In the Cosmic Dance I Need All the Help I Can Get
Some say that when the Buddha began his travels throughout India, two guardians followed him in order to protect him. These Nio brothers, were manifestations of the protector deity Vajrapani. Adopted by Japan into their own pantheon, the Nio, or Benevolent Kings, often stand at the entrance to Buddhist temples to guard the grounds from demons and thieves.
These fierce wrath-filled figures stand in wrestler-like postures. Named after particular cosmic sounds, Agyo stands with his mouth open baring his teeth; his hand is outstretched and he bears a thunderbolt stick–a symbol of overt violence. He is uttering the sound “Ah” meaning birth. The fierce figure on the other side of the entrance, has a closed mouth and is called Ungyo and relates to “un” or “om” meaning death. He stands straighter and wields a sword and symbolizes latent strength.
“Ah” is the first letter in the Sanskrit alphabet and “Un” is the last (similar to Japanese also), and thus the combination of these figures represent all possible outcomes from Alpha to Omega in the cosmic dance of existence. It is interesting that these muscular Nio brothers may have been inspired from the Greek god Hercules adapted from the Hellenistic culture of Central Asia.
I find this highly interesting…this fusion of western belief with Indian, and then the fusion of Indian beliefs with those of China’s Taoism, and then the peculiar blend of such a fusion, Zen Buddhism with Japan’s shintoism. The beliefs vary in their details, but it seems to me that in this syncretism there is some underlying motif to it all…some underlying truth that different cultures seem to sense. And if there are universal “truths,” then we we would expect them to endure and to be expressed in religions world wide. Perhaps we can search out these underlying truths to inspire us as we go through our own personal “cosmic dance of existence.”
Sunday, April 17, 2008, 12:46 PDT
ADDENDUM: I happened to come across this entry the day after I had written the above. The similarity of thought here is remarkable.
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