consists of a small or medium image of him in a meditation position, made of metallic material that can function as a jewel or as an ornament in houses, both with the aim of being a source of protection for those who wear it or have it in their home .

However, there are many other representations of the Buddha where we can see him skeletal corresponding to his most ascetic period or the typical fat Buddha with his different hand postures that can mean different things such as, for example, permission for the monks to come closer to listen to his teachings and even images of Buddha lying down that is more recurrent in tapestries or paintings than in pendants.

bodhi tree

In the shadow of the Bodhi was where the Buddha found enlightenment, that is why this tree, of the fig type, became a Buddhist symbol both in what corresponds to plastic representations such as pendants, necklaces, amulets or prints even in symbols. if you want alive since under the fig trees monks or yogis usually meditate in search of awakening.

For the rest of the people this may be another symbol of all this iconography and even a tourist attraction, but for Buddhists this tree represents a sacred image.

symbols of zen buddhism

buddhism Zen It is the one that corresponds to the Asian world. It has had several names during its process of establishing itself in this culture, the last being the Zen, coming from Zazen. Now it is a doctrine whose school is the Mahayana and his disciples learn the discipline directly from the masters.

It is not considered a religion at all, because its practices go towards the understanding of rather psychological, spiritual processes and the potential that the human can reach through meditation.

In this Buddhism, processes such as: eating, breathing, walking, speaking, thinking, working and all of daily life are very important.

It is precisely in daily life where the Zen gets its magic and its core, awakening for them is where the actions of every day are found but without neglecting meditation, but rather it can be understood as that it is integrated into life becoming part of a constant, automatic and natural process of the body such as breathing, eating, speaking, etc.

El Zen it is a piece or a way of knowing that where we are we do not have to believe in anything special or more special than anything, in addition, the thought, the way of thinking and what things not to think about are also guided. For all this is that it is not understood as a religion, the lifestyle that Zen proclaims and aspires to achieve can be seen reflected in the following premises:

Live having compassion for everything and above all.
Develop full attention, concentration on what they do.
Seek collective growth instead of individual growth.
Live deeply but keep calm.
Accept death and with it, made of the transience of human beings.
Respect your food and be grateful to have it.
Be aware of the importance and what giving represents.
Do not live based on the ego, in fact suppress that as much as possible.
Greed, hatred and illusion are three poisons for them, which they have all given up.
Let go of passions in order to sow and cultivate good values.

Recapitulating in Buddhism Zen we see again the same basic Buddhist symbols or the eight auspicious ones, for example, the Two Fishes, the Sea Shell, the Wheel of Dharma, the lotus flower and the precious vase among others. The slight variation is that the Infinity Knot does not represent the union of anything other than wisdom and compassion, plus there is a symbol called Enso whose meaning in Japanese is a circle and represents perfection for them.

That circle has many associated plastic representations and is a recognized symbol, although it is not directly associated with Zen Buddhism, there is a preparation, technique, training and a mystique to make it that makes it one of the most special Buddhist symbols, perhaps not because its relation to the history of Buddha, but yes because of the rigor and the meaning that the Japanese give to that unclosed circle that is a perfect circle.

Buddhist symbols to tattoo

Buddhists do not necessarily have to tattoo themselves for some ritual practice of their religion or their school of thought and although this does not mean that a person has not tattooed one of these Buddhist symbols, but we see that this is rather something associated with all individuals , that although they are not practitioners, they feel identified with the meanings of the Buddhist symbols and therefore, decide that they will be their companions for life under the skin.

Now as these are trends of the time, which are not only fashions because they respond to personal inclinations or preferences and readings of their own meanings, what we can recover from Buddhist symbols for tattooing is precisely information about those who are the most sought after, such as They may be:

The images of your own Buddha, whether it is a figure in meditation or just his face, we have seen him repeatedly tattooed as a trend that is sometimes realistic, also hyper-realistic or surreal that undoubtedly reflects that the influence of this character is still in force.
buddha eyes, really bewitching, as a Buddhist symbol it is one of the most conducive to refer to topics such as intuition, third eye, clarity and all that kind of ability to feel or sense certain things or even be so observant that you can reach levels of clairvoyance and As a tattoo, it is the second most repeated Buddhist symbol that we can see on the skin of our relatives, friends and neighbors.
Unalome, is a variation of the famous lotus flower symbol that adds spirals to the bottom near the flower that move upwards until they reach the base of the flower. They are also growing in size and there may be variations, also of the same Unalome, but, in general, these are its elements that account for the path that the lotus had to travel to flourish.
the bodhi tree, or perhaps many types of trees are tattooed worldwide each year, but we believe that the mystique related to being close to a place where there was an illumination is one of the ideas that drives the tree to be, as it is, a tattoo that He has been tattooed so many times.

To finish, we said goodbye, reflecting a lot, thanks to the Buddhists, about the subsequent implications that desire produces and also to notice that the right concentration can lead us to peace, Nirvana, enlightenment or awakening? If you want to continue learning more about energies and beautiful things, we invite you to see the ascended masters.