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- The Jaina Philosophy The horizontal and perpendicular lines would represent spirit and matter.
The circle in the crescent represents the state of the soul reaches when it has full consciousness and lives apart from matter, it is liberated.
I visited the Smithsonian Institution the other day and saw many of these crosses. It is called Swastika. That literally means a sign of good luck. Several of those I saw, Dr. Wilson told me had been found in the Southern States. These signs are found made on pottery, and on articles of daily use. The idea is that people believe this sign will give them good luck. The implements they use to obtain their livelihood are indeed sources of power to them, and therefore, the natural desire would be to put marks on them which, in their belief, would give them prosperity and health. In India they have this kind of a cross on their implements as a sign of good luck.
There are other signs of the Jainas. The sacred thread. This is used by the Brahmins as well as the Jainas. The Brahmins always connect philosophy of the sacred thread with materialistic views. They say the three rounds represent activity, passivity and grossness, the three properties of primordial matter. We Jainas say the three rounds represent the three sets of prophets that have flourished in all ages. There have been innumerable prophets but we take three sets-immediately connected with our time-the past, the present, and the future. In the immediate past we had 24, in the present 24, and in the near future there will be 24. Therefore, the three rounds of the sacred thread represent three sets of prophets who have left their sublime teachings as our heritage. We carry it on our shoulder. It means we carry these teachings on our shoulders and practise them every day. It is a symbol of our willingness to practise and obey the teachings given us by our prophets.
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