Friday, August 20, 2010

Ham Salad, revisited.

Once upon a time, there was a culture that borrowed things. This culture borrowed objects, people, and stories. This culture shined the objects, reinvented the people, and localized the stories (folklore). This culture was the everyculture, dating bback to the last ice age of around 12,000 years ago. We were only saved from freezing by Mammouth farts!

What has this to do with Ham Salad, you ask?

Well, the Buddhists borrowed from the Hindus (Harrapan Culture). Many Mohenjo-Daro sculptures are meditating in the lotus position. As you were previously told, "The Jewel is in the Lotus of the Heart." So, let us put the 'jewel' (Buddha) in the Lotus (flower).
Next (after counting the five semi-circles at the top of the Lotus Flower) we will substitute a sacred Buddhist fruit (pomegranate) for the Buddha and call it Hamsa!

All that work was no work at all!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Om Mani Padme Hum

"Om Mani Padme Hum" is variously translated. What it means to you depends upon what you want it to mean.
It roughly means "The Jewel is in the Lotus of the Heart."

Om ma ni pad me hum is an important mantra in Buddhism. It is the six syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara - the Bodhisattva of compassion. The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is revered by his followers.
* Om purifies bliss and pride (the realm of gods)
* Ma purifies jealousy (the realm of jealous gods)
* Ni purifies passion and desire (the human realm)
* Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (the animal realm)
* Me purifies poverty and possessiveness (the realm of the hungry ghosts)
* Hum purifies aggression and hatred (the realm of hell)

It is often found written on antique Swastikas.

The word Swastika is Sanskrit: su, meaning well, and asti, meaning to be. (Be well.)

Be well.

deo vindice: 'an absurdity in bronze.'


How does one translate the phrase deo vindice? It is engraved on the Confederate Seal. Most Southern Folks think it means God will vindicate. But it doesn’t.

Vindex (of which vindice is a form) could mean "protector" or "champion." And it could have been that the intended meaning was "with God as our champion."

But in classical Latin vindex often means "punisher." In this light, deo vindice becomes "with God as our punisher."

The term Deo Vindici was the creation of a House resolution fixing the motto as 'Deo Duce Vincemus'. Mr. Semmes moved to substitute ' Deo vindice majores aemulamur.' 'Deo vindice' was finally triumphant."

In the speech made by Mr. Semmes on that occasion: "MR. PRESIDENT…The committee has been greatly exercised [emotional] on this subject, and it has been extremely difficult to come to any satisfactory conclusion. This is a difficulty, however, incident to the subject, and all that we have to do is to avoid what Visconti calls 'an absurdity in bronze.'