Gankyil
Encyclopedia
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
, Bön, Himalayan Shamanism and Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from foreign countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new...
. In Bön and Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
Dzogchen
Dzogchen Monastery
Dzogchen Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Sichuan province, China, and marks part of the Tibetan cultural region of Kham. It was founded by Dzogchen Pema Rigdzin in 1675, 1684 or 1685...
lineages, the Gankyil is the principal symbol and teaching tool: it is symbolic of primordial energy and represents the central unity and indivisibility of all the teaching, philosophical and doctrinal triune
Triune
Triune may refer to:*Trinity, the Godhead in Christianity, or another of the triple deities*Triune brain theory, proposed by Dr. Paul D. MacLean that evolution has given humans three distinct brains...
of Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
(and quadrune of the greater Buddhadharma such as the Four Noble Truths and the 'Four Joys' of the Bonpo). It is an attribute of the Snow Lion.
Nomenclature, orthography and etymology
Gankyil , (equivalent Sanskrit: anandaAnanda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...
-chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
), pronounced "ganshey" or "ganshee", is formed from the words dga
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
, bliss, ecstacy, beauty
Beauty
Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...
, total happiness" i.e. the opposite of dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
) and
Exegesis
Cintamani
Cintamani also spelled as Chintamani is a wish-fulfilling jewel within both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, equivalent to the philosopher's stone in Western alchemy....
), Robert Beer makes the following connections:
The Gankyil as the inner wheel of the Dharmachakra is depicted on the Flag of Sikkim
Flag of Sikkim
The national flag of Sikkim consisted of a Buddhist khorlo prayer wheel with the gankyil as the central element.Until 1967, the previous flag showed a very complex design with a fanciful border and religious pictograms surrounding the khorlo....
.
The 'victory' referred to above is symbolised by the 'Victory Banner' (Sanskrit: Dhvaja
Dhvaja
Dhvaja , meaning banner or flag. The Dhvaja is comprised amongst the Ashtamangala, the 'eight auspicious symbols'.-In Hinduism:...
), one of the Himalayan Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala or Zhaxi Daggyai are a sacred suite of Eight Auspicious Signs endemic to a number of Dharmic Traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or 'symbolic attributes' are yidam and teaching tools...
.
Wallace (2001: p. 77) identifies the ananda-cakra with the heart of the 'cosmic body' of which Mt Meru is the epicentre:
In the center of the summit of Mt Meru, there is the inner lotus (garbha-padma) of the Bhagavan Kalacakra, which has sixteen petals and constitutes the bliss-cakra (ananda-cakra) of the cosmic body.
Ground, path and fruit
- 'groundGround of Being (Dzogchen)Ground [of Being] is an essential component of the Dzogchen tradition for both the Bonpo and the Nyingmapa...
' or 'base' - 'path' or 'method'
- 'fruit' or 'product'
The mula kleśa of the Twelve Nidānas
- Tibetan: ma rig pa),(Sanskrit: AvidyāAvidyaAvidyā is a Sanskrit word that means "ignorance", "delusion", "unlearned", "unwise" and that which is not, or runs counter to, vidya. It is used extensively in Hindu texts, including the Upanishads and as well in Buddhist thought...
- Tibetan: len pa),(Sanskrit: UpādānaUpadanaUpādāna is a word used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.*In Buddhism, upādāna is a critical link in the arising of suffering.*In Hinduism, upādāna is the material manifestation of Brahman.-Buddhism:...
- Tibetan: sred pa),(Sanskrit:
The three humours of traditional Tibetan medicine
Attributes connected with the three humors (Sanskrit: tridoshas, Tibetan: Nyipa gsum):- Desire (Tibetan: ’dod chags) is aligned with the humor Wind (Tibetan: rlung, Sanskrit: vata - "air and aether constitution")
- Hatred (Tibetan: zhe sdang) is aligned with the humor Bile (Tibetan: mkhris pa, Sanskrit: pitta - "fire and water constitution")
- Ignorance (Tibetan: gti mug) is aligned with the humor Phlegm (Tibetan: bad kan, Sanskrit: kapha - "earth and water constitution").
The Three Treasures of Everlasting Bon
For the Bonpo, the Gankyil denotes the three principal 'termaTerma (Buddhism)
Terma are key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a...
' (Tibetan) or "treasure" cycles of Everlasting Bon, the 'Northern Treasure' , the 'Central Treasure' , and the 'Southern Treasure' . The Northern Treasure is compiled from texts revealed in Zhangzhung and northern Tibet, the Southern Treasure from texts revealed in Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and the southern area of Tibet, and the Central Treasure from texts revealed in central Tibet close to Samye Monastery.
The mula prajñā
- Study (Sanskrit: shruta, Tibetan: thos + pa)
- Reflection (Sanskrit: cinta, Tibetan: sam+ pa)
- Meditation (Sanskrit: bhavana, Tibetan: sgom pa)
These three aspects are the mula prajñā
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
of the sadhana
Sadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...
of Prajñā
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
-Pāramitā
Pāramitā
Pāramitā or pāramī is "perfection" or "completeness." In Buddhism, the pāramitās refer to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues...
, the "paramita of wisdom". Hence, these three are related to, but distinct from, the Prajñāpāramitā
Prajnaparamita
Prajñāpāramitā in Buddhism, means "the Perfection of Wisdom." The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā with pāramitā . Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and its practice and understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva Path...
that denotes a particular cycle of discourse in the Buddhist literature that relates to the doctrinal "field
Field
-Places:* Field, British Columbia, Canada* Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States* Field, Ontario, Canada* Field Island, Nunavut, Canada* Mount Field - Expanses of open ground :* Field...
" (Sanskrit: kṣetra
Tirtha and Kshetra
In Hinduism, Tirtha and Kshetra are two terms denoting sites of pilgrimage.-Tirtha:A tīrtha , which literally means "a ford, a shallow part of a body of water that may be easily crossed" has come to connote places of pilgrimage associated with sacred water.-Kshetra:A Kṣētra denotes a holy precinct...
) of the second turning of the Dharmachakra.
The mula dharmas of the path
The Dzogchen teachings focus on three terms:To see directly the (absolute) nature of our mind is the View; the way of stabilizing that View and making it an unbroken experience is Meditation; and integrating that View into our daily life is what is meant by Action.
Essence, Nature and Energy
An important Dzogchen doctrinal viewView (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
on the Sugatagarbha qua 'Base' (gzhi)
Ground of Being (Dzogchen)
Ground [of Being] is an essential component of the Dzogchen tradition for both the Bonpo and the Nyingmapa...
(refer: Duckworth, 2008) that foregrounds this is 'essence' (ngo bo), 'nature' (rang bzhin) and 'power' (thugs rje): the triune of which are indivisible and iconographically represented by the Gankyil. Where essence is openness or emptiness (ngo bo stong pa), nature is luminosity, lucidity or clarity (as in the luminous mind
Luminous mind
Luminous mind is a term attributed to the Buddha in the Nikayas...
of the Five Pure Lights
Five Pure Lights
The Five Pure Lights are experiential manifestations in the Dzogchen tradition of Bön and Nyingma and are aspects of non-dual clarity and primordial luminosity of dharmakaya, kunzhi and/or emptiness...
) (rang bzhin gsal ba) and power is universal compassionate energy (thugs rje kun khyab), unobstructed (ma 'gags pa)
The Triratna doctrine
The Triratna, Triple Jewel or Three Gems are triunic are therefore represented by the Gankyil:- BuddhaBuddhahoodIn Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
- DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
- SanghaSanghaSangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
The Three Dharma Seals
The indivisible essence of the Three Dharma Seals is embodied and encoded within the Gankyil:- AnattaAnattaIn Buddhism, anattā or anātman refers to the notion of "not-self." In the early texts, the Buddha commonly uses the word in the context of teaching that all things perceived by the senses are not really "I" or "mine," and for this reason one should not cling to them.In the same vein, the Pali...
- DukkhaDukkhaDukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
- Anicca
The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
As the inner wheel of the VajrayanaVajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
Dharmachakra, the Gankyil also represents the syncretic union and embodiment of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
Shakyamuni's Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
The Three Turnings of the Wheel refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of the Buddhism originally devised by the Yogachara school...
. The pedagogic upaya
Upaya
Upaya is a term in Mahayana Buddhism which is derived from the root upa√i and refers to a means that goes or brings one up to some goal, often the goal of Enlightenment. The term is often used with kaushalya ; upaya-kaushalya means roughly "skill in means"...
doctrine and classification of the triunic 'three turnings' of the Dharmacakra, was first postulated by the Indian Yogacara
Yogacara
Yogācāra is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE...
school.
Trikaya doctrine
The gankyil is the energetic signature of the TrikayaTrikaya
The Trikāya doctrine is an important Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of a Buddha. By the 4th century CE the Trikāya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know...
, realised through the transmutation of the obscurations forded by the Three poisons (refer klesha) and therefore in the Bhavachakra the Gankyil is an aniconic depiction of the snake, boar and fowl. Gankyil is to Dharmachakra, as still eye is to cyclone, as Bindu
Bindu
Bindu is a Sanskrit term meaning "point" or "dot". The feminine case ending is bindi which denotes a small ornamental, devotional and/or mystical dot that is cosmetically applied or affixed to the forehead in Hinduism....
is to Mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
. The Gankyil is the inner wheel of the Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
Dharmacakra
Dharmacakra
The Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
(refer Himalayan
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala
Ashtamangala or Zhaxi Daggyai are a sacred suite of Eight Auspicious Signs endemic to a number of Dharmic Traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or 'symbolic attributes' are yidam and teaching tools...
).
Trikaya
The Trikāya doctrine is an important Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of a Buddha. By the 4th century CE the Trikāya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know...
doctrine of nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya
Sambhogakaya
The Sambhogakāya is the second mode or aspect of the Trikaya. Sambhogakaya has also been translated as the "deity dimension", "body of bliss" or "astral body". Sambhogakaya refers to the luminous form of clear light the Buddhist practitioner attains upon the reaching the highest dimensions of...
and dharmakaya
Dharmakaya
The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā , composed in the 1st century BCE...
and also of the Buddhist understanding of the interdependence
Interdependence
Interdependence is a relation between its members such that each is mutually dependent on the others. This concept differs from a simple dependence relation, which implies that one member of the relationship can function or survive apart from the other....
of the Three Vajras
Three Vajras
The Three Vajras namely 'body', 'speech' and 'mind' are a formulation within Tibetan Buddhism and Bon which holds the full experience of the 'openness' of Buddha-nature, void of all bar the 'qualities' and 'marks' and establishes a sound experiential key upon the 'continuum of the path' to...
: of body, voice and mind. The divisions of the teaching of Dzogchen are for the purposes of explanation only; just as the Gankyil divisions are understood to dissolve in the energetic whirl of the Wheel of Joy.
Three cycles of Nyingmapa Dzogchen
The Gankyil also embodies the three cycles of Nyingmapa Dzogchen codified by MañjushrīmītraMañjusrimitra
Mañjuśrīmitra was an Indian Buddhist scholar, the main student of Garab Dorje and a teacher of Dzogchen.-Nomenclature and etymology:...
:
- SemdeSemdeSemde translated as "mind division", "mind class" or "mind series" is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Atiyoga, Dzogchen or the Great Perfection which is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan...
(mind class/cycle); - Longde (space class/cycle); and
- Mengagde (oral instruction class/cycle)
This classification determined the exposition of the Dzogchen teachings in the subsequent centuries.
Three Spheres
'Three spheres' (Sanskrit: trimandala; Tibetan: 'khor gsum). The conceptualizations pertaining to:- subject,
- object, and
- action
Sound, light and rays
The triunic continuua of the esoteric Dzogchen doctrine of 'sound, light and rays' (Wylie: sgra 'od zer gsum) is held within the energetic signature of the Gankyil. The doctrine of 'Sound, light and rays' is intimately connected with the Dzogchen teaching of the 'three aspects of the manifestation of energy'. Though thoroughly interpenetrating and nonlocalised, 'sound' may be understood to reside at the heartHeart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
, the 'mind'-wheel; 'light' at the throat
Throat
In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the neck, in front of the vertebral column. It consists of the pharynx and larynx...
, the 'voice'-wheel; and 'rays' at the head
Head
In anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose and mouth . Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilaterally symmetric forms do....
, the 'body'-wheel. Some Dzogchen lineages for various purposes, locate 'rays' at the Ah-wheel (for Five Pure Lights
Five Pure Lights
The Five Pure Lights are experiential manifestations in the Dzogchen tradition of Bön and Nyingma and are aspects of non-dual clarity and primordial luminosity of dharmakaya, kunzhi and/or emptiness...
pranayama
Pranayama
Pranayama is a Sanskrit word meaning "extension of the prana or breath" or more accurately, "extension of the life force". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "āyāma", to extend, draw out, restrain, or...
) and 'light' at the Aum
Aum
Om or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
-wheel (for rainbow body
Rainbow body
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, a rainbow body is a body made, not of flesh, but of pure light.-In Dzogchen:...
), and there are other enumerations.
Three lineages of Nyingmapa Dzogchen
The Gankyil also embodies the three tantric lineages as Penor RinpochePenor rinpoche
Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche was the 11th throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and said to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra. He was widely renowned in the Tibetan Buddhist world as a master of Dzogchen...
, a Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
pa, states:
According to the history of the origin of tantras there are three lineages:
- The Lineage of Buddha's Intention, which refers to the teachings of the Truth Body originating from the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, who is said to have taught tantras to an assembly of completely enlightened beings emanated from the Truth Body itself. Therefore, this level of teaching is considered as being completely beyond the reach of ordinary human beings.
- The Lineage of the Knowledge Holders corresponds to the teachings of the Enjoyment Body originating from Vajrasattva and Vajrapani, whose human lineage begins with Garab Dorje of the Ögyan Dakini land. From him the lineage passed to Manjushrimitra, Shrisimha and then to Guru Rinpoche, Jnanasutra, Vimalamitra and Vairochana who disseminated it in Tibet.
- Lastly, the Human Whispered Lineage corresponds to the teachings of the Emanation Body, originating from the Five Buddha Families. They were passed on to Shrisimha, who transmitted them to Guru Rinpoche, who in giving them to Vimalamitra started the lineage which has continued in Tibet until the present day.
Three aspects of energy in Dzogchen doctrine
The Gankyil also embodies the energy manifested in the three aspects that yield the energetic emergenceEmergence
In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems....
(Tibetan: rang byung) of phenomena (Sanskrit: dharmas) and sentient beings
Sentient beings (Buddhism)
Sentient beings is a technical term in Buddhist discourse. Broadly speaking, it denotes beings with consciousness or sentience or, in some contexts, life itself. Specifically, it denotes the presence of the five aggregates, or skandhas...
(Tibetan: yid can):
- dang (Wylie: gDangs), which is essentially infinite and formless
- rolpa (Wylie: Rol-pa), which may be perceived as the thoughtformThoughtformA thoughtform is a manifestation of mental energy, also known as a tulpa in Tibetan mysticism. Its concept is related to the Western philosophy and practice of magic. links mantras and yantras to thoughtforms:...
of "the eye of the mind", or the transpersonalTranspersonalThe term transpersonal is often used to refer to psychological categories that transcend the normal features of ordinary ego-functioning. That is, stages of psychological growth, or stages of consciousness, that move beyond the rational andprecede the mystical...
imaginal manifestationManifestationManifestation may refer to any one of the following:* Manifestation of God, the prophets of the Bahá'í Faith* Avatar, manifestation of God in Hinduism... - tsal (Wylie: rTsal, which may be conceived as the manifestation of the energy of the individual, as apparently an 'external' world.
Though not discrete correlates, dang equates to dharmakaya
Dharmakaya
The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā , composed in the 1st century BCE...
; rolpa to sambhogakaya
Sambhogakaya
The Sambhogakāya is the second mode or aspect of the Trikaya. Sambhogakaya has also been translated as the "deity dimension", "body of bliss" or "astral body". Sambhogakaya refers to the luminous form of clear light the Buddhist practitioner attains upon the reaching the highest dimensions of...
; and tsal to nirmanakaya.
Shang
The gankyil is the central part of the 'shangShang
The shang is a flat ritual upturned handbell employed by Bönpo and Asian shamans. The sizes of the shang range from approximately 3 to 20 inches in diameter. It is traditionally held to have originated in Zhangzhung and is symbolically similar to the tantric dril-bhu. Shang are traditionally...
' (Tibetan: gchang), a traditional ritual tool and instrument of the Bönpo shaman.
Historical context and cross-cultural cognates
The Gankyil has been equated or conflated with similar TriskelionTriskelion
A triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. Both words are from Greek or , "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" , "three times" + "σκέλος" , "leg"...
symbols.
Herbert V. Günther
Herbert V. Günther
Herbert V. Güenther [Herbert Vighnāntaka Guenther, Ph.D., D.Litt.] was a German Buddhist philosopher and Professor and Head of the Department of Far Eastern Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. He held this position from the time he left India in 1964.-Early life:He was...
, when writing about Buddhist triunes, states that "...the magical number Three, [is] so deeply rooted in our very being" and references this inference by citing the Russian mathematician V.V. Nalimov
Vasily Nalimov
Vasily Nalimov was a Russian philosopher, humanist and wrote on Transpersonal Psychology. His main areas of research were the philosophy of probability and its biological, mathematical, and linguistic manifestations. He also studied the roles of gnosticism and mysticism in science...
(1982: p. 165-168) who according to Gunther provides a concise presentation of why "all of us prefer the trinity: trilogy, triptych…".
See also
- Borromean ringsBorromean ringsIn mathematics, the Borromean rings consist of three topological circles which are linked and form a Brunnian link, i.e., removing any ring results in two unlinked rings.- Mathematical properties :...
- Taegeuk
- TaijituTaijituTaijitu is a term which refers to a Chinese symbol for the concept of yin and yang...
- TomoeTomoeA tomoe or tomoye is a Japanese abstract shape that resembles a comma or the usual form of magatama. It is a common design element in and corporate logos, particularly in triplicate whorls known as . Some view the mitsudomoe as representative of the threefold division at the heart of the...
- TriskelionTriskelionA triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. Both words are from Greek or , "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" , "three times" + "σκέλος" , "leg"...
External links
- Henkemans, Anneco Blanson (1996). The Gakayil And The Windmill Hill Formation. (accessed: Tuesday, February 6, 2007)
- Entry for dga' 'khyil in Rang Jung Yeshe Wiki (with picture).
Gankyil buddhist community www.gankyil.com www.gankyil.org