"Nazi Did Not Invent the Swastika!”
- Swastika has been used as a peaceful symbol for over 2,000 years in many parts of the world -
I wonder how I should go from here after I published the book "The Buddhist Swastika and Hitler's Cross." My friends have suggested to give talks on swastika symbol at various places. Based upon the advise, I will start to do so Please let me know if you want me to speak!!! You can reach me to my e-mail: tknakagaki@gmail.com.
So, this weekend, I will be speaking on the swastika symbol for Buddhist Summer Camp to various audience - Adult, children, teen and youth, at Chuang Yen Monastery in Camel, NY. I will see how they will react to my talks. They are Buddhist groups so I am sure this talk is not so controversial but it is nice for Buddhists to know what the symbol really means.
Research for Swastika symbol has been a great learning lessons for myself. Though I expected to find many swasikas in Asian Buddhist cultures, I did not expect that the swastika has been used in many other parts of the world.
To my surprise, the swastika symbol is the most common symbol among various religions and cultures in the world, and now it is the symbol missing when we have interfaith gatherings.
Why so common? Is it accident? Probably not. Once we realize that the swastika is originally the symbol of the sun, it makes sense that the swastika has been valued in human history. The sun is the center of our human activity, and source of life on the earth.
Here are some photos of the swastika in ancient society. I took photos when I visited Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Explanations are taken from the displays.
Terracotta neck-amphora (storage jar), Euboean (Greece), ca. 560 B.C.
Said to be from Capua
Terracotta tripod kothon (vessel for perfumed oil), Boeotian (Greece), second quarter of the 6th Century B.C.,
Attributed to the Group of Boeotian Dancers
Terracotta neck-amphora, Greek, Fourth quarter of the 8th Century B.C.
Terracotta bowl on high stand, Greek, Fourth quarter of the 8th Century B.C.
In general, when we say "swastika," it refers to:
To take care of the swastika symbol is to respect our human culture in our world. In my opinion, the swastika is the world heritage symbol in the world. It is wrong to think that swastika means Nazi's symbol which has known only for 80 years. The swastika symbol is here with human race over 2500 years. Do you see these swastikas in Greece as evil?
Peace,
TK
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