Religion chapter
Buddhism Chapter
Sigala's honoring his father[edit]
The Sigalovada Sutta takes place when Lord Buddha encountered a youth called Sigala in his morning stroll. The young man, in drenched attire, prostrated and worshipped the four compass direction (East, South, West and North), plus the Earth (Down) and the Sky (Up). When asked by Lord Buddha why he did so, the youth Sigala replied that he had been told by his late father to do so and he thought that it was right to uphold his father's wishes. Lord Buddha then, based on Sigala's point of view, taught him on how a noble one (Pali: ariya) should worship the Six directions.
Avoid evil ways[edit]
The Buddha first describes fourteen evil ways that should be avoided by a householder. The Buddha enumerates these evil ways to be avoided as:
the four defilements of action:[8]
taking life (panatipato)
stealing (adinnadanam)
sexual misconduct (kamesu micchacaro)[9]
lying (musavado)
the four causes of evil action:
desire (chanda)
hate (dosa)
ignorance (moha)
fear (bhaya)
the six ways of squandering wealth:
indulging in intoxicants
wandering the streets at inappropriate times
frequenting public spectacle
compulsive gambling
malevolent companionship
habitual idleness
Choose true friends[edit]
The Buddha then elaborated on the importance of having and being a true friend, as he described what true friends are; and what true friends are not; and, how true friends will aid in attaining a blissful life.
Protect close relationships[edit]
Finally, returning to the topic of the six directions, the Buddha described the Four Compass Direction as : parents (East), teachers (South), wife[10] (West), and friends and colleagues (North), and the two vertical directions as: ascetics and Brahmins (Up) and the Servants (Down). He elaborated on how to respect and support them, and how in turn the Six will return the kindness and support.
The householder's commitments and the reciprocal acts of those he honors, as identified by the Buddha, are represented below in accordance with the four directions on the horizontal plane (east, south, west and north):
North
FRIENDS
commitments reciprocal acts
generosity
kind words
helpfulness
impartiality
integrity supportiveness
protect your wealth
provide shelter
loyalty
honor your family
West
WIFE
commitments reciprocal acts
honor her
respect her
fidelity
share authority
provide gifts organize duties
hospitality
fidelity
wise budgeting
skillfulness
East
PARENTS
commitments reciprocal acts
support them
fulfill their duties
honor traditions
deserve inheritance
honor their passing restrain from evil
nurture goodness
teach skills
arrange marriage
provide inheritance
South
TEACHERS
commitments reciprocal acts
rise to greet them
attend to them
eager receptivity
serve them
master their teaching thoroughly instruct
ensure comprehension
provide well-roundedness
provide referrals
ensure safety
Nadir
WORKERS
commitments reciprocal acts
apt work
just wages
health care
perks
leave time rise early
stay late
no stealing
work well
allegiance
To the left are shown the householder's commitments to and the reciprocal acts of employees and servants (representing the nadir, below the practitioner's body).
To the right are shown the householder's commitments to and the reciprocal acts of religious guides (representing the zenith, above the practitioner's body).
Zenith
ASCETICS
commitments reciprocal acts
loving acts
loving speech
loving thoughts
hospitality
material support restrain from evil
nurture goodness
lovingkindness
enlighten
clarify
teach goodness
QMRThe Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta[1][note 1] (MN 10: The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta[2] (DN 22: The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, acting as the foundation for mindfulness meditational practice. These suttas (discourses) stress the practice of sati (mindfulness) "for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna."[note 2]
According to Anālayo (2006, pp. 29–30), Thanissaro (2000) and Nyanaponika (1996, pp. 9–10), part of the reason for the variety in this title's translation has to do with how the compound Pāli word "satipaṭṭhāna" is analyzed. It can be interpreted as "sati-paṭṭhāna" ("foundation of mindfulness") or "sati-upaṭṭhāna" ("presence of mindfulness").[note 3]
In regard to the prefix "Maha-" in the Pāli title of DN 22, this simply means "great," or "larger" and likely refers to DN 22's expanded section on mindfulness of the Fourth Noble Truths.
Two suttas that focus on practice are the Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing) and the Satipatthana (Four Foundations of Mindfulness).
The Anapanasati Sutta translations and commentaries include one by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa’s Mindfulness with Breathing for Serious Beginners, Larry Rosenberg’s book Breath by Breath, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Breathe! You Are Alive.
Satipatthana Sutta translations and commentaries include the Thanissaro’s, Soma Thera’s The Way of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Transformation and Healing, and Goenka’s Satipatthana Sutta Discourses.
Contents of the Theravada version[edit]
In this sutta, the Buddha identifies four domains to be mindful of (satipatthana): body (kāyā), sensations/feelings(vedanā), mind/consciousness (cittā)) and elements of the Buddhist teachings (dhammas). These are then further broken down into the following sections and subsections:
1. Body (Kāyā)
Breathing (also see the Anapanasati Sutta)
Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Lying Down)
Clear Comprehending
Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body
Reflections on Material Elements
Cemetery Contemplations
2. Sensations/Feelings (Vedanā)
pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings
worldly or spiritual feelings
3. Mind/Consciousness (Cittā)[note 4]
lust (sarāgaṃ) or without lust (vītarāgaṃ)
hate (sadosaṃ) or without hate (vītadosaṃ)
delusion (samohaṃ) or without delusion (vītamohaṃ)
contracted (saṅkhittaṃ) or scattered (vikkhittaṃ)
lofty (mahaggataṃ) or not lofty (amahaggataṃ)[note 5]
surpassable (sa-uttaraṃ) or unsurpassed (anuttaraṃ)[note 6]
quieted (samāhitaṃ) or not quieted (asamāhitaṃ)
released (vimuttaṃ) or not released (avimuttaṃ)
4 Elements of the Buddhist teachings (Dhammā)[note 8]
The Hindrances
The Aggregates of Clinging
The Sense-Bases and their Fetters
The Factors of Enlightenment
The Four Noble Truths
QMRContents of the Chinese Sarvastivadin version[edit]
The Sarvāstivāda Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra differs in some ways from the Theravada version, including postures as the first contemplation instead of breathing for example. According to Bhikkhu Sujato, it seems to emphasize samatha or calm abiding, while the Theravadin version emphasizes Vipassana or insight.[12] The text also often refers to 'bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs' instead of just male bhikkhus.
1. Body (Kāyā)
Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Lying Down)
Clear Comprehending
Cutting off thought
Suppressing thought (see Vitakkasanthana Sutta)
Breathing
The first dhyāna and simile
The second dhyāna and simile
The third dhyāna and simile
The fourth dhyāna and simile
Perception of light (nimitta)
Basis of reviewing
Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body
Reflections on Material Elements
Cemetery Contemplations
2. Sensations/Feelings (Vedanā)
pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings
worldly or spiritual feelings
3. Mind/Consciousness (Cittā)
lust or without lust
hate or without hate
confused or without confusion
defiled or without defilement
disctracted or not distracted
with obstacles or without obstacles
tense or not not tense
bound or boundless
concentrated or not concentrated
liberated or not liberated
4. Elements of the Buddhist teachings (Dhammā)
The Sense-Bases
The Hindrances
The Factors of Enlightenment
Personality-based typography[edit]
experiential orientation
(character)
affective
(extrovert) cognitive
(introvert)
reactivity /
temperament slow body mind
quick sensations mental contents
According to Analāyo[13] and Soma[14] the Papañcasudani recommends a different satipaṭṭhāna depending on whether a person:
tends more toward affective craving or intellectual speculation; and,
is more measured in their responses or quick reacting.
Based on these two dimensions the commentary's recommended personality-based satipaṭṭhāna is reflected in the grid shown at right.
Soma (2003, p. xxiv) adds that all practitioners (regardless of their character and temperament) should also practice mindfulness of Postures (moving, standing, sitting, lying down) and Clear Understanding, about which he writes: "The whole practice of mindfulness depends on the correct grasp of the exercises included in the two parts referred to here."
Single-focused, successive and simultaneous practices[edit]
There are a variety of ways that one could use the methods described in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta including:
1. Focus on a single method.[note 9] The method most written about in the English language is that of mindfulness of breath.[15]
2. Practice the various methods individually in succession.
3. Maintain breath mindfulness as a primary object while using other methods to address non-breath stimuli.[note 10]
4. Practice multiple methods either in tandem or in a context-driven manner.[note 11]
QMRCanonical commentary[edit]
While the nikayas do not elaborate on what the Buddha meant by sampajañña, the Pali commentaries analyze it further in terms of four contexts for one's comprehension:[9]
purpose (Pāli: sātthaka): refraining from activities irrelevant to the path.
suitability (sappāya): pursuing activities in a dignified and careful manner.
domain (gocara):[10] maintaining sensory restraint consistent with mindfulness.
non-delusion (asammoha): seeing the true nature of reality (see three characteristics).
QMRAtanatiya Sutta is the 32nd Sutta(1) described in the Digha Nikaya ("Long Discourses of Buddha").[1] The King Vessavana gave the Buddha a poem for his followers, male and female, monastic and lay, to recite for protection from evil spirits.
King Vessavana[edit]
Vulture's Peak at Rajgir, India where was the "Atanatiya" conference held.
On one occasion the Blessed One was living on the Vulture's Peak near Rajagaha (Rajagir).
The Four Heavenly Kings(2) having placed a guard over the four quarters, with a large army of Yakkhas, of Gandhabbas, of Kumbhandas, of Nagas; having placed troops; having placed a barricade of soldiers on four sides, came to the presence of the Blessed One, when the night was far advanced, illuminating the entire Vulture's Peak with their surpassing radiance, saluted the Blessed One and sat on one side. From among the (attendant) Yakkhas, some saluted the Blessed One, and sat on one side; some exchanged greetings with the Blessed One conversing in a friendly and courteous manner, and sat on one side; some saluted him with clasped hands, and sat on one side; some announced their name and lineage, and sat on one side; some sat on one side in silence.
QMRAnapanasati Sutta- 16 is the squares of the quadrant model and the quadrant model is comprised of four tetrads/ quadrants.
The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Pāli) or Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra (Sanskrit), "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse," is a discourse that details the Buddha's instruction on using awareness of the breath (anapana) as an initial focus for meditation.
In Theravada Buddhism[edit]
The Theravadin version of the Anapanasati Sutta lists sixteen steps to relax and compose the mind. According to Ajahn Sujato, the ultimate goal of Anapanasati is to bear insight and understanding into the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna), the Seven Factors of Awakening (Bojjhangas), and ultimately Nibbana.[1]
The Anapanasati Sutta is a celebrated text among Theravada Buddhists.[2] In the Theravada Pali Canon, this discourse is the 118th discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) and is thus frequently represented as "MN 118".[3] In addition, in the Pali Text Society edition of the Pali Canon, this discourse is in the Majjhima Nikaya (M)'s third volume, starting on the 78th page and is thus sometimes referenced as "M iii 78".
In East Asian Buddhism[edit]
The Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra, as the text was known to Sanskritic early Buddhist schools in India, exists in several forms. There is a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra in the Ekottara Āgama preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon. This version also teaches about the Four Dhyānas, recalling past lives, and the Divine Eye. The earliest translation of Ānāpānasmṛti instructions, however, was by An Shigao as a separate sutra (T602) in the 2nd century CE.[4] It is not part of the Sarvastivada Madhyama Āgama, but is instead an isolated text, although the sixteen steps are found elsewhere in the Madhyama and Samyukta Āgamas.[5] The versions preserved in the Samyukta Agama are SA 815, SA 803, SA 810–812 and these three sutras have been translated into English by Thich Nhat Hanh.[6]
Core instructions[edit]
Next, the 16 objects or instructions are listed, generally broken into four tetrads, as follows:[11]
First Tetrad: Contemplation of the Body (kāya)
Discerning the in and out breathing
Discerning long or short breaths
Experiencing the whole body (sabbakāaya)
Calming bodily formations
Second Tetrad: Contemplation of the Feeling (vedanā)
Being sensitive to rapture (pīti)[12]
Being sensitive to pleasure (sukha)
Being sensitive to mental fabrication (citta-saṃskāra)
Calming mental fabrication
Third Tetrad: Contemplation of the Mind (citta)
Being sensitive to the mind
Satisfying the mind
Steadying the mind
Releasing the mind
Fourth Tetrad: Contemplation of the Mental Objects (dhammā)
Dwelling on impermanence
Dwelling on dispassion
Dwelling on cessation
Dwelling on relinquishment
16 is the squares of the quadrant model
Discourses including the core instructions[edit]
In addition to being in the Anapanasati Sutta, all four of the aforementioned core instructional tetrads can also be found in the following canonical discourses:
the "Greater Exhortation to Rahula Discourse" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62);[14]
sixteen discourses of the Samyutta Nikaya's (SN) chapter 54 (Anapana-samyutta): SN 54.1, SN 54.3–SN 54.16, SN 54.20;[15]
the "To Girimananda Discourse" (Girimananda Sutta, AN 10.60); and,[16]
the Khuddaka Nikaya's Patisambhidamagga's section on the breath, Anapanakatha.[17]
The first tetrad identified above (relating to bodily mindfulness) can also be found in the following discourses:
the "Great Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Mahasatipatthana Sutta, DN 22)[18] and, similarly, the "Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Satipatthana Sutta, MN 10),[19] in the section on Body Contemplation; and,
the "Mindfulness concerning the Body Discourse" (Kayagatasati Sutta, MN 119) as the first type of body-centered meditation described.[20]
Expanded contexts[edit]
Great fruit, great benefit[edit]
The Anapanasati Sutta refers to sixteenfold breath-mindfulness as being of "great fruit" (mahapphalo) and "great benefit" (mahānisaṃso). "The Simile of the Lamp Discourse" (SN 54.8) states this as well and expands on the various fruits and benefits, including:
unlike with other meditation subjects, with the breath one's body and eyes do not tire and one's mind, through non-clinging, becomes free of taints[27]
householder memories and aspirations are abandoned[28]
one dwells with equanimity towards repulsive and unrepulsive objects
one enters and dwells in the four material absorptions (rupajhana) and the four immaterial absorptions (arupajhana)
all feelings (vedana) are seen as impermanent, are detached from and, upon the death of the body, "will become cool right here." [29]
Pali commentaries[edit]
In traditional Pali literature, the 5th-century CE commentary (atthakatha) for this discourse can be found in two works, both attributed to Ven. Buddhaghosa:
the Visuddhimagga provides commentary on the four tetrads.
the Papañcasūdanī provides commentary on the remainder of this discourse.[30]
Interpretations[edit]
Different traditions (such as Sri Lankan practitioners who follow the Visuddhimagga versus Thai forest monks) interpret a number of aspects of this sutta in different ways. Below are some of the matters that have multiple interpretations:
Are the 16 core instructions to be followed sequentially or concurrently (Bodhi, 2000, p. 1516; Brahm, 2006, pp. 83–101; Rosenberg, 2004)?
Must one have reached the first jhana before (or in tandem with) pursuing the second tetrad (Rosenberg, 2004)?
In the preparatory instructions, does the word "parimukham" mean: around the mouth (as favored by Goenka, 1998, p. 28), in the chest area (as supported by a use of the word in the Vinaya), in the forefront of one's mind (as favored at times by Thanissaro) or simply "sets up mindfulness before him" (per Bodhi in Wallace & Bodhi, 2006, p. 5) or "to the fore" (Thanissaro, 2006d) or "mindfulness alive" (Piyadassi, 1999) ?
In the first tetrad's third instruction, does the word "sabbakaya" mean: the whole "breath body" (as indicated in the sutta itself [Nanamoli, 1998, p. 7: "I say that this, bhikkhus, is a certain body among the bodies, namely, respiration."], as perhaps supported by the Patisambhidamagga [Nanamoli, 1998, p. 75], the Visuddhimagga [1991, pp. 266–267], Nyanaponika [1965, pp. 109–110], Buddhadasa [1988, p. 35], and Brahm [2006, p. 84]) or the whole "flesh body" (as supported by Bhikkhu Bodhi's revised second translation of the sutta [in Nanamoli & Bodhi, 2001, see relevant footnote to MN 118], Goenka [1988, pp. 29–30], Nhat Hanh [1988, p. 26] and Rosenberg [1998, pp. 40, 43]), and the commentary, which explains that the "body among bodies" refers to the wind element as opposed to other ways of relating to the body?
QMRSatipaṭṭhāna is the Pāli word for the Buddhist concept of the establishment or foundations of mindfulness. The corresponding word in Sanskrit (Skt.) is smṛtyupasthāna and in Chinese it is ‘mindfulness-place’ (念處).
Satipaṭṭhāna is a compound word, consisting of sati ("to remember"), and upaṭṭhāna ("attendance", underscoring the mental qualities co-existent with or antecedent to mindfulness) or paṭṭhāna ("setting forth," "starting point," "foundation," underscoring the object used to gain mindfulness).
The fourfold "establishment of mindfulness" (Pāli cattāro satipaṭṭhānā) is set out in the Satipatthana Sutta for attaining and maintaining moment-by-moment mindfulness or retention (Sati) of four domains, "constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths."[1] The four domains are:[2]
mindfulness of the body;[3][web 1]
mindfulness of feelings or sensations (vedanā);[4]
mindfulness of mind or consciousness (citta);[5] and
mindfulness of dhammās (the elements of the Buddhist teachings).[6]
The Buddha referred to the fourfold establishment of mindfulness as a "direct" or "one-way path" for purification and the realisation of nirvana.[note 1]
The modern Theravadan Buddhism and the Vipassana or Insight Meditation Movement promote satipatthana as key techniques for achieving mindfulness, promoting "mindfulness" as meaning careful attention instead of the recollection of the dhamma.
QMRQualities of the jhānas[edit]
The Pāli canon describes eight progressive states of jhāna. Four are called meditations of form (rūpa jhāna), and four are formless meditations (arūpa jhāna).
The Rupa Jhānas[edit]
There are four stages of deep collectedness which are called the Rupa Jhāna (Fine-material Jhāna).
Jhana and samadhi[edit]
According to Henepola Gunaratana the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration." The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha," serenity.[37]
In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness.[37] Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as
... the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object... the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.84-85; PP.85).[37]
In the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning. Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical. Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness.[37]
Samadhi also covers another type of concentration, namely "momentary concentration" (khanikasamadhi), "the mobile mental stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena."[37]
Rupa Jhana related factors[edit]
The rupa-jhānas are described according to the nature of the mental factors which are present in these states:
Movement of the mind onto the object (vitakka; Sanskrit: vitarka)
Retention of the mind on the object (vicāra)
Joy (pīti; Sanskrit: prīti)
Happiness (sukha)
Equanimity (upekkhā; Sanskrit: upekṣā)
One-pointedness (ekaggatā; Sanskrit: ekāgratā)[note 3]
Qualities of the Four Rupa Jhanas[edit]
Main article: Rupajhana
For each Jhāna are given a set of qualities which are present in that jhana:[38]
First Jhāna — the five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss remains. Only the subtlest of mental movement remains, perceivable in its absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to form unwholesome intentions ceases. The remaining qualities are: "directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"
Second Jhāna — all mental movement utterly ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions ceases as well. The remaining qualities are: "internal assurance, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"
Third Jhāna — one-half of bliss (joy) disappears. The remaining qualities are: "equanimity-pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"
Fourth Jhāna — The other half of bliss (happiness) disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti and sukha). The breath is said to cease temporarily in this state. The remaining qualities are: "a feeling of equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of awareness; unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention".[38]
Psychic powers[edit]
Traditionally, the fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic powers (abhijñā).[note 4]
The Arupa Jhānas[edit]
See also: Arūpajhāna and Formless Realm
Beyond the four jhānas lie four attainments, referred to in the early texts as aruppas. These are also referred to in commentarial literature as immaterial/the formless jhānas (arūpajhānas), also translated as The Formless Dimensions, in distinction from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas. The immaterial attainments have more to do with expanding, while the Jhanas (1-4) focus on concentration. The enlightenment of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.
The four formless jhanas are:
Dimension of Infinite Space - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of space, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]
Dimension of Infinite Consciousness - In this dimension the following quailities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]
Dimension of Nothingness - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of nothingness, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"
Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception No qualities to be "ferreted out" are being mentioned for this dimension.[38]
Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine Jhanas taught by the Buddha, they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Path number eight is "Samma Samadhi" (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the Jhanas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".
Nirodha
Various possibilities for liberation[edit]
Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[13][3][page needed][2][page needed] Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility:[49]
Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;
Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas and the four Arupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;
Liberating insight itself suffices;
The four Rupa Jhanas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the Buddha.[50]
QMRThe Mettā Sutta is the name used for two Buddhist discourses (Pali, sutta) found in the Pali Canon. The one, more often chanted by Theravadin monks, is also referred to as Karaṇīyamettā Sutta after the opening word, Karaṇīyam, "(This is what) should be done."[1] It is found in the Suttanipāta (Sn 1.8) and Khuddakapāṭha (Khp 9). It is ten verses in length and it extols both the virtuous qualities and the meditative development of mettā (Pali), traditionally translated as "loving kindness"[2] or "friendliness."[3]
The other, also chanted by Theravadin Buddhist monks at times, extols the benefits of the practice of mettā (Pali) and it is found in the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 11.15). is also referred to as Mettānisamsa Sutta. This article will focus on the first version.
In Theravāda Buddhism's Pali Canon, mettā is one of the four "divine abodes" (Pali: brahmavihāra) recommended for cultivating interpersonal harmony and meditative concentration (see, for instance, kammaṭṭhāna). In later canonical works (such as the Cariyāpiṭaka), mettā is one of ten "perfections" (pāramī) that facilitates the attainment of awakening (Bodhi) and is a prerequisite to attaining Buddhahood.
According to post-canonical Sutta Nipāta commentary, the background story for the Mettā Sutta is that a group of monks were harassed by tree-dwelling deities in a forest; when the monks seek the Buddha's aid in dealing with the deities, the Buddha teaches the monks the Mettā Sutta for them to recite regularly; the monks do so and, as a result, win over the deities' good will.[4][5]
QMRThe brahmavihāras (sublime attitudes, lit. "abodes of brahma") are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables (Sanskrit: apramāṇa, Pāli: appamaññā).[1][2]
According to the Metta Sutta, Gautama Buddha held that cultivation of the four immeasurables has the power to cause the practitioner to be reborn into a "Brahmā realm" (Pāli: Brahmaloka).[3] The meditator is instructed to radiate out to all beings in all directions the states of:
loving-kindness or benevolence
compassion
empathetic joy
equanimity
The four immeasurables are also found in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (1.33),[4] a text composed long after the beginning of Buddhism and substantially influenced by Buddhism.[5][6] These virtues are also highly regarded by Buddhists as powerful antidotes to negative mental states (non-virtues) such as avarice, anger and pride.
Etymology & translations[edit]
Pāli: cattāri brahmavihārā
Sanskrit: चत्वारि ब्रह्मविहाराः (IAST: catvāri brahmavihārāḥ)
Brahmavihāra may be parsed as "Brahmā" and "vihāra"; which is often rendered into English as "sublime" or "divine abodes".[7]
Apramāṇa, usually translated as "the immeasurables," means "boundlessness, infinitude, a state that is illimitable".[8] When developed to a high degree in meditation, these attitudes are said to make the mind "immeasurable" and like the mind of the loving Brahmā (gods).[9]
Other translations:
English: four divine abodes, four divine emotions, four sublime attitudes.
East Asia: (traditional Chinese: 四無量心; ; pinyin: Sì wúliàng xīn; Korean: 사무량심; Vietnamese: Tứ Vô Lượng Tâm; literally: "immeasurable states of mind, from apramāṇa-citta"), (traditional Chinese: 四等(心); ; pinyin: sì děng; literally: "four equalities/universals"), (traditional Chinese: 四梵行; ; pinyin: sì fàn xíng; literally: "noble Brahma-acts/characteristics").[10]
Tibetan: ཚད་མེད་བཞི, Wylie: tshad med bzhi or Tibetan: ཚངས་གནས་བཞི་, Wylie: tshangs gnas bzhi.
The four immeasurables are:
Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā, Sanskrit: maitrī) towards all: the hope that a person will be well; "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."[11]
Compassion (Pāli and Sanskrit: karuṇā): the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; "the wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."[11]
Empathetic joy (Pāli and Sanskrit: muditā): joy in the accomplishments of a person—oneself or another; sympathetic joy; "the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."[11]
Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā, Sanskrit: upekṣā): learning to accept loss and gain, good-repute and ill-repute, praise and censure, sorrow and happiness (Attha Loka Dhamma),[12] all with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others. Equanimity is "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind—not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."[13]
Loving-kindness and compassion can both be viewed as hopes for the future leading, where possible, to action aimed at realizing those hopes. Joy and equanimity can be seen as attitudes useful for reflecting on what has already past and, through this reflection, present us with an opportunity to apply knowledge to our actions. Consequently while the four immeasurables might be delineated as attitudes to the future or past, they contain the seed of the "present" within their core; as they manifest new ways to act (a living embodied practice). In this context, a living bodied practice can be a dedicated intention that we are in the "here and now"; that is to say we experience both a tranquil awareness of at once a) our own and other being's gifts and accomplishments and b) tranquil awareness of moments where our own and other being's actions do not reflect the four immeasurables.[14]
All we experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.
All we experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind, made by mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind
And happiness follows like a shadow that never leaves.
— Dhammapada 1–2
Central to Buddhist spiritual practice is a deep appreciation of the present moment and the possibilities that exist in the present for waking up and being free of suffering.[15] The four immeasurables can represent a way of experiencing the past and the future in an enlightened manner, a manner that avoids suffering and encourages peace and happiness.
Brahmavihāra practice in the Visuddhimagga[edit]
The four immeasurables are explained in The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), written in the fifth century CE by the scholar and commentator Buddhaghoṣa. They are often practiced by taking each of the immeasurables in turn and applying it to oneself (a practice taught by many contemporary teachers and monastics that was established after the Pali Suttas were completed), and then to others nearby, and so on to everybody in the world, and to everybody in all universes.
Presence of comparable practice in Jainism[edit]
In an authoritative Jain scripture, the Tattvartha Sutra (Chapter 7, sutra 11), there is a mention of four right sentiments: Maitri, pramoda, karunya, madhyastha.
"Benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the insolent and ill-behaved"
A Cavern of Treasures (mDzod-phug)[edit]
A Cavern of Treasures (Tibetan: མཛོད་ཕུག, Wylie: mdzod phug) is a Bonpo terma uncovered by Shenchen Luga (Tibetan: གཤེན་ཆེན་ཀླུ་དགའ, Wylie: gshen-chen klu-dga') in the early eleventh century. A segment of it enshrines a Bonpo evocation of the four immeasurables.[19] Martin (n.d.: p. 21) identifies the importance of this scripture for studies of the Zhang-Zhung language.[20]
QMRThe Shulba Sutras or Śulbasūtras (Sanskrit śulba: "string, cord, rope") are sutra texts belonging to the Śrauta ritual and containing geometry related to fire-altar construction.
The Shulba Sutras are part of the larger corpus of texts called the Shrauta Sutras, considered to be appendices to the Vedas. They are the only sources of knowledge of Indian mathematics from the Vedic period. Unique fire-altar shapes were associated with unique gifts from the Gods. For instance, "he who desires heaven is to construct a fire-altar in the form of a falcon"; "a fire-altar in the form of a tortoise is to be constructed by one desiring to win the world of Brahman" and "those who wish to destroy existing and future enemies should construct a fire-altar in the form of a rhombus".[1]
The four major Shulba Sutras, which are mathematically the most significant, are those attributed to Baudhayana, Manava, Apastamba and Katyayana.[1] Their language is late Vedic Sanskrit, pointing to a composition roughly during the 1st millennium BC,[1] The oldest is the sutra attributed to Baudhayana, possibly compiled around 800 BCE to 600 BCE.[1] while the youngest content may date to about 200 CE.[2]
Apastamba's rules for building right angles in altars use the following four Pythagorean triples:[2][7]
(3, 4, 5)
(5, 12, 13)
(8, 15, 17)
(12, 35, 37)
The same triples are easily derived from an old Babylonian rule, which makes Mesopotamian influence on the sutras likely.[2]
QMRBaudhāyana Dharmasūtra[edit]
The Dharmasūtra of Baudhāyana like that of Apastamba also forms a part of the larger Kalpasutra. Likewise, it is composed of praśnas which literally means ‘questions’ or books. The structure of this Dharmasūtra is not very clear because it came down in an incomplete manner. Moreover, the text has undergone alterations in the form of additions and explanations over a period of time. The praśnas consist of the Srautasutra and other ritual treatises, the Sulvasutra which deals with vedic geometry, and the Grhyasutra which deals with domestic rituals.[3]
There are no commentaries on this Dharmasūtra with the exception of Govindasvāmin's Vivaraṇa. The date of the commentary is uncertain but according to Olivelle it is not very ancient. Also the commentary is inferior in comparison to that of Haradatta on Āpastamba and Gautama.[4]
This Dharmasūtra is divided into four books. Olivelle states that Book One and the first sixteen chapters of Book Two are the ‘Proto-Baudhayana’[3] even though this section has undergone alteration. Scholars like Bühler and Kane agree that the last two books of the Dharmasūtra are later additions. Chapter 17 and 18 in Book Two lays emphasis on various types of ascetics and acetic practices.[3]
The first book is primarily devoted to the student and deals in topics related to studentship. It also refers to social classes, the role of the king, marriage, and suspension of Vedic recitation. Book two refers to penances, inheritance, women, householder, orders of life, ancestral offerings. Book three refers to holy householders, forest hermit and penances. Book four primarily refers to the yogic practices and penances along with offenses regarding marriage.[5]
Patañjali divided his Yoga Sutras into four chapters or books (Sanskrit pada), containing in all 196 aphorisms, divided as follows:[17][18][19]
Samadhi Pada[17][18][19] (51 sutras). Samadhi refers to a blissful state where the yogi is absorbed into the One. Samadhi is the main technique the yogin learns by which to dive into the depths of the mind to achieve Kaivalya. The author describes yoga and then the nature and the means to attaining samādhi. This chapter contains the famous definitional verse: "Yogaś citta-vritti-nirodhaḥ" ("Yoga is the restraint of mental modifications").[20]
Sadhana Pada[17][18][19] (55 sutras). Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for "practice" or "discipline". Here the author outlines two forms of Yoga: Kriya Yoga (Action Yoga) and Ashtanga Yoga (Eightfold or Eightlimbed Yoga).
Kriya Yoga is closely related to Karma Yoga, which is also expounded in Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Arjuna is encouraged by Krishna to act without attachment to the results or fruit of action and activity. It is the yoga of selfless action and service.
Ashtanga Yoga describes the eight limbs that together constitute Rāja Yoga.
Vibhuti Pada[17][18][19] (56 sutras). Vibhuti is the Sanskrit word for "power" or "manifestation". 'Supra-normal powers' (Sanskrit: siddhi) are acquired by the practice of yoga. Combined simultaneous practice of Dhāraṇā, Dhyana and Samādhi is referred to as Samyama, and is considered a tool of achieving various perfections, or Siddhis. The temptation of these powers should be avoided and the attention should be fixed only on liberation. The purpose of using samadhi is not to gain siddhis but to achieve Kaivalya. Siddhis are but distractions from Kaivalaya and are to be discouraged. Siddhis are but maya, or illusion.
Kaivalya Pada[17][18][19] (34 sutras). Kaivalya literally means "isolation", but as used in the Sutras stands for emancipation, liberation and used interchangeably with moksha (liberation), which is the goal of yoga. The Kaivalya Pada describes the process of liberation and the reality of the transcendental ego.
QMRThe Nyāya sutras asserts and then discusses four reliable means of obtaining knowledge (pramāṇa), viz., Perception, Inference, Comparison and Reliable
QMRThe Brahma Sūtras consist of 555 aphorisms or sūtras, in four chapters (adhyāya), with each chapter divided into four parts (pāda).[22] Each part is further subdivided into sections called Adhikaraņas with sutras.[22] Some scholars, such as Francis Clooney, call the Adhikaraņas as "case studies" with a defined hermeneutic process. Therefore there are 16 parts. There are 16 squares in the quadrant model. Brahma has four heads
QMRThe Kausitaki Upanishad is a prose text, divided into four chapters, containing 6,[11] 15, 9 and 20 verses respectively.
There is some evidence that the Kaushitaki Upanishad, in some manuscripts, had nine chapters, but these manuscripts are either lost or yet to be found.[
QMRStructure[edit]
Kena Upanishad has three parts: 13 verses in the first part, 15 paragraphs in the second part, and 6 paragraphs in the epilogue. These are distributed in four khaṇḍas (खण्ड, sections or volumes). The first Khanda has 8 verses, the second has 5 verses. The third Khanda has 12 paragraphs, while the fourth khanda has the remaining 9 (3 paragraphs of main text and 6 paragraphs of the epilogue).[2][8]
The first two Khandas of Kena Upanishad are poems, the last two are prose, with one exception. Paragraph 9 is prose and structurally out of place, which has led scholars to state that the paragraph 9 was inserted or is a corrupted version of the original manuscript in a more modern era.[2] Another odd structural feature of Kena Upanishad's poetic Khandas is verse 3, which has 8 lines (typically marked as 3a and 3b), while all other poetic verses in the first two sections are only 4 lines of mathematical metric construction.
There are some differences in the positioning of Kena Upanishad in manuscripts discovered in different parts of India. It is, for example, the ninth chapter of Talavakara Brahmana in south Indian manuscripts and as mentioned in the Bhasya (commentary) by Shankara,[14] while the Burnell manuscript of sections of Sama Veda[15] places it in the tenth Anuvaka of the fourth chapter (inside Jaiminia Brahmana).[16]
The Kena Upanishad is accepted as part of Sama Veda, but it is also found in manuscripts of Atharva collection. The difference between the two versions is minor and structural - in Sama Veda manuscripts, the Kena Upanishad has four sections, while the Atharva manuscripts show no such division into sections.[17
QMRThe Mundaka Upanishad is the source of the phrase Satyameva Jayate, which the national motto of India. It appears in its national emblem with four lions.
सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं[56]
Translation 1: Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood.[57]
Translation 2: Truth ultimately triumphs, not falsehood.[58]
Translation 3: The true prevails, not the untrue.[38]
— Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.6[45]
QMRIn the first chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad, Atman is asserted to have existed alone prior to the creation of the universe. It is this Atman, the Soul or the Inner Self, that is then portrayed as the creator of everything from itself and nothing, through heat. The text states that the Atman created the universe in stages. First came four entities: space, maram (earth, stars), maricih (light-atom) and apas (ur-water, cosmic fluid).[2] After these came into existence, came the cosmic self and eight psyches and principles (speech, in-breathing, sight, hearing, skin/hair, mind, out-breathing, reproductivity). Atman then created eight guardians corresponding to these psyches and principles.[2] Then, asserts Aitareya Upanishad, came the connective principles of hunger and thirst, where everything became interdependent on everything else through the principle of apana (digestion). Thereafter came man, who could not exist without a sense of Self and Soul (Atman). But this sense then began cogitating on itself, saying that "I am more than my sensory organs, I am more than my mind, I am more than my reproductive ability", and then asked (abridged),
कोऽहमिति Who am I?
— Aitareya Upanishad, Chapter 1, Hymn 11[2][5]
Paul Deussen summarizes the first chapter of Aitareya Upanishad as follows,
The world as a creation, the Man as the highest manifestation of the Atman who is also named as the Brahman - this is the basic idea of this section.
— Paul Deussen, Aitareya Upanishad, Chapter 1[6]
QMRThe long version of the Sanskrit Heart Sutra is a prose text of some 280 words. In the Chinese version of the short text attributed to Xuanzang (T251), it has 260 Chinese characters.[4] In English it is composed of sixteen sentences. This makes it one of the shortest texts in the Perfection of Wisdom genre, which contains scriptures in lengths up to 100,000 lines. "The Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Heart Sūtra) is much shorter than the other Perfection of Wisdom sūtras but it contains explicitly or implicitly the entire meaning of the longer Sutras."[5]
This sutra is classified by Edward Conze as belonging to the third of four periods in the development of the Prajnaparamita canon, although because it contains a mantra (sometimes called a dhāraṇī), it does overlap with the final, tantric phase of development according to this scheme, and is included in the tantra section of at least some editions of the Kangyur.[6] Conze estimates the sutra's date of origin to be 350 CE; some others consider it to be two centuries older than that.[7] Recent scholarship is unable to verify its existence before any date earlier than the 7th century CE.[8]
QMRThe 14th Dalai Lama explains the mantra[46] both as an instruction for practice and as a device for measuring one's own level of spiritual attainment, and translates it as "go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment". In the discourse, he gives a similar explanation to the four stages (the four "go"s) as in the previous paragraph.
QMRThe dictionary gives the meaning of the Sanskrit or Tamil expression, Sutram (सूत्रम्) or Sutra (सूत्र), as string or thread, formula, short sentence or aphoristic rule, girdle, stroke, yarn or plan. Unique to Sanskrit literature, Tamil literature and Pali literature of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, they are short cryptic sentences, methodically written as memory-aids, stringing step by step a particular topic or text in its entirety. There are hundreds of Sanskrit texts found written in the Sutra-format such as Kapila Sutram, Samkhya-pravachana Sutram, Brahma Sutra, Jaimini Sutram, Tatvartha Sutram, Kalpa Sutra, etc.[1]
QMRThe Dharmasutras[edit]
The Dharmasutras are the first four texts of the Dharmashastra tradition and they focus on the idea of dharma, the principal guide by which Hindus strive to live their lives. The Dharmasutras are written in concise prose, leaving much up to the educated reader to interpret.The most important of these texts are the sutras of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha.[13]
The Dharmasutras can be called the guidebooks of dharma as they contain the rules of conduct and rites as practiced in the Vedic schools. They discuss the duties of people at different stages of life like studenthood, householdership, retirement and renunciation. These stages are also called ashramas. They also discuss the rites and duties of kings, judicial matters, and even personal practices like the regulations in diet, offenses and expiations, daily oblations, and funerary practices.[13]
QMRMarked as its influence had been, the Pragatishila wave was already in decline by the close of the 1950s. Legendary writers of the previous era continued to produce notable works in the Navodaya style. In poetry, Bendre's Naku Tanti ("Four Strings", 1964) and Kuvempu's Aniketana (1964) stand out. V.K. Gokak brought out the innate insufficiencies of the more advanced western cultures in Indilla Nale (1965).[155] Navodaya-style novels continued to be successful with such noteworthy works as Karanth's Mookajjiya Kanasugalu ("Mookajji's visions", 1968), where Karanth explored the origins of man's faith in the mother goddess and the stages of evolution of civilisation. Kuvempu's Malegallali Madumagalu ("The Bride of the Hills", 1967) is about loving relationships that exist in every level of society
QMRThe Agamas (Sanskrit: आगम) are a collection of scriptures of several Hindu devotional schools.[1][2] The term literally means tradition or "that which has come down", and the Agama texts describe cosmology, epistemology, philosophical doctrines, precepts on meditation and practices, four kinds of yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship and ways to attain sixfold desires.[1][3] These canonical texts are in Sanskrit[1] and in south Indian languages such as Tamil (written in Grantha script and Tamil script).
QMREach Agama consists of four parts:[12][24]
Jnana pada , also called Vidya pada[12] – consists of doctrine, the philosophical and spiritual knowledge, knowledge of reality and liberation.
Yoga pada - precepts on yoga, the physical and mental discipline.
Kriya pada - consists of rules for rituals, construction of temples (Mandir); design principles for sculpting, carving, and consecration of idols of deities for worship in temples;[26] for different forms of initiations or diksha. This code is analogous to those in Puranas and in the Buddhist text of Sadhanamala.[12]
Charya pada - lays down rules of conduct, of worship (puja), observances of religious rites, rituals, festivals and prayaschittas.
QMRThe Saiva Agamas are found in four main schools - Kapala, Kalamukha, Pashupata and Shaiva—and number 28 in total as follows:
Kamikam
Yogajam
Chintyam
Karanam
Ajitham
Deeptham
Sukskmam
Sahasram
Ashuman
Suprabedham
Vijayam
Nishwasam
Swayambhuvam
Analam
Veeram
Rouravam
Makutam
Vimalam
Chandragnanam
Bimbam
Prodgeetham
Lalitham
Sidham
Santhanam
Sarvoktham
Parameshwaram
Kiranam
Vathulam
QMRVaikhanasa Agama[edit]
Main article: Vaikhanasa
Maharishi Vikhanasa is considered to have guided in the compilation of a set of Agamas named Vaikhānasa Agama. Sage Vikhanasa is conceptualized as a mind-born creation, i.e., Maanaseeka Utbhavar of Lord Narayana.[41] Originally Vikhanasa passed on the knowledge to nine disciples in the first manvantara -- Atri, Bhrigu, Marichi, Kashyapa, Vasishta, Pulaha, Pulasthya, Krathu and Angiras. However, only those of Bhrigu, Marichi, Kashyapa and Atri are extant today. The four rishis are said to have received the cult and knowledge of Vishnu from the first Vikahansa, i.e., the older Brahma in the Svayambhuva Manvanthara. Thus, the four sages Atri, Bhrigu, Marichi, Kashyapa, are considered the propagators of vaikhānasa śāstra. A composition of Sage Vikhanasa's disciple Marichi, namely, Ananda-Samhita states Vikhanasa prepared the Vaikhanasa Sutra according to a branch of Yajurveda and was Brahma himself
QMRQMRThe Mūlapariyāya Sutta (MN 1, The Root of all things or The Root Sequence) is a Theravada Buddhist discourse which "is one of the deepest and most difficult suttas in the Pali Canon." [1] This discourse analyzes the thinking process of four different types of people and shows how the arising of dukkha is due to an intricate process which begins with perception and can only be ended by insight into the true nature of reality.
In this first sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya, the Buddha looks at thought process of four kinds of persons - untaught ordinary persons (puthujjana), disciples of the higher training (a sekha, who has at least achieved stream entry), arahants, and the Tathagata and how they deal with the root or foundation (mūla) of suffering which is desire born of ignorance.
The first kind of person is said to be a regular person and hence ignorant of the dhamma. The Buddha states how this kind of person deals with experience in the following manner:
Perceiving earth as earth, he conceives [things] about earth, he conceives [things] in earth, he conceives [things] coming out of earth, he conceives earth as 'mine,' he delights in earth. Why is that? Because he has not comprehended it, I tell you.
The discourse then continues to list all of the things the ordinary ignorant person conceives (maññanā) and delights in. These objects of thought are termed the 'Twenty-four bases (vatthus) of cognition' are range from the most gross aspects of experience to the most subtle. The vatthus are:[2]
The four elements - ie matter.
The different beings in the universe and their planes of existence, from normal beings to the divine realms of the devas and Brahma.
The dimensions of "infinite space", "infinite consciousness", "infinite nothingness" and "neither perception nor non perception".
Four classes of sense data - the seen, heard, sensed (smelling, tasting and touching) and cognizance.
The abstract categories of diversity, unity and totality or “The All.”
Nibbāna.
The ordinary process of the untaught world-ling's conception of the world is filled with ignorance and conceptual proliferation (papañca) from the initial moment of sensory perception. This leads to conceiving 'things in' and 'coming out' of whatever he perceives. This refers to how everyone develops views (diṭṭhi) about how things are, how they should be and how they should relate to them, from simple views to complex metaphysical speculations. People also develop conceptions of themselves as having a solid Self, and they also become attached to things when they delight (nandi) in them which leads to craving and clinging. Ordinary people conceive of things by identifying with them, by wanting to possess them, by seeing their self as being contained in them or by seeing their self as being separate from them.[3] This process begins at perception, which is already distorted for the untaught person who conceives and projects self-hood, solidity and expectations into his field of experience.[4] The stage of "conceiving" (mañati) is really a state of cognitive distortion, which is led by the three defilements of craving (taṇhā), conceit (māna), and views (diṭṭhi). It is in this sense that the untaught person is said to be deluded.
This process is an outline of the interdependent arising of suffering in the minds different kinds of people and how this process is counteracted by those who have taken up the teachings of the Buddha. The sutta goes on to elucidate how each other type of person gets closer and closer to the goal of nibbana by knowing things as they are and not delighting and clinging to them. The disciple in the higher training attempts not to conceive of things in a wrong way by not identifying with them and by not clinging to them. He does this by directly knowing things as they are, ie as impermanent, suffering, and non-self. He disciple must be vigilant because he has still not eradicated subtle mental dispositions of clinging.[5] The arahant and the Tathagata are awakened beings and therefore see directly into the truth of reality with no distorted conceptions, having uprooted all trace of the three defilements.
According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, this sutta is a response to the Indian philosophical school called Samkhya and parallels their philosophy while at the same time critiquing it. This school was said to have been founded by a philosopher called Uddalaka who posited there was a "root" principle which was in all things and gave birth to all things, a sort of "ground of being"[6] called Mula-Prakṛti. According to the Theravadan commentaries, the monks listening in this sutta were Brahmins who even after being ordained continued to hold to some of their previous views. This helps explains why the sutta ends with the very rare sentence: "Displeased, the monks did not delight in the Blessed One's words."[6]
QMRFour Dharma Seals are the four characteristics which reflect true Buddhist teaching .[1][2] It is said that if a teaching contains the Four Dharma Seals then it can be considered Buddha Dharma.[3] although the Dharma Seals were all introduced after Gautama Buddha died.[4]
The Four Seals[edit]
The Four Seals are as follows:[1]
All compounded things are impermanent
All conditioned phenomena and experiences are unsatisfactory
All phenomena are non-self
Nirvana is true peace
As suffering is not an inherent aspect of existence[4] sometimes the second seal is omitted to make Three Dharma Seals
QMRThe Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta (Pali for "Right View Discourse") is a Pali Canon discourse that provides an elaboration on the Buddhist notion of "right view" by the Buddha's chief disciple, Ven. Sariputta. The Chinese canon contains two corresponding translations,[1] the Maha Kotthita Sutra (大拘絺羅經)[2] and the Kotthita Sutra (拘絺羅經).[3]
QMRCommentarial literature[edit]
The Twelve Nidānas are explained in detail in the Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa, the central text of the Mahāvihāra commentarial tradition. Buddhaghosa recounts four methods to interpret the Twelve Nidanas:
Working from "bottom to top",
Working from the "middle to the top",
Working from "top to bottom",
Working from the "middle to the source".[c]
The first method begins with ignorance and proceeds to sickness, old age, and death. The second method begins with attachment and proceeds to birth. The third method begins with birth and proceeds back to ignorance. The fourth method begins with attachment and proceeds to ignorance.
In this discourse, Ven. Sariputta addresses a congregation of monks (bhikkhu) about how (in English and Pali):
"... a noble disciple is one of right view,
whose view is straight,
who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma,
and has arrived at this true Dhamma."[10][11][12] ... ariyasāvako sammādiṭṭhi hoti.
Ujugatāssa diṭṭhi.
Dhamme aveccappasādena samannāgato
āgato imaṃ saddhammanti.[13]
At the monks' repeated urging, Ven. Sariputta then identifies the following sixteen cases (pariyāya)[14] through which a noble disciple could achieve right view:
the Unwholesome and the Wholesome
Nutriments
the Four Noble Truths (discussed as one case)
the twelve causes (nidana) of Dependent Origination (discussed as twelve individual cases)
the Taints
Right view is achieved for the last fifteen of these cases by understanding (pajānāti) the four phases of each case:[15]
the constituents of the case
its origin
its cessation
the way leading to its cessation
Nutriments[edit]
Ven. Sariputta describes the "nutriments" (āhāro) as fourfold:
physical food (kabaliṅkāro)
contact (phasso)
mental volition (manosañcetanā)
consciousness (viññāṇa)
The arising (origin) of nutriment is due to the arising of craving. The cessation of nutriment is the cessation of craving. The way leading to the cessation of nutriment is the Noble Eightfold Path. Understanding nutriment, its origin, cessation and the way leading to its cessation, the noble disciple abandons greed, aversion, conceit and ignorance, arouses wisdom, ends suffering and is one of right view.
Ven. Sariputta describes the Four Noble Truths using traditional canonical phrases:[17]
suffering (dukkha) is birth, aging, sickness, death, ... in short, the five aggregates of clinging.
the origin of suffering (dukkhasamudaya) is craving (tanha) ... for sensual pleasures, being and non-being.
the cessation of suffering (dukkhanirodha) is ... the letting go and rejecting of craving.
the way leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā) is the Noble Eightfold Path (ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo).
Understanding suffering, its origin, cessation and the way leading to its cessation, the noble disciple abandons greed, aversion, conceit and ignorance, arouses wisdom, ends suffering and is one of right view.
Magga-vibhanga Sutta (SN 45.8)[edit]
In the "An Analysis of the Path" discourse (SN 45.8), the Buddha is recorded as uttering a brief formula for defining "right view":
"Knowledge with regard to stress [dukkha],
knowledge with regard to the origination of stress,
knowledge with regard to the stopping of stress,
knowledge with regard to the way of practice
leading to the stopping of stress...."[21]
... dukkhe ñāṇaṃ
dukkhasamudaye ñāṇaṃ
dukkhanirodhe ñāṇaṃ
dukkhanirodhagāminiyā
paṭipadāya ñāṇaṃ....
[22]
This pithy phrase reflects the core process of the Sammaditthi Sutta insomuch that each of the discourse's cases is analyzed in terms of its existence, its origin, its cessation and the way leading to its cessation (that is, the Noble Eightfold Path).[23]
This condensed formulaic definition of "right view" is found in other canonical discourses as well as in the Abhidhamma Pitaka.[24] In addition, in the Pali literature, this same definition is provided for "wisdom" (vijjā),[25] "non-delusion" (amoho),[26] and the "four knowledges of this world" (aparāni cattāri ñāṇāni).[
Understanding unwholesome and wholesome[edit]
According to the Pali commentary, the unwholesome and the wholesome can be understood within the four-phase framework (suffering-origin-cessation-path) used to analyze this discourse's other fifteen cases. From one perspective, the unwholesome and the wholesome are a form of suffering (dukkha). Likewise, their respective roots (greed, nongreed, etc.) are thus "the origin of suffering" (dukkha-samudaya); the non-arising of the roots is the cessation of this suffering (dukkha-nirodha); and, the understanding of unwholesome and wholesome actions and their roots, abandoning the roots, and understanding their cessation is the noble path (ariya-magga).[37]
In addition, the ten courses of unwholesome action and ten courses of wholesome action can be understood in terms of the following five aspects: mental state (whether or not volition was a primary factor); category (result of prior action or roots or both); object (formation or beings); feeling (painful, pleasant or neutral); and, root (greed, hate and/or delusion).[38]
QMRThe Kālāma Sutta is a discourse of the Buddha contained in the Aṅguttara Nikaya of the Tipiṭaka.[1] It is often cited by those of the Theravada and Mahayana traditions alike as the Buddha's "charter of free inquiry."
The Buddha's Assurances[edit]
The first and main part of the Kalama Sutta is often quoted, but an equally important section of the Kalama Sutta follows on from this. This section (17) features the Buddha's four assurances, or solaces. The Buddha asserts that a happy and moral life would be correct even if there is no karma and reincarnation.
The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and now.
'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.
'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.
'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.
'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.
The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found.
— [2]
On these four solaces, Soma Thera wrote:
The Kalama Sutta, which sets forth the principles that should be followed by a seeker of truth, and which contains a standard things are judged by, belongs to a framework of the Dhamma; the four solaces taught in the sutta point out the extent to which the Buddha permits suspense of judgment in matters beyond normal cognition. The solaces show that the reason for a virtuous life does not necessarily depend on belief in rebirth or retribution, but on mental well-being acquired through the overcoming of greed, hate, and delusion.[2]
QMRIn Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattva is the Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.[1] A bodhisattva is one of the four sublime states a human can achieve in life (the others being an arhat, buddha or pratyekabuddha).[2]
The place of a bodhisattva's earthly deeds, such as the achievement of enlightenment or the acts of Dharma, is known as a bodhimaṇḍa, and may be a site of pilgrimage. Many temples and monasteries are famous as bodhimaṇḍas. Perhaps the most famous bodhimaṇḍa of all is the Bodhi Tree under which Śākyamuṇi achieved buddhahood. In the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are four mountains that are regarded as bodhimaṇḍas for bodhisattvas, with each site having major monasteries and being popular for pilgrimages by both monastics and laypeople. These four bodhimandas are:
Mount Putuo: Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva
Mount Emei: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
Mount Wutai: Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva
Mount Jiuhua: Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva
QMRThe Mahāvairocana Tantra (traditional Chinese: 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經; ; pinyin: Dà Pílúzhēnà Chéngfó Shénbiàn Jiāchí Jīng; also known as 大日经 Da ri Jing) is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text. It is also known as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, or more fully as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Vikurvita Adhiṣṭhāna Tantra. In Tibet it is considered to be a member of the Carya class of tantras. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra. Both are also part of the Tendai school.
Esoteric Precepts[edit]
Chapter 2 of the sutra also contains four precepts, called the samaya, that form the basic precepts esoteric Buddhist practitioners must follow:
Not to abandon the true Dharma
Not to deviate from one's own enlightened mind
Not to be reserved in sharing with others the Buddhist teachings
Not to bring harm to any sentient beings
QMRThe teachings of Shingon are based on early Buddhist tantras, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Japanese. Dainichi-kyō 大日経), the Vajraśekhara Sūtra (Kongōchō-kyō 金剛頂経), the Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Rishu-kyō 理趣経), and the Susiddhikara Sūtra (Soshitsuji-kyō 蘇悉地経). These are the four principal texts of Esoteric Buddhism and are all tantras, not sutras, despite their names.
The Tibetan system of classifying tantras into four classes is not used in Shingon.
QMROne feature that Shingon shares in common with Tendai, the only other school with esoteric teachings in Japan, is the use of bīja or seed-syllables in Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ alphabet along with anthropomorphic and symbolic representations to express Buddhist deities in their mandalas.
There are four types of mandalas:
• Mahāmaṇḍala (大曼荼羅, Large Mandala)
• Bīja- or Dharmamaṇḍala (法曼荼羅)
• Samayamaṇḍala (三昧耶曼荼羅), representations of the vows of the deities in the form of articles they hold or their mudras
• Karmamaṇḍala (羯磨曼荼羅) representing the activities of the deities in the three-dimensional form of statues, etc.
The Siddhaṃ alphabet (Shittan 悉曇, Bonji 梵字) is used to write mantras. A core meditative practice of Shingon is Ajikan (阿字觀) "meditating on the letter a" written using the Siddhaṃ alphabet. Other Shingon meditations are Gachirinkan (月輪觀, "Full Moon visualization"), Gojigonjingan (五字嚴身觀, "Visualization of the Five Elements arrayed in The Body" from the Mahavairocana Tantra) and Gosōjōjingan (五相成身觀, Pañcābhisaṃbodhi "Series of Five Meditations to attain Buddhahood") from the Vajraśekhara Sutra.
The essence of Shingon practice is to experience Reality by emulating the inner realization of the Dharmakaya through the meditative ritual use of mantra, mudra and visualization, i.e. "The Three Mysteries" (Japanese. Sanmitsu 三密). All Shingon followers gradually develop a teacher-student relationship, whereby a teacher learns the disposition of the student and teaches practices accordingly. For lay practitioners, there is no initiation ceremony beyond the Kechien Kanjō (結縁灌頂), which is normally offered only at Mount Koya but can also be offered by larger temples under masters permitted to transmit the empowerment. It is not required for all laypersons to take, and no assigned practices are given.
QMRIn 632 Qi helped Jin defeat Chu at the Battle of Chengpu. In 589 Qi was defeated by Jin. In 579 the four great powers of Qin (west), Jin (center), Chu (south) and Qi (east) met to declare a truce and limit their military strength. In 546 a similar four-power conference recognized several smaller states as satellites of Qi, Jin and Qin.
Christianity Chapter
QMR
Answer to Job (German: Antwort auf Hiob) is a 1952 book by Carl Gustav Jung that addresses the moral, mythological and psychological implications of the Book of Job. It was first published in English in 1954.
Jung considers the Book of Job a landmark development in the "divine drama", for the first time contemplating criticism of God (Gotteskritik). Jung described the book as "pure poison", referring to the controversial nature of the book (Storr, 1973). He did, however, feel an urge to write the book. The basic thesis of the book is that as well as having a good side, God also has a fourth side - the evil face of God. This view is inevitably controversial, but Jung claimed it is backed up by references to the Hebrew Bible. Jung saw this evil side of God as the missing fourth element of the Trinity, which he believed should be supplanted by a Quaternity. However, he also discusses in the book whether the true missing fourth element is the feminine side of God. Indeed, he saw the dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Pope Pius XII in 1950 as being the most significant religious event since the Reformation.
It is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist without an antimins. The antimins is kept in the centre of the Holy Table (altar) and is unfolded only during the Divine Liturgy, before the Anaphora. At the end of the Liturgy, the antimins is folded in thirds, and then in thirds again, so that when it is unfolded the creases form a cross (see photo, right). When folded, the antimins sits in the centre of another, slightly larger cloth called the eileton (Greek: Εἰλητόν; Slavonic: Ilitón)—similar to the Western corporal, except it is usually red in colour—which is then folded around it in the same manner (3 x 3), encasing it completely. A flattened natural sponge is also kept inside the antimins, which is used to collect any crumbs which might fall onto the Holy Table. When the antimins and eileton are folded, the Gospel Book is laid on top of them.
The antimins must be consecrated and signed by a bishop. The antimins, together with the chrism remain the property of the bishop, and are the means by which a bishop indicates his permission for the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) to be celebrated in his absence. It is, in effect, a church's licence to hold divine services; were a bishop to withdraw his permission to serve the Mysteries, he would do so by taking the antimins and chrism back. Whenever a bishop visits a church or monastery under his jurisdiction, he will enter the altar (sanctuary) and inspect the antimins to be sure that it has been properly cared for, and that it is in fact the one that he issued.
Besides the bishop, no one is allowed to touch an antimins except a priest or deacon, and because it is a consecrated object, they should be vested when they do so—the deacon should be fully vested, and the priest should vest in at least the epitrachil (stole) and epimanikia (cuffs).
A 17th-century epitaphios from Fyodorovskaya Church in Yaroslavl.
The antimins may also function as a substitute altar, in that a priest may celebrate the Eucharist on it in the absence of a properly consecrated altar. In emergencies, war and persecution, the antimins thus serves a very important pastoral need. Formerly if the priest celebrated at a consecrated altar, the sacred elements were placed only on the eileton, but in current practise the priest always uses the antimins even on a consecrated altar that has relics sealed in it.
At the Divine Liturgy, during the Ektenias (Litanies) that precede the Great Entrance, the eileton is opened fully and the antimins is opened three-quarters of the way, leaving the top portion folded. Then, during the Ektenia of the Catechumens, when the deacon says, "That He (God) may reveal unto them (the catechumens) the Gospel of righteousness," the priest unfolds the last portion of the antimins, revealing the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. After the Entrance, the chalice and diskos are placed on the antimins and the Gifts (bread and wine) are consecrated. The antimins remains unfolded until after all have received Holy Communion and the chalice and diskos are taken back to the Prothesis (Table of Oblation). The deacon (or, if there is no deacon, the priest) must very carefully inspect the antimins to be sure there are no crumbs left on it, and then it is folded up, the eileton is folded, and the Gospel Book placed on top of it.
Oriental Orthodox Practice[edit]
A wooden tablet, the ţablîtho, is the liturgical equivalent of the antimins in the churches of Syriac tradition. However, it is no longer used by the Antiochian Orthodox Church (which follows the liturgical practice of Constantinople, and thus uses the antimins) or the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church.
In the Ethiopian Tawahedo Church, the tâbot is functionally similar to the tablitho. However, this word is also used in the Ge'ez language to describe the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is symbolically represented by the manbara tâbôt ('throne of the Ark'), a casket that sits on the altar. The tâbot itself, the wooden tablet, is taken out before the anaphora, and symbolizes the giving of the Ten Commandments.
In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, a wooden tablet, the maqta‘ or al-lawh al-khashab, is the liturgical equivalent of the antimins in contemporary usage. Usually it is decorated with a cross and bears letters in Coptic which signify "Jesus Christ Son of God" in the four squares between the arms of the cross.
QMRCrucifixion is a method of slow and painful execution in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang for several days until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It is principally known from antiquity, but remains in occasional use in some countries.
The crucifixion of Jesus is a central narrative in Christianity, and the cross (sometimes depicting Jesus nailed onto it) is the main religious symbol for many Christian churches.
Terminology[edit]
Ancient Greek has two verbs for crucify: ana-stauro (ἀνασταυρόω), from stauros, "stake", and apo-tumpanizo (ἀποτυμπανίζω) "crucify on a plank," [1] together with anaskolopizo (ἀνασκολοπίζω "impale"). In earlier pre-Roman Greek texts anastauro usually means "impale."[2][3][4]
New Testament Greek uses four verbs, three of them based upon stauros (σταυρός), usually translated "cross". The most common term is stauroo (σταυρόω), "to crucify", occurring 43 times; sustauroo (συσταυρόω), "to crucify with" or "alongside" occurs five times, while anastauroo (ἀνασταυρόω), "to crucify again" occurs only once at the Epistle to the Hebrews 6:6. prospegnumi (προσπήγνυμι), "to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify" occurs only once at the Acts of the Apostles 2:23.
The English term cross derives from the Latin word crux.[5] The Latin term crux classically referred to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals as a form of execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross.[6]
The English term crucifix derives from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, meaning "to crucify" or "to fasten to a cross".[
Crucifixion was often performed in order to terrorize and dissuade its witnesses from perpetrating particularly heinous crimes. Victims were left on display after death as warnings to others who might attempt dissent. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and time period.
The Greek and Latin words corresponding to "crucifixion" applied to many different forms of painful execution, from impaling on a stake to affixing to a tree, to an upright pole (a crux simplex) or to a combination of an upright (in Latin, stipes) and a crossbeam (in Latin, patibulum).[11]
In some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kilos (300 lb), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 45 kilos (100 lb).[12] The Roman historian Tacitus records that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the Esquiline Gate,[13] and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by crucifixion.[14] Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post.
The person executed may have been attached to the cross by rope, though nails are mentioned in a passage by the Judean historian Josephus, where he states that at the Siege of Jerusalem (70), "the soldiers out of rage and hatred, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest."[15] Objects used in the crucifixion of criminals, such as nails, were sought as amulets with perceived medicinal qualities.[16]
While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have traditionally depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, the person being crucified was usually stripped naked. Writings by Seneca the Younger state some victims suffered a stick forced upwards through their groin.[17][18] Despite its frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape mention by some of their eminent orators. Cicero for example, described crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment",[19] and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen's body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears."[20]
Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium, which was also frequently applied without crucifixion to slaves.[21] This act hastened the death of the person but was also meant to deter those who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses.[21]
Cross shape[edit]
Crux simplex, a simple wooden stake. Image by Justus Lipsius
The crucifixion of Jesus. Image by Justus Lipsius[22]
See also: Instrument of Jesus' crucifixion
The gibbet on which crucifixion was carried out could be of many shapes. Josephus describes multiple tortures and positions of crucifixion during the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus crucified the rebels;[23] and Seneca the Younger recounts: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."[17]
At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latin crux simplex.[24] This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the condemned. Frequently, however, there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T (crux commissa) or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian symbolism (crux immissa).[25] Jehovah's Witnesses argue that Jesus was crucified on a crux simplex, and that the crux immissa was an invention of Emperor Constantine.[26] Other forms were in the shape of the letters X and Y. Apparently the most ancient image of a Roman crucifixion is a graffito found in a taberna (hostel for wayfarers) in Puteoli, dating to the time of Trajan or Hadrian (late 1st century to early 2nd century CE). The cross is the T shape. An inscription over the individual's left shoulder identifies her as "Alkimila." [27]
The New Testament writings about the crucifixion of Jesus do not speak specifically about the shape of that cross, but the early writings that do speak of its shape, from about the year 100 CE on, describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau)[28] or as composed of an upright and a transverse beam, sometimes with a small projection in the upright.[29
In popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in translations of John 20:25 the wounds are described as being "in his hands"), Jesus is shown with nails in his hands. But in Greek the word "χείρ", usually translated as "hand", referred to arm and hand together,[31] and to denote the hand as distinct from the arm some other word was added, as "ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα" (he wounded the end of the χείρ, i.e., he wounded her hand).[32]
A possibility that does not require tying is that the nails were inserted just above the wrist, between the two bones of the forearm (the radius and the ulna).[33]
An experiment that was the subject of a documentary on the National Geographic Channel's Quest For Truth: The Crucifixion,[34] showed that nailed feet provided enough support for the body, and that the hands could have been merely tied. Nailing the feet to the side of the cross relieves strain on the wrists by placing most of the weight on the lower body.
Another possibility, suggested by Frederick Zugibe, is that the nails may have been driven in at an angle, entering in the palm in the crease that delineates the bulky region at the base of the thumb, and exiting in the wrist, passing through the carpal tunnel.
A foot-rest (suppedaneum) attached to the cross, perhaps for the purpose of taking the person's weight off the wrists, is sometimes included in representations of the crucifixion of Jesus, but is not discussed in ancient sources. Some scholars interpret the Alexamenos graffito, the earliest surviving depiction of the Crucifixion, as including such a foot-rest.[35] Ancient sources also mention the sedile, a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down,[36] which could have served a similar purpose.
In 1968, archaeologists discovered at Giv'at ha-Mivtar in northeast Jerusalem the remains of one Jehohanan, who had been crucified in the 1st century. The remains included a heel bone with a nail driven through it from the side. The tip of the nail was bent, perhaps because of striking a knot in the upright beam, which prevented it being extracted from the foot. A first inaccurate account of the length of the nail led some to believe that it had been driven through both heels, suggesting that the man had been placed in a sort of sidesaddle position, but the true length of the nail, 11.5 cm (4.53 inches), suggests instead that in this case of crucifixion the heels were nailed to opposite sides of the upright.[37][38][39] The skeleton from Giv'at ha-Mivtar is currently the only recovered example of ancient crucifixion in the archaeological record.[40]
The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on method, the victim's health, and the environment. A literature review by Maslen and Mitchell[41] identified scholarly support for several possible causes of death: cardiac rupture,[42] heart failure,[43] hypovolemic shock,[44] acidosis,[45] asphyxia,[46] arrhythmia,[47] and pulmonary embolism.[48] Death could result from any combination of those factors or from other causes, including sepsis following infection due to the wounds caused by the nails or by the scourging that often preceded crucifixion, eventual dehydration, or animal predation.[49][50]
A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation.[51] He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by his arms, leading to exhaustion, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. Some scholars, including Frederick Zugibe, posit other causes of death. Zugibe suspended test subjects with their arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical. The test subjects had no difficulty breathing during experiments, but did suffer rapidly increasing pain,[52][53] which is consistent with the Roman use of crucifixion to achieve a prolonged, agonizing death. However, Zugibe's positioning of the test subjects feet are not supported by any archaeological or historical evidence.[54]
Survival[edit]
Since death does not follow immediately on crucifixion, survival after a short period of crucifixion is possible, as in the case of those who choose each year as a devotional practice to be non-lethally crucified.
There is an ancient record of one person who survived a crucifixion that was intended to be lethal, but that was interrupted. Josephus recounts: "I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician's hands, while the third recovered."[55] Josephus gives no details of the method or duration of the crucifixion of his three friends before their reprieve.
Ancient practice[edit]
Although the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, as well as other sources,[which?] refers to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans, there is only a single archaeological discovery of a crucified body dating back to the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus. This was discovered at Givat HaMivtar, Jerusalem in 1968.[56] It is not necessarily surprising that there is only one such discovery, because a crucified body was usually left to decay on the cross and therefore would not be preserved. The only reason these archaeological remains were preserved was because family members gave this particular individual a customary burial.
The remains were found accidentally in an ossuary with the crucified man's name on it, 'Jehohanan, the son of Hagakol'.[57][58] Nicu Haas, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem, examined the ossuary and discovered that it contained a heel bone with a nail driven through its side, indicating that the man had been crucified. The position of the nail relative to the bone indicates that the feet had been nailed to the cross from their side, not from their front; various opinions have been proposed as to whether they were both nailed together to the front of the cross or one on the left side, one on the right side. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments on it indicating that he was crucified on a cross made of olive wood or on an olive tree. Since olive trees are not very tall, this would suggest that the condemned was crucified at eye level.
Additionally, a piece of acacia wood was located between the bones and the head of the nail, presumably to keep the condemned from freeing his foot by sliding it over the nail. His legs were found broken, possibly to hasten his death. It is thought that because in Roman times iron was rare, the nails were removed from the dead body to conserve costs. According to Haas, this could help to explain why only one nail has been found, as the tip of the nail in question was bent in such a way that it could not be removed.
Haas had also identified a scratch on the inner surface of the right radius bone of the forearm, close to the wrist. He deduced from the form of the scratch, as well as from the intact wrist bones, that a nail had been driven into the forearm at that position. However, much of Haas' findings have been challenged. For instance, it was subsequently determined that the scratches in the wrist area were non-traumatic — and, therefore, not evidence of crucifixion —, while reexamination of the heel bone revealed that the two heels were not nailed together, but rather separately to either side of the upright post of the cross.[59]
Pre-Roman states[edit]
The Orpheos Bakkikos crucifixion, hematite seal reflecting ancient Greek themes, considered to be from the 3rd or 4th century CE,[60][61] although one source suggests that it is from the early Christian era.[62] Formerly housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, but lost or destroyed during World War II.
Crucifixion (or impalement), in one form or another, was used by Persians, Carthaginians, and Macedonians.
The Greeks were generally opposed to performing crucifixions.[63] However, in his Histories, ix.120–122, the Greek writer Herodotus describes the execution of a Persian general at the hands of Athenians in about 479 BCE: "They nailed him to a plank and hung him up ... this Artayctes who suffered death by crucifixion."[64] The Commentary on Herodotus by How and Wells remarks: "They crucified him with hands and feet stretched out and nailed to cross-pieces; cf. vii.33. This barbarity, unusual on the part of Greeks, may be explained by the enormity of the outrage or by Athenian deference to local feeling."[65]
Some Christian theologians, beginning with Paul of Tarsus writing in Galatians 3:13, have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. This reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated with lynching or traditional hanging. However, Rabbinic law limited capital punishment to just 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation, while the passage in Deuteronomy was interpreted as an obligation to hang the corpse on a tree as a form of deterrence.[66] The fragmentary Aramaic Testament of Levi (DSS 4Q541) interprets in column 6: "God ... (partially legible)-will set ... right errors. ... (partially legible)-He will judge ... revealed sins. Investigate and seek and know how Jonah wept. Thus, you shall not destroy the weak by wasting away or by ... (partially legible)-crucifixion ... Let not the nail touch him."[67]
The Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judea from 103 BCE to 76 BCE, crucified 800 rebels, said to be Pharisees, in the middle of Jerusalem.[68][69]
Alexander the Great is reputed to have crucified 2,000 survivors from his siege of the Phoenician city of Tyre,[70] as well as the doctor who unsuccessfully treated Alexander's friend Hephaestion. Some historians have also conjectured that Alexander crucified Callisthenes, his official historian and biographer, for objecting to Alexander's adoption of the Persian ceremony of royal adoration.
In Carthage, crucifixion was an established mode of execution, which could even be imposed on generals for suffering a major defeat.[71][72][73]
Ancient Rome[edit]
The hypothesis that the Ancient Roman custom of crucifixion may have developed out of a primitive custom of arbori suspendere—hanging on an arbor infelix ("inauspicious tree") dedicated to the gods of the nether world—is rejected by William A. Oldfather, who shows that this form of execution (the supplicium more maiorum, punishment in accordance with the custom of our ancestors) consisted of suspending someone from a tree, not dedicated to any particular gods, and flogging him to death.[74] Tertullian mentions a 1st-century CE case in which trees were used for crucifixion,[75] but Seneca the Younger earlier used the phrase infelix lignum (unfortunate wood) for the transom ("patibulum") or the whole cross.[76] Plautus and Plutarch are the two main sources for accounts of criminals carrying their own patibulum to the upright stipes.[77]
A satyrical representation of the Christian worship, depicting a man worshiping a crucified donkey (Rome, c 85 CE to 3rd century CE). It is inscripted ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟΣ (ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟC) ΣΕΒΕΤΕ (CEBETE) ΘΕΟΝ, which translates as "Alexamenos respects god". Visible at the museum on the Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy (left). A modern-day tracing (right).
Crucifixion was used to punish slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. It was considered the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually exempt from crucifixion except when they were being punished for major crimes against the state, such as high treason.[citation needed]
Death was often hastened by human action. "The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim."[50]
Notorious mass crucifixions followed the Third Servile War in 73–71 BCE (the slave rebellion under Spartacus), other Roman civil wars in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Crassus crucified 6,000 of Spartacus' followers hunted down and captured after his defeat in battle.[78] Josephus tells a story of the Romans crucifying people along the walls of Jerusalem. He also says that the Roman soldiers would amuse themselves by crucifying criminals in different positions. In Roman-style crucifixion, the condemned could take up to a few days to die.
Under ancient Roman penal practice, crucifixion was also a means of exhibiting the criminal's low social status. It was the most dishonourable death imaginable, originally reserved for slaves, hence still called "supplicium servile" by Seneca, later extended to citizens of the lower classes (humiliores).[citation needed] The citizen class of Roman society were almost never subject to capital punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. Josephus mentions Jews of high rank who were crucified, but this was to point out that their status had been taken away from them. The Romans often broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial.[citation needed]
Occasionally, scourging preceded crucifixion, which would cause the condemned to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum in Latin) to the place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross.[citation needed] Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding centurion and four soldiers.[citation needed] When it was done in an established place of execution, the vertical beam (stipes) could even be permanently embedded in the ground.[citation needed] It's claimed by certain religious texts that the victims of crucifixion were stripped naked prior to being put on the cross—all the New Testament gospels describe soldiers gambling for the robes of Jesus.[79]
The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) long, with a square shaft 3⁄8 inch (10 mm) across. In some cases, the nails were gathered afterward and used as healing amulets.[citation needed]
Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire in 337 out of veneration for Jesus Christ, its most famous victim.[80][81][82]
In Islam[edit]
The Qur'an mentions crucifixion several times. In Surah 7:124, Fir'awn (i.e. the Pharaoh of Exodus) says that he will crucify his chief wizards.[83] Also, Surah 12:41 mentions Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) prophesying that the king (the currentruler of the land he was stranded in) would crucify one of his prisoners.[84]
'And the wizards fell down prostrate, crying: "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Musa and Harun". Firaun said: "Ye believe in Him before I give you leave! Lo! this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence. But ye shall come to know! Surely I shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I shall crucify you every one."' Surah 7:120-124[83]
'O my two fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.' Surah 12:41[84]
In Surah 5:33, The Qur'an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment. There are four different punishments for the different severities of crime. Crucifixion is the punishment for the robber who kills his victim after robbing him.
'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.' Surah 5:33[85]
Crucifixion was in use by the Umayyads.[86]
Japan[edit]
Early Meiji period crucifixion (c. 1865–1868), Yokohama, Japan. A 25-year-old servant, Sokichi, was executed by crucifixion for murdering his employer's son during the course of a robbery. He was affixed by tying, rather than nailing, to astake with two cross-pieces.[87][88]
Crucifixion was introduced into Japan during the Sengoku period (1467–1573), after a 350-year period with no capital punishment.[89] It is believed to have been suggested to the Japanese by the introduction of Christianity into the region,[89] although similar types of punishment had been used as early as the Kamakura period. Known in Japanese as haritsuke (磔?), crucifixion was used in Japan before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Several related crucifixion techniques were used. Petra Schmidt, in "Capital Punishment in Japan", writes:[90]
Execution by crucifixion included, first of all, hikimawashi (i.e, being paraded about town on horseback); then the unfortunate was tied to a cross made from one vertical and two horizontal poles. The cross was raised, the convict speared several times from two sides, and eventually killed with a final thrust through the throat. The corpse was left on the cross for three days. If one condemned to crucifixion died in prison, his body was pickled and the punishment executed on the dead body. Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the great 16th-century unifiers, crucifixion upside down (i.e, sakasaharitsuke) was frequently used. Water crucifixion (mizuharitsuke) awaited mostly Christians: a cross was raised at low tide; when the high tide came, the convict was submerged under water up to the head, prolonging death for many days
In 1597 twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among those executed were Saints Paulo Miki, Philip of Jesus and Pedro Bautista, a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines. The executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of Christianity in Japan, which continued until its decriminalization in 1871.
Crucifixion was used as a punishment for prisoners of war during World War II. Ringer Edwards, an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.
Burma[edit]
In Burma, crucifixion was a central element in several execution rituals. Felix Carey, a missionary in Burma from 1806–12[91] wrote the following:[92]
Four or five persons, after being nailed through their hands and feet to a scaffold, had first their tongues cut out, then their mouths slit open from ear to ear, then their ears cut off, and finally their bellies ripped open.
Six people were crucified in the following manner: their hands and feet nailed to a scaffold; then their eyes were extracted with a blunt hook; and in this condition they were left to expire; two died in the course of four days ; the rest were liberated, but died of mortification on the sixth or seventh day.
Four persons were crucified, viz. not nailed but tied with their hands and feet stretched out at full length, in an erect posture. In this posture they were to remain till death; every thing they wished to eat was ordered them with a view to prolong their lives and misery. In cases like this, the legs and feet of the criminals begin to swell and mortify at the expiration of three or four days; some are said to live in this state for a fortnight, and expire at last from fatigue and mortification. Those which I saw, were liberated at the end of three or four days.
Europe[edit]
During World War I, there were persistent rumors that German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier on a tree or barn door with bayonets or combat knives. The event was initially reported in 1915 by Private George Barrie of the 1st Canadian Division. Two investigations, one a post-war official investigation, and the other an independent investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, concluded that there was no evidence to support the story.[93] However, British documentary maker Iain Overton in 2001 published an article claiming that the story was true, identifying the soldier as Harry Band.[93][94] Overton's article was the basis for a 2002 episode of the Channel 4 documentary show Secret History.[95]
It has been reported that crucifixion was used in several cases against the German civil population of East Prussia when it was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the Second World War.[96]
Crucifixion is still used as a rare method of execution in some countries. The punishment of crucifixion (șalb) imposed in Islamic law is variously interpreted as exposure of the body after execution, crucifixion followed by stabbing in the chest, or crucifixion for three days, survivors of which are allowed to live.[97]
Burma[edit]
The human rights group Karen Women Organization documented a case of Tatmadaw forces crucifying several Karen villagers in 2000 in the Dooplaya District in Burma's Kayin State.[98][99]
Iraq[edit]
On 5 February 2015 The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has committed "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."[100]
Iran[edit]
Theoretically, crucifixion is still one of the Hadd punishments in Iran.[101][102] although it is not actually applied and there is no example of its use.[citation needed] If a crucified person were to survive three days of crucifixion, that person would be allowed to live.[103] Execution by hanging is described as follows: "In execution by hanging, the prisoner will be hung on a hanging truss which should look like a cross, while his (her) back is toward the cross, and (s)he faces the direction of Mecca [in Saudi Arabia], and his (her) legs are vertical and distant from the ground."[
Saudi Arabia[edit]
Several people have been executed by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, although on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. Most recently, in March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being crucified for three days.[105] However, the method was changed.[106]
Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for taking part in an anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.[107] In May 2014, Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to be publicly beheaded and crucified.[108]
Sudan[edit]
Sudan's penal code, based upon the government's interpretation of shari'a,[109][110][111] includes execution followed by crucifixion as a penalty. When, in 2002, 88 people were sentenced to death for crimes relating to murder, armed robbery, and participating in ethnic clashes, Amnesty International wrote that they could be executed by either hanging or crucifixion.[112]
Syria[edit]
On 30 April 2014 Islamic extremists carried out a total of seven public executions in Raqqa, northern Syria.[113] The pictures, originally posted to Twitter by a student at Oxford University, were retweeted by a Twitter account owned by a known member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) causing major media outlets to incorrectly attribute the crucifixions to the militant group.[114] In most of these cases of "crucifixion" the victims are shot first then their bodies are displayed[115] but there have also been reports of "crucifixion" preceding shootings or decapitations[116] as well as a case where a man was said to have been "crucified alive for eight hours" with no indication of whether he died.[
As a devotional practice[edit]
Devotional crucifixion in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, Easter 2006
The Catholic Church frowns on self-crucifixion as a form of devotion: "Penitential practices leading to self-crucifixion with nails are not to be encouraged."[120] Nevertheless, the practice is not unknown.
In the Philippines, some Catholics are voluntarily, non-lethally crucified for a limited time on Good Friday to imitate the sufferings of Christ. Pre-sterilised nails are driven through the palm of the hand between the bones, while there is a footrest to which the feet are nailed. Rolando del Campo, a carpenter in Pampanga, vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would carry his wife through a difficult childbirth,[121] while in San Pedro Cutud, Ruben Enaje has been crucified 27 times.[122] The Church in the Philippines has repeatedly voiced disapproval of crucifixions and self-flagellation, while the government has noted that it cannot deter devotees. The Department of Health insists that participants in the rites should have tetanus shots and that the nails used should be sterilized.[123]
In other cases, a crucifixion is only simulated within a passion play, as in the ceremonial re-enactment that has been performed yearly in the town of Iztapalapa, on the outskirts of Mexico City, since 1833,[124] and in the more famous Oberammergau Passion Play. Also, since at least the mid-19th century, a group of flagellants in New Mexico, called Hermanos de Luz ("Brothers of Light"), have annually conducted reenactments of Christ's crucifixion during Holy Week, in which a penitent is tied—but not nailed—to a cross.[citation needed]
Famous crucifixions[edit]
The rebel slaves of the Third Servile War: Between 73 BCE and 71 BCE a band of slaves, eventually numbering about 120,000, under the (at least partial) leadership of Spartacus were in open revolt against the Roman republic. The rebellion was eventually crushed and, while Spartacus himself most likely died in the final battle of the revolt, approximately 6,000 of his followers were crucified along the 200 km Appian Way between Capua and Rome as a warning to any other would-be rebels.
Jesus of Nazareth: his death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate (c. 30 or 33 CE), recounted in the four 1st-century canonical Gospels, is referred to repeatedly as something well known in the earlier letters of Saint Paul, for instance, five times in his First Letter to the Corinthians, written in 57 CE (1:13, 1:18, 1:23, 2:2, 2:8). Pilate was the Roman governor of Iudaea province at the time, and he is explicitly linked with the condemnation of Jesus not only by the Gospels but also by Tacitus,[125] (see Responsibility for the death of Jesus for details). The civil charge was a claim to be King of the Jews.
Saint Peter: Christian apostle, who according to tradition was crucified upside-down at his own request (hence the Cross of St. Peter), because he did not feel worthy enough to die the same way as Jesus.
Saint Andrew: Christian apostle and Saint Peter's brother, who is traditionally said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross (hence the St. Andrew's Cross).
Simeon of Jerusalem: second Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified in either 106 or 107 CE.
Mani: the founder of Manicheanism, he was depicted by followers as having died by crucifixion in 274 CE.
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln: an English boy whose disappearance in 1255 prompted a blood libel against the local Jews. A Jewish man was tortured until he confessed to killing the child. The story of Little Saint Hugh became well known through medieval ballad poetry.
Archbishop Joachim of Nizhny Novgorod: reportedly crucified upside-down by the Bolsheviks on the royal doors of St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Sevastopol, Russia in 1920.
Wilgefortis was venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however her legend comes from a misinterpretation of a full-clothed crucifix known as the Volto Santo of Lucca.
QMRThe Crucifixion darkness is an episode in three of the Canonical Gospels in which the sky becomes dark in daytime during the crucifixion of Jesus.
Ancient and medieval Christian writers treated this as a miracle, and believed it to be one of the few episodes from the New Testament which were confirmed by non-Christian sources. Pagan commentators of the Roman era explained it as an eclipse, although Christian writers pointed out that an eclipse during Passover, when the crucifixion took place, would have been impossible; a solar eclipse cannot occur during a full moon.
Modern scholarship, noting the way in which similar accounts were associated in ancient times with the deaths of notable figures, sees the phenomenon as a literary invention that attempts to convey a sense of the power of Jesus in the face of death, or a sign of God's displeasure with the Jewish people. Scholars have also noted the ways in which this episode appears to draw on earlier biblical accounts of darkness from the Book of Amos and the Book of Exodus.
The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Syriac Rabbula Gospels, 586 CE: note the sun and moon in the sky
Christ on the Cross", by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834–1890), showing the skies darkened
QMRCrucifixion and crucifixes have appeared in the arts and popular culture from before the era of the pagan Roman Empire. The crucifixion of Jesus has been depicted in religious art since the 4th century CE. In more modern times, crucifixion has appeared in film and television as well as in fine art, and depictions of other historical crucifixions have appeared as well as the crucifixion of Christ. Modern art and culture have also seen the rise of images of crucifixion being used to make statements unconnected with Christian iconography, or even just used for shock value.
Gero Cross, late 10th century, Cologne Cathedral, Germany
Through history[edit]
The Orpheos Bakkikos crucifixion. This hematite seal is thought by some to date from the early Christian era and reflect ancient Greek themes;[1] others consider it a modern or early modern forgery.[2] Formerly housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, it was lost or destroyed during World War II.
The earliest known artistic representations of crucifixion predate the Christian era, including Greek representations of mythical crucifixions inspired by the use of the punishment by the Persians.[3]
The Alexamenos graffito, an early depiction of crucifixion (left), and a modern-day tracing (right)
The Alexamenos graffito, currently in the museum in the Palatine Hill, Rome, is a Roman graffito from the 2nd century CE which depicts a man worshiping a crucified donkey. This graffito, though apparently meant as an insult,[4] is the earliest known pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus.[4][5][6][7][8] The text scrawled around the image reads Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετε θεον, which translates to "Alexamenos worships God" or some variant of this sentence.[9][10][11][12]
In the first three centuries of Early Christian art, the crucifixion was rarely depicted. Some engraved gems thought to be 2nd or 3rd century have survived, but the subject does not appear in the art of the Catacombs of Rome, and it is thought that at this period the image was restricted to heretical groups of Christians.[13] Constantine I forbade crucifixion as a method of execution, and early church leaders regarded crucifixion with horror, and thus, as an unfit subject for artistic portrayal.[14] The purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantine's mother, Helena, and the development of Golgotha as a site for pilgrimage, together with the dispersal of fragments of the relic across the Christian world, led to a change of attitude. It was probably in Palestine that the image developed, and many of the earliest depictions are on the Monza ampullae, small metal flasks for holy oil, that were pilgrim's souvenirs from the Holy Land, as well as 5th century ivory reliefs from Italy.[15] Prior to the Middle Ages, early Christians preferred to focus on the "triumphant" Christ, rather than a dying one, because the concept of the risen Christ was so central to their faith.[16] The plain cross became depicted, often as a "glorified" symbol, as the crux gemmata, covered with jewels, as many real early medieval processional crosses in goldsmith work were.
The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Syriac Rabbula Gospels, 586 CE
Starting in the 4th century CE, crucifixion imagery began to appear in art. Early depictions showed a living Christ, and tended to minimize the appearance of suffering, so as to draw attention to the positive message of resurrection and faith, rather than to the physical realities of execution.[14][17] In the Middle Ages, Jesus was more often seen as a human being, capable of suffering.[16] The first depictions of crucifixion displaying suffering are believed to have arisen in Byzantine art,[18] where the "S"-shaped slumped body type was developed. Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the Cross of Lothair, both from the end of the 10th century. The first of these is the earliest near life-size sculpted cross to survive. Such figures, especially as roods, large painted or sculpted crucifixes hung high in front of the chancel of churches, became very important in Western art, providing a sharp contrast with Eastern Orthodox traditions, where the subject was never depicted in monumental sculpture, and increasingly rarely even in small Byzantine ivories. By contrast, an altar cross, almost always a crucifix, became compulsory in Western churches in the Middle Ages,[19] and small wall-mounted crucifixes were increasingly popular in Catholic homes from the Counter-Reformation, if not before.
As a broad generalization, the earliest depictions, before about 900, tended to show all three crosses (those of Jesus, the Good Thief and the Bad Thief), but later medieval depictions mostly showed just Jesus and his cross. From the Renaissance either type might be shown. The number of other figures shown depended on the size and medium of the work, but there was a similar trend for early depictions to show a number of figures, giving way in the High Middle Ages to just the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, shown standing on either side of the cross, as in the Stabat Mater depictions, or sculpted or painted on panels at the end of each arm of a rood cross. The soldiers were less likely to be shown, but others of the party with Mary and John might be. Angels were often shown in the sky, and the Hand of God in some early depictions gave way to a small figure of God the Father in the heavens in some later ones, those these were always in the minority. Other elements that might be included were the sun and moon (evoking the darkening of the heavens at the moment of Christ’s death), and Ecclesia and Synagoga. Although according to the Gospel accounts his clothing was removed from Jesus before his crucifixion, most artists have thought it proper to represent his lower body as draped in some way.
In the Gothic period more elaborate narrative depictions developed, including many extra figures of Mary Magdalene, disciples, especially The Three Marys behind the Virgin Mary, soldiers often including an officer on a horse, and angels in the sky. The moment when Longinus the centurion pierces Christ with his spear (the "Holy Lance") is often shown, and the blood and water spurting from Christ's side is often caught in a chalice held by an angel. In larger images the other two crosses might return, but most often not. In some works donor portraits were included in the scene.[20] Such depictions begin in the late 12th century, and become common where space allows in the 13th century.[21]
Related scenes such as the Deposition of Christ, Entombment of Christ and Nailing of Christ to the Cross developed. In the Late Middle Ages, increasingly intense and realistic representations of suffering were shown,[22] reflecting the development of highly emotional andachtsbilder subjects and devotional trends such as German mysticism; some, like the Throne of Mercy, Man of Sorrows and Pietà, related to the Crucifixion. The same trend affected the depiction of other figures, notably in the "Swoon of the Virgin", who is very commonly shown fainting in paintings of between 1300 and 1500, though this depiction was attacked by theologians in the 16th century, and became unusual. After typically more tranquil depictions during the Italian Renaissance—though not its Northern equivalent, which produced works such as the Isenheim Altarpiece—there was a return to intense emotionalism in the Baroque, in works such as Peter Paul Rubens's Elevation of the Cross.
The scene always formed part of a cycle of images of the Life of Christ after about 600 (though it is noticeably absent before) and usually in one of the Life of the Virgin; the presence of Saint John made it a common subject for altarpieces in churches dedicated to him. From the late Middle Ages various new contexts for images were devised, from such large scale monuments as the "calvaire" of Brittany and the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy to the thousands of small wayside shrines still found in many parts of Catholic Europe, and the Stations of the Cross in the majority of Catholic churches.
QMRThere are four separate surviving manuscripts of "The Secret Book of John". Three of these were found in the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, while the fourth was found independently 50 years earlier from another site in Egypt. All four versions date to the 4th century. Three of these appear to be independently produced Coptic translations of an original Greek text. Two of the four are similar enough that they probably represent copies of a single source.
Although the different versions of the texts have minor variants (The Berlin Codex has many minor differences with the Nag Hammadi II and IV), all texts generally agree that the main revealing entity was Jesus Christ.
Islam Chapter
Hinduism Chapter
QMR Vishnu has four arms that hold four items. The Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like weapon with 108 serrated edges used by the Hindu god Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is generally portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a shankha (conch shell), a Gada (mace) and a padma (lotus).[1]
Shankha (Sanskrit: शङ्ख, Tibetan: དུང་དཀར་, Lhasa dialect IPA: [dungkar][tʰúŋkar]) translated from Tibetan is literally “white conch”, Tibetan-English Dharma Dictionary, 2003), and true to its name, it is a trumpet formed from a white conch shell of the species Turbinella pyrum, from the Indian Ocean. It is heavily decorated with ornate patterns in metals such as silver, bronze or tin and is topped with a bright bead, which is said to represent good energy. The conch shell of ritual and religious importance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The shankha is the shell of a species of large predatory sea snail, Turbinella pyrum, which lives in the Indian Ocean.
In Hinduism, the shankha is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver god Vishnu. It is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and in the past was used as a war trumpet. The shankha is praised in Hindu scriptures as a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of Lakshmi, who is the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu.
The shankha is displayed in Hindu art in association with Vishnu. As a symbol of water, it is associated with female fertility and serpents (Nāgas). The shankha is the state emblem of the Indian state of Kerala and was also the national emblems of the Indian princely state of Travancore, and the Kingdom of Cochin.
The shankha is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism, the Ashtamangala, and represents the pervasive sound of Buddhism.
A powder made from the shell material is used in ayurveda, primarily as a cure for stomach ailments and for increasing beauty and strength.
In the Western world, in the English language, the shell of this species is known as the "divine conch" or the "sacred chank". It may also be simply called a "chank" or conch. The more common form of this shell is known as "left-turning" in a religious context, although scientists would call it "dextral". A very rarely encountered form has reverse coiling which is called "right-turning" in a religious context, but is known as "sinistral" or left-coiling in a scientific context.
Shaligrams are iconographic fossil stones particularly found in the Gandaki River in Nepal which are worshipped by Hindus as representative of Vishnu. The shaligrama - which has the marks of a shanka, chakra, gada and padma arranged in this particular order – is worshipped as Keshava. Twenty-four orders of the four symbols defined for Shaligrama are also followed in worship of images of Vishnu with different names. Out of these, besides Keshava the four names of images worshipped starting with Shankha on the upper hand, are: Madhusudanah, Damodara, Balarama and Vamana
QMRBrahma Vaivarta Purana, (Sanskrit: व्रह्मबैवर्तपुराणम्, brahma-vaivarta purāṇa) one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text of the 10th century AD, is divided into four parts. First part describes the creation of the universe and all beings, the second part relates to description and histories of different goddesses. The third part is mostly devoted to life and deeds of Ganesha, and the last part details the life and deeds of Krishna. The Padma Purana categorizes Brahma Vaivarta Purana as a Rajas Purana (Purana which represents dimness and passion).[1]
Brahma Vaivarta Purana was written in Banga, which was the ancient name for the region of present day Bengal.[citation needed] It was recited by Suta to the sages at the forest of Naimisharanya. The first part is called Brahma Khanda and describes Brahma and his sons, Narada in particular. The second part is called Prakriti Khanda deals with the goddesses or shaktis who are manifestations of Prakriti. The third part, Ganesha Khanda, is about Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. In this canto Ganesha's mother Parvati told Shani to ignore the curse and look at Ganesha.[2] The fourth and last part is called Krishna Janma Khanda, a canto about the birth and life of Krishna, Svayam bhagavan.(BVP 4.90.32–33 is quoted in Chanakya's Niti sastra 11.4.)[3]
QMRSources of information
There is little purely historical information about Chanakya: most of it comes from semi-legendary accounts. Thomas Trautmann identifies four distinct accounts of the ancient Chanakya-Chandragupta katha (legend):[18]
Version of the legend Example texts
Buddhist version Mahavamsa and its commentary Vamsatthappakasini (Pali language)
Jain version Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra
Kashmiri version Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, Brihat-Katha-Manjari by Ksemendra
Vishakhadatta's version Mudrarakshasa, a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta
The following elements are common to these legends:
The King Dhana Nanda insults Chanakya, prompting Chanakya to swear revenge and destroy the Nanda Empire
Chanakya searches for one worthy successor to the Nanda and finds the young Chandragupta Maurya
With the help of some allies, Chanakya and Chandragupta bring down the Nanda empire, often using manipulative and secretive means
QMRThere are eight jhānas in total, out of which the first four are rūpajhānas, meditations of form. All four rūpajhānas are characterized by ekaggatā (Skt: ekāgratā) which means one-pointedness, i.e. the mind focuses singularly on the material or mental object during meditation.
The four rūpajhānas are:
paṭhama-jhāna (Skt: prathamadhyāna, literally "first jhana")
dutiya-jhāna (Skt: dvitīyadhyāna, literally "second jhana")),
tatiya-jhāna (Skt: tṛtīyadhyāna,literally "third jhana"))
catuttha-jhāna (Skt: caturthadhyāna, literally "fourth jhana"))
See also right concentration.
These first four jhānas can be characterized by certain factors called jhānaṅga (Skt: dhyānāṅga) whose presence or absence in each rūpajhāna is summarized in the following table:
jhāna vitakka
& vicāra
(applied and
sustained thought) pīti
(rapture) sukha
(bliss) ekaggatā
(one-pointedness) upekkhā
(equanimity)
paṭhama-jhāna * * * *
dutiya-jhāna * * *
tatiya-jhāna * *
catuttha-jhāna *
QMRThe jhānaṅga have the following meanings: vitakka means the noticing of the object of meditation, vicāra means the experiencing of the object, pīti means rapture, sukha means bliss, ekaggatā means one-pointedness of concentration, upekkhā means equanimity.
The Stages of the Four Meditations of Form[edit]
¯To reach each successive stage of meditation, a factor of attachment in the previous stage is renounced. Such renunciation is aided by a progressive realization of the quality of relative grossness of each of the primary factors characterizing the respective states of jhana absorption, appreciating, in other words, that each factor is in the end a kind of "agitation" of the mind. The first meditation of form includes the three primary factors of the one-pointed noticing and experiencing of the object, rapture in the experience, and bliss in the rapture. In the second meditation of form, the meditator lets go of the relatively gross factors of noticing and experiencing of the object and perceives the rapture and bliss of the one pointedness. In the third meditation of form the person then detaches from the sense of rapture and perceives the one-pointed bliss, a less "agitated" state. In the fourth meditation of form the meditator relinquishes even the quality of bliss and perceives only one-pointed undisturbed equanimity.[1][2]
The three realms (Skt. triloka or tridhātu) of desire, form, and formlessness and the meditations of form within the realm of form are related to the Buddhist view of the three poisons of the mind, i.e., greed (lust, desire, etc.), aversion (hatred, anger, etc.) and ignorance (delusion, illusion, etc.). In the six worlds of desire, the three poisons are present and equally strong. When the meditator renounces the poison of greed they are able to enter the realm of form. When the meditator renounces the poison of aversion they enter the formless realm. And when the meditator renounces the last poison of ignorance they leave the three realms altogether and enter the Buddha realms.
After renouncing the poison of greed and entering the realm of form, in order to renounce the poison of aversion, the meditator engages in the four meditations of form. By renouncing one's attachments to objects, the rapture in objects, and bliss in the rapture, one is renouncing one's aversion to the absence of objects, absence of rapture, and absence of bliss. When one is able to renounce even the equanimity achieved in the fourth meditation of form, one renounces the last attachment to the realm of form and is able to enter the formless realm without being overcome by either desire or aversion, and one becomes able to engage in the four formless meditations.
QMRThe Brahmajala Sutta is the first of 34 suttas in the Digha Nikaya (the Long Discourses of the Buddha). The name comes from 'brahma' (perfect wisdom) and 'jala' (net-which-embraced-all-views). The sutta is also called 'Atthajala' (Net of Essence), Dhammajala, (Net of the Dhamma), Ditthijala (Net of Views), Anuttarasangama Vijaya (Incomparable Victory in Battle).
Eternalism is described in the sutta as the belief which is based upon the past, and holds that the universe (loka) and the soul or self (attha) are eternal as a 'rock mountain or strong-fastened pole'. The world doesn't create new souls and therefore, the souls are living in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth, differing only in name, location, and time. These kind of beliefs have four origins:
1. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached a high level of meditation; due to this achievement, they were able to remember from one to tens of thousands of their past lives.
2. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached the spiritual achievements which provided them access to memories of one to ten iterations of the Earth's formation, evolution, and destruction.
3. Ascetics and Brahmins who have managed to recall the Earth's evolutionary process from ten to forty times.
The abovementioned ascetics and Brahmins recalled how they had name, family, heirs, food, joy and sadness, then death and rebirth in their past lives. Based on their experience, they concluded that the universe and the soul must be eternal.
4. Ascetics and Brahmins who use logic and inference and come to the conclusion that the soul and universe are eternal.
The Buddha said that there are 18 types of eternalistic belief, all based on one of these four origins. All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and did not give credence to other faiths.
Semi-eternalistic belief[edit]
The semi-eternalistic belief is described as belief that is based on the past, where the dualistic notion is asserted that there are things which are eternal and things which are not eternal. There are four ways these beliefs come to be faith, where one believer never acknowledged the other beliefs:
The Buddha told a story about a time when the Earth was not yet formed. The sentient beings in this time normally lived in the realm of Abhassara, in radiant light and nourished by celestial joy. Then came a time when the Earth was in the process of forming yet still uninhabitable. One of these beings in the Abhassara realm died (due to the exhaustion of his karma) and was reborn in the higher realm called the Brahma realm and lived alone in the palace there. From living alone for so long a time, this being grew distressed and longed for a companion.
He then uttered, "O, let it be that another being may come here and accompany me." At the same time as the utterance, a being in the Abhassara realm died (due to the exhaustion of his good karma) and was reborn in the Brahma realm as his follower, but in many ways, similar to his feature.[clarification needed]
Seeing this happen, the Brahma being thought, "I am Brahma, Mahābrahmā, the Almighty, Omniscient, the Lord of All, Creator, Master of all creatures. I am the source of all life, Father to everything which exists and will come to exist. These creatures are my creations. How can I conclude this? Because, just as I was thinking, "Let it be that another being may come here and accompany me", then my wish made that being come into existence."
Beings that came after thought the same thing. They worshipped and revered the Brahma because, "He was here even before I existed! Surely he is the Lord and Creator of All." In the Brahma realm, the first being had longer and more powerful features than the latter coming beings. So, a probability existed that the latter being died in the Brahma realm, and then was reborn as a human. This human abandoned worldly affairs and became an ascetic, then by his devotion and practice, achieved the power to remember his one past life. As he recalled it, he came to the conclusion that creatures, including himself, are not eternal, had limited age, were vulnerable to change, but that Brahma is eternal, ageless, and changeless.
The second semi-eternalistic belief came from ascetics who were once Khiddapadosika gods, celestial beings that were too busy to experience desire-based joy and fun, forgot to take their nutriments and therefore, died. As they were reborn as ascetics and achieved the ability to remember their past life, they came to a conclusion analogous to the 'Fall from Grace': "If only we were not so greedy and overzealous in our previous life, if only we had been able to control ourselves, we would not have suffered death. Now that we had made this error, we have to suffer this mortal life". Here, they concluded that the gods were eternal, and others were not.
The third semi-eternalistic belief came from the Manopadosika gods. These were the gods who always envied the other gods. This illness of mind caused their death. In the same cycle, they were reborn as ascetic Manopadosika gods, achieved the ability to remember their past life, and came to the conclusion, "Had we not been envious, we would have stayed strong and intelligent. We would never have died or fallen forever from the realm of gods.".
The fourth semi-eternalistic belief is based on logic and reflection. The people who embraced this belief concluded their faith based on their thoughts and logics as follow: "Here is what is called (atta) of eyes, nose, tongue, and our physical body, which are always changed. But, there is also atta of mind: the state of mind, awareness of 'atta', which is eternal.".
All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and didn't believe in other faiths.
The Universe[edit]
The beliefs on the universe is based on the speculation about the infinite or the limited nature of the universe. There are four ways these beliefs were expressed:
1. The universe is infinite.
2. The universe is limited.
3. The universe is vertically limited but horizontally infinite.
4. The universe is neither limited nor infinite.
The source of these beliefs came from two reasons:
1. The frame of mind which formed these beliefs came from the object of focus of meditation taken by the ascetics who managed to reach a deep level of meditation and came to the conclusion that the world is infinite (if they used infinity as the object of meditation), or limited (if they imagined the object of their focus to be limited).
2. The people who used logic and thought and concluded that the world must be neither infinite nor limited.
All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and didn't believe in other faiths.
Ambiguous Evasion[edit]
The concept of ambiguous evasion or eel-wriggling (Pali: Amaravikkhepa) is introduced in the Brahmajala sutta. When hearing Buddhist teachings, the Buddha claims that people would react with four forms of ambiguous evasion:
Evasion out of fear or hatred of making false claims.
Evasion out of fear or hatred of attachment.
Evasion out of fear or hatred of debate.
Evasion out of fear or hatred of admitting ignorance.
In other words, when a person would hear the dharma, they would respond, "I don't know. Maybe it is true. Maybe it is not true. I can't say it's true because I don't know and I can't deny it's true because I don't know."
The idea is that the person isn't considering the arguments presented (see Kalama Sutta), but stubbornly adhering to irrational agnosticism out of feelings of fear or hatred.
Forty-four beliefs about the future[edit]- The Buddha next lists forty four beliefs about the future. Forty four is a repetition of fours. Like in the bible there is repetitions of fours and in all holy texts throughout the world, the Buddha next states forty four beliefs, accentuating the number four
There are ascetics who based their beliefs on the future. The proponents of one of these beliefs, adhered that:
Perception's existence after death[edit]
A. the perception still exists after death. The difference of beliefs were described that after death, the Atta:
1. possessed physical shape (rupa)
2. possessed no shape/immaterial (arupa)
3. both had physical shape some had not (rupa and arupa)
4. neither possessed physical shape nor immaterial
5. Infinite
6. Limited
7. Both Infinite and limited
8. neither Infinite nor Limited
9. had a certain form of consciousness
10. had several form of consciousness
11.had infinite consciousness
12.had limited consciousness
13.always in joy/blissful state
14.always in suffering state
15.Both in joy and suffering
16.neither joyful nor suffering
B. the Perception vanished after death. The difference of beliefs were described that after death, the Atta was devoid of perception after dead but:
1. possessed physical shape (rupa)
2. possessed no physical shape (arupa)
3. Both had shape and no shape
4. Neither had shape nor had no shape
5. Limited
6. Unlimited
7. Both limited and unlimited
8. Neither limited nor infinite
C. Neither there was Perception of No Perception after death. The difference of these beliefs were describe that after death, the Atta was neither devoid of perception nor non-perception, but:
1. possessed physical shape (rupa)
2. possessed no physical shape (arupa)
3. Both had shape and no shape
4. Neither had shape nor had no shape
5. Limited
6. Unlimited
7. Both limited and unlimited
8. Neither limited nor infinite
All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.
Annihilation (nihilism) beliefs[edit]
The proponent of these beliefs declared that after death, existence simply vanished (Atta vanished). These beliefs were described in seven type of authorities and basis:
1. that the Atta was created from the union of father and mother's essence, composed of four elements (dhatu) and on the death, these elements ceased to exist. By this manner, Atta become non-existent.
2. that not only the (1) but the physical-related desire of the celestial gods, who had physical shape and take nourishment, which also cease to exist after death.
3. that not only the (2), but the attha of Brahma gods, which were shaped of Jhanna mind, and faculties of senses which cease to exist after death.
4. that not only the (3), but also the attha which had transcended the concept of Infinity, where the perception of shape had been surpassed, the perception of contact between mind and object had vanished, not paying attention to major kinds of Perception, which cease to exist after death.
5. that not only the (4), but also the attha which had reached the Realm of Infinity of Consciousness.
6. that not only the (5), but also the attha which had reached Realm of Nothingness.
7. that not only the (6) but also the attha which had reached the realm of neither Perception nor Non-Perception.
All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.
Five beliefs on attainable Nibbana[edit]
The proponents of these faiths proposed that Nibbana's state of bliss could be attained in the current life. They based their faith because:
1. The joy coming from the five senses can be enjoyed and attained thoroughly. So, the Nibbana could also be attained.
2. The joy from the five senses were vulnerable to change and mortal. But the joy from the attainment of the first Jhana (Dhyana) can be enjoyed and attained thoroughly. So, with the first Jhana, the Nibbana could also be attained.
3. ..... (same with No.2) but with Second Jhana...
4. ..... (same with No.3) but with Third Jhana...
5. ..... (same with No.4) but with Fourth Jhana. So, the Nibbana could also be attained.
All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.
QMRAggañña Sutta is the 27th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya collection. The sutta describes a discourse imparted by the Buddha to two brahmins, Bharadvaja and Vasettha, who left their family and caste to become monks. The two brahmins are insulted and maligned by their own caste for their intention to become members of the Sangha. The Buddha explains that caste and lineage cannot be compared to the achievement of morality practice and the Dhamma, as anyone from the four castes can become a monk and reach the state of Arahant. Then, he explains about the beginning of the Earth and the birth of social order and its structure, including the castes. The Buddha emphasizes the message of universality in the Dhamma and how the Dhamma is the best of all things.
This is a Buddhist text about the four castes and the four clans and the fifth transcendent clan that the Buddha describes emerges from all of the other four (like how the aether, the fifth element, has the qualities of the other four elements)
QMRThe Pāli canon describes eight progressive states of jhāna. Four are called meditations of form (rūpa jhāna), and four are formless meditations (arūpa jhāna).
The Rupa Jhānas[edit]
There are four stages of deep collectedness which are called the Rupa Jhāna (Fine-material Jhāna).
Jhana and samadhi[edit]
According to Henepola Gunaratana the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration." The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha," serenity.[37]
In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness.[37] Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as
... the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object... the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.84-85; PP.85).[37]
In the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning. Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical. Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness.[37]
Samadhi also covers another type of concentration, namely "momentary concentration" (khanikasamadhi), "the mobile mental stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena."[37]
Rupa Jhana related factors[edit]
The rupa-jhānas are described according to the nature of the mental factors which are present in these states:
Movement of the mind onto the object (vitakka; Sanskrit: vitarka)
Retention of the mind on the object (vicāra)
Joy (pīti; Sanskrit: prīti)
Happiness (sukha)
Equanimity (upekkhā; Sanskrit: upekṣā)
One-pointedness (ekaggatā; Sanskrit: ekāgratā)[note 3]
Qualities of the Four Rupa Jhanas[edit]
Main article: Rupajhana
For each Jhāna are given a set of qualities which are present in that jhana:[38]
First Jhāna — the five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss remains. Only the subtlest of mental movement remains, perceivable in its absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to form unwholesome intentions ceases. The remaining qualities are: "directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"
Second Jhāna — all mental movement utterly ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions ceases as well. The remaining qualities are: "internal assurance, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"
Third Jhāna — one-half of bliss (joy) disappears. The remaining qualities are: "equanimity-pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"
Fourth Jhāna — The other half of bliss (happiness) disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti and sukha). The breath is said to cease temporarily in this state. The remaining qualities are: "a feeling of equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of awareness; unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention".[38]
Psychic powers[edit]
Traditionally, the fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic powers (abhijñā).[note 4]
The Arupa Jhānas[edit]
See also: Arūpajhāna and Formless Realm
Beyond the four jhānas lie four attainments, referred to in the early texts as aruppas. These are also referred to in commentarial literature as immaterial/the formless jhānas (arūpajhānas), also translated as The Formless Dimensions, in distinction from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas. The immaterial attainments have more to do with expanding, while the Jhanas (1-4) focus on concentration. The enlightenment of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.
The four formless jhanas are:
Dimension of Infinite Space - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of space, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]
Dimension of Infinite Consciousness - In this dimension the following quailities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]
Dimension of Nothingness - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of nothingness, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"
Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception No qualities to be "ferreted out" are being mentioned for this dimension.[38]
Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine Jhanas taught by the Buddha, they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Path number eight is "Samma Samadhi" (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the Jhanas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".
Nirodha-Samapatti[edit]
The Buddha also rediscovered an attainment beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, Nirodha-Samapatti, the "cessation of feelings and perceptions".[38] This is sometimes called the "ninth jhāna" in commentarial and scholarly literature.[39][40]
Various possibilities for liberation[edit]
Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[13][3][page needed][2][page needed] Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility:[49]
Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;
Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas and the four Arupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;
Liberating insight itself suffices;
The four Rupa Jhanas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the Buddha.[50]
Jhana
QMRTwo kinds of dhyana[edit]
According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rupa-jhanas describes two different cognitive states:
I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second.[59][note 9]
Alexander Wynne further explains that the dhyana-scheme is poorly understood.[58] According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā, are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states,[58] whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects:[58]
Thus the expression sato sampajāno in the third jhāna must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhāna (cetaso ekodibhāva). It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word upek(k)hā: it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth jhāna-s, as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.[60][note 10]
Theravada-tradition[edit]
According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhāna state to bring the mind to rest, and to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self.[citation needed]
According to the sutta descriptions of jhāna practice, the meditator does not emerge from jhāna to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhāna itself. In particular the meditator is instructed to "enter and remain in the fourth jhāna" before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental defilements.[61]<[note 11]
According to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access concentration. In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.[citation needed]
According to the contemporary Vipassana-movement, the jhāna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses the defilements. Meditators must use the jhāna state as an instrument for developing wisdom by cultivating insight, and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana.[citation needed]
Insight alone suffices[edit]
The emphasis on "liberating insight" alone seems to be a later development, in response to developments in Indian religious thought.[3][50] Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyana, since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state.[63] He also notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an expression of what this "liberating insight" constituted.[64] In time, other expressions took over these function, such as pratītyasamutpāda and the emptiness of the self.[65
QMRLevels of attainment[edit]
Main article: Four stages of enlightenment
The Theravada tradition identifies four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat.[note 10] The final stage, the arhat, is a fully awakened person. The arhat has abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death will never be reborn in any plane or world, having wholly escaped saṃsāra.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu notes that individuals up to the level of non-returning may experience nirvāna as an object of mental consciousness.[59][note 11] Certain contemplations with nibbana as an object of samādhi lead, if developed, to the level of non-returning.[60] At that point of contemplation, which is reached through a progression of insight, if the meditator realizes that even that state is constructed and therefore impermanent, the fetters are destroyed, arahantship is attained, and nibbāna is realized.[61]
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra[edit]
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which has as one of its main topics precisely the realm or dhatu of nirvana, has the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous state:
‘The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the Absolute.[118]
Kosho Yamamoto, translator of the full-length Nirvana Sutra, expresses the view that the non-Self doctrine of the Buddha's earlier teaching phase is an expedient only and that in the Nirvana Sutra a hidden teaching on the True Self is disclosed by the Buddha:
He [the Buddha] says that the non-Self which he once taught is none but of expediency ... He says that he is now ready to speak about the undisclosed teachings. Men abide in upside-down thoughts. So he will now speak of the affirmative attributes of nirvana, which are none other than the Eternal, Bliss, the Self and the Pure.[119]
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra[edit]
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which has as one of its main topics precisely the realm or dhatu of nirvana, has the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous state:
‘The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the Absolute.[118]
Kosho Yamamoto, translator of the full-length Nirvana Sutra, expresses the view that the non-Self doctrine of the Buddha's earlier teaching phase is an expedient only and that in the Nirvana Sutra a hidden teaching on the True Self is disclosed by the Buddha:
He [the Buddha] says that the non-Self which he once taught is none but of expediency ... He says that he is now ready to speak about the undisclosed teachings. Men abide in upside-down thoughts. So he will now speak of the affirmative attributes of nirvana, which are none other than the Eternal, Bliss, the Self and the Pure.[119]
QMRAnanda parinirvanizes in midair over the ganges, his body is autocremated and his relics divide into four portions for the people of Rajargrha, the people of Vaisali, the naga's and the gods.
QMRThe Buddhist vihara at Sanchi, famous for its Great Stupa is located at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is 46 Km north-east of Bhopal.
The Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India[1] and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka's wife, Devi herself, who was the daughter of a merchant of Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added.
The original brick stupa was later covered with stone during the Shunga period. On the basis of Ashokavadana, it is presumed that the stupa may have been vandalized at one point sometime in the 2nd century BCE, an event some have related to the rise of the Shunga emperor Pushyamitra Shunga who overtook the Mauryan Empire as an army general. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.[2] During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade with four monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions. The buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and Third stupas (but not the highly decorated gateways, which are from the following Satavahana period, as known from inscriptions), and the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa.
Later periods[edit]
Pilgrimage to
Buddha's
Holy Sites
Dharma Wheel.svg
The Four Main Sites
Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath
Four Additional Sites
Rajgir Sankassa Shravasti Vaishali
Other Sites
Chandavaram Devadaha Gaya
Kapilavastu Kesaria Kosambi
Nalanda Pataliputra Pava
Varanasi
Later Sites
Ajanta Caves Barabar Caves Bharhut
Ellora Caves Lalitgiri Mathura
Pandavleni Caves Piprahwa Ratnagiri
Sanchi Udayagiri Vikramashila
v t e
Further stupas and other religious Buddhist structures were added over the following centuries until the 12th century AD. Temple 17 is probably one of the earliest Buddhist temples as it dates to the early Gupta period. It consists of a flat roofed square sanctum with a portico and four pillars. The interior and three sides of the exterior are plain and undecorated but the front and the pillars are elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’ appearance (Mitra 1971).
Temple 45 was the last Buddhist temple built during the mid - late 9th century.[5] Also at this time the monuments were enclosed within a wall. With the decline of Buddhism in India, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell into a state of disrepair. In 1818, General Taylor of the Bengal Cavalry recorded a visit to Sanchi. At that time the monuments appear to have been left undisturbed for a long time and in generally good preservation.
QMRBodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment (Bodhimandala) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree.[2]
For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
QMRArchitectural style[edit]
Mahabodhi Temple is constructed of brick and is one of the oldest brick structures to have survived in eastern India. It is considered to be a fine example of Indian brickwork, and was highly influential in the development of later architectural traditions. According UNESCO, "the present temple is one of the earliest and most imposing structures built entirely in brick from Gupta period" (300–600 CE).[3] Mahabodhi Temple's central tower rises 55 metres (180 ft), and were heavily renovated in the 19th century. The central tower is surrounded by four smaller towers, constructed in the same style.
The Mahabodhi Temple is surrounded on all four sides by stone railings, about two metres high. The railings reveal two distinct types, both in style as well as the materials used. The older ones, made of sandstone, date to about 150 BCE, and the others, constructed from unpolished coarse granite, are believed to be of the Gupta period. The older railings have scenes such as Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, being bathed by elephants; and Surya, the Hindu sun god, riding a chariot drawn by four horses. The newer railings have figures of stupas (reliquary shrines) and garudas (eagles). Images of lotus flowers also appear commonly.
Images of the site include Avalokiteśvara (Padmapani, Khasarpana), Vajrapani, Tara, Marichi, Yamantaka, Jambhala and Vajravārāhī.[2] Images of Vishnu, Shiva, Surya and other Vedic deities are also associated with the site.[2]
QMRArchitectural style[edit]
Mahabodhi Temple is constructed of brick and is one of the oldest brick structures to have survived in eastern India. It is considered to be a fine example of Indian brickwork, and was highly influential in the development of later architectural traditions. According UNESCO, "the present temple is one of the earliest and most imposing structures built entirely in brick from Gupta period" (300–600 CE).[3] Mahabodhi Temple's central tower rises 55 metres (180 ft), and were heavily renovated in the 19th century. The central tower is surrounded by four smaller towers, constructed in the same style.
The Mahabodhi Temple is surrounded on all four sides by stone railings, about two metres high. The railings reveal two distinct types, both in style as well as the materials used. The older ones, made of sandstone, date to about 150 BCE, and the others, constructed from unpolished coarse granite, are believed to be of the Gupta period. The older railings have scenes such as Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, being bathed by elephants; and Surya, the Hindu sun god, riding a chariot drawn by four horses. The newer railings have figures of stupas (reliquary shrines) and garudas (eagles). Images of lotus flowers also appear commonly.
Images of the site include Avalokiteśvara (Padmapani, Khasarpana), Vajrapani, Tara, Marichi, Yamantaka, Jambhala and Vajravārāhī.[2] Images of Vishnu, Shiva, Surya and other Vedic deities are also associated with the site.[2]
It takes the form of a quincunx cross with five parts in the form of a cross or quadrant
QMRKshatriya (from kshatra, "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of the Hindu society. The Sanskrit term kshatriya is used in the context of Vedic society wherein members organised themselves into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and sudra.[1] Traditionally, the kshatriya constituted the ruling and military elite. Their role was to protect society by fighting in wartime and governing in peacetime.
QMRPurusha sukta (puruṣasūkta) is hymn 10.90 of the Rigveda, dedicated to the Purusha, the "Cosmic Being".
One version of the suktam has 16 verses, 15 in the anuṣṭubh meter, and the final one in the triṣṭubh meter. Another version of the suktam consists of 24 verses with the first 18 mantras designated as the Purva-narayana and the later portion termed as the Uttara-narayana probably in honour of Rishi Narayana. Some scholars state that some verses of Purusha sukta are later interpolations to the Rigveda.[1][2]
Creation[edit]
Verses 5-15 hold the creation of the Rig Veda. Creation is described to have started with the origination of Virat or the cosmic body from the Purusha. In Virat, omnipresent intelligence manifests itself which causes the appearance of diversity. In the verses following, it is held that Purusha through a sacrifice of himself, brings forth the avian, forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the three Vedas, the metres (of the mantras). Then follows a verse which states that from his mouth, arms, thighs, feet the four Varnas (classes) are born. This four varna-related verse is controversial and is believed by many scholars, such as Max Müller, to be a corruption and a medieval or modern era insertion into the text.[1][2]
After the verse, the sukta states that the moon takes birth from the Purusha's mind and the sun from his eyes. Indra and Agni descend from his mouth and from his vital breath, air is born. The firmament comes from his navel, the heavens from his head, the earth from his feet and quarters of space from his ears.[3] Through this creation, underlying unity of human, cosmic and divine realities is espoused, for all are seen arising out of same original reality, the Purusha.[5]
QMRThe Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, from ṛc "praise, shine"[1] and veda "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas.[2][3] The text is a collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses, organized into ten books (Mandalas).[4] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.[4]
Notice how veda means knowledge. Hinduism is the fourth square religion,and thus is related to knowledge, as knowledge is the fourth quadrant
The Rigveda is the largest of the four Vedas, and many of its verses appear in the other Vedas.[42] Almost all of the 1,875 verses found in Samaveda are taken from different parts of the Rigveda, either once or as repetition, and rewritten in a chant song form. The Books 8 and 9 of the Rigveda are by far the largest source of verses for Sama Veda. The Book 10 contributes the largest number of the 1,350 verses of Rigveda found in Atharvaveda, or about one fifth of the 5,987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.[41] A bulk of 1,875 ritual-focussed verses of Yajurveda, in its numerous versions, also borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.[42][43]
The fourth is always transcendent yet encompasses the previous three
QMRThe name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns". It is also said that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal [end] of the Vedas".[note 2] Vedanta can also be used as a noun to describe one who has mastered all four of the original Vedas
QMRNāstika[edit]
Schools that do not accept the authority of the Vedas are nāstika philosophies, of which four nāstika (heterodox) schools are prominent:[6]
Cārvāka, a materialism school that accepted free will exists[26][27]
Ājīvika, a materialism school that denied free will exists[28][29]
Buddhism, a philosophy that denies existence of ātman (soul, self)[30] and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of Gautama Buddha
Jainism, a philosophy that accepts the existence of the ātman (soul, self), and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of twenty-four teachers known as tirthankaras, with Rishabha as the first and Mahavira as the twenty-fourth[31]
QMRNāstika[edit]
Schools that do not accept the authority of the Vedas are nāstika philosophies, of which four nāstika (heterodox) schools are prominent:[6]
Cārvāka, a materialism school that accepted free will exists[26][27]
Ājīvika, a materialism school that denied free will exists[28][29]
Buddhism, a philosophy that denies existence of ātman (soul, self)[30] and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of Gautama Buddha
Jainism, a philosophy that accepts the existence of the ātman (soul, self), and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of twenty-four teachers known as tirthankaras, with Rishabha as the first and Mahavira as the twenty-fourth[31]
QMRVaiśeṣika metaphysical premises are founded on a form of atomism, that the reality is composed of four substances (earth, water, air, fire). Each of these four are of two types:[83] atomic (paramāṇu) and composite. An atom is, according to Vaiśeṣika scholars, that which is indestructible (anitya), indivisible, and has a special kind of dimension, called “small” (aṇu). A composite, in this philosophy, is defined to be anything which is divisible into atoms. Whatever human beings perceive is composite, while atoms are invisible.[83] The Vaiśeṣikas stated that size, form, truths and everything that human beings experience as a whole is a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements, their guṇa (quality), karma (activity), sāmānya (commonness), viśeṣa (particularity) and amavāya (inherence, inseparable connectedness of everything).[84][90]
QMRThere are four extant collections of āgamas, and one for which we have only references and fragments (the Kṣudrakāgama). The four extant collections are preserved in their entirety only in Chinese translation (āgama: 阿含經), although small portions of all four have recently been discovered in Sanskrit, and portions of four of the five āgamas are preserved in Tibetan.[7] The five Āgamas are:
Dīrgha Āgama[edit]
The Dīrgha Āgama ("Long Discourses," Cháng Ahánjīng 長阿含經 Taishō 1)[8] corresponds to the Dīgha Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Dīrgha Āgama of the Dharmaguptaka (法藏部) school was done by Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the Late Qin dynasty (後秦), dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A "very substantial" portion of the Sarvāstivādin Dīrgha Āgama survives in Sanskrit,[9] and portions survive in Tibetan translation.
Madhyama Āgama[edit]
The Madhyama Āgama (traditional Chinese: 中阿含經 "Middle-length Discourses")[8] corresponds to the Majjhima Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete translation of the Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school was done by Saṃghadeva (Chinese: 僧伽提婆) in the Eastern Jin dynasty in 397-398 CE. The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas of the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Madhyama Āgama also survive in Tibetan translation.
Saṃyukta Āgama[edit]
The Saṃyukta Āgama ("Connected Discourses", Zá Ahánjīng 雜阿含經 Taishō 2.99)[8] corresponds to the Saṃyutta Nikāya of the Theravada school. A Chinese translation of the complete Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda (說一切有部) school was done by Guṇabhadra (求那跋陀羅) in the Song state (宋), dated to 435-443 CE. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Saṃyukta Āgama also survive in Sanskrit[10] and Tibetan translation.
There is also an incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama (別譯雜阿含經 Taishō 100) of the Kāśyapīya (飲光部) school by an unknown translator, from around the Three Qin (三秦) period, 352-431 CE.[7] A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains texts not found in the others.
Ekottara Āgama[edit]
Main article: Ekottara Agama
The Ekottara Āgama ("Numbered Discourses," Zēngyī Ahánjīng, 增壹阿含經 Taishō 125)[8] corresponds to the Anguttara Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Ekottara Āgama was translated by Dharmanandi (曇摩難提) of the Fu Qin state (苻秦), and edited by Gautama Saṃghadeva in 397–398 CE. Some believed that it came from the Sarvāstivāda school, but more recently the Mahāsāṃghika branch has been proposed as well.[11] According to A.K. Warder, the Ekottara Āgama references 250 Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara Āgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.[12]
Of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the Theravādin version. The Ekottara Āgama contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path.[13] According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."[14]
Kṣudraka Āgama or Kṣudraka Piṭaka[edit]
The Kṣudraka Āgama ("Minor Collection") corresponds to the Khuddaka Nikāya, and existed in some schools. The Dharmaguptaka in particular, had a Kṣudraka Āgama.[15] The Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya provides a table of contents for the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Kṣudraka Āgama, and fragments in Gandhari appear to have been found.[16] Items from this Āgama also survive in Tibetan and Chinese translation—fourteen texts, in the later case.[15][17][18] Some schools, notably the Sarvāstivāda, recognized only four Āgamas—they had a "Kṣudraka" which they did not consider to be an "Āgama."[17][19] Others—including even the Dharmaguptaka, according to some contemporary scholars—preferred to term it a ""Kṣudraka Piṭaka." As with its Pāḷi counterpart, the Kṣudraka Āgama appears to have been a miscellany, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early schools.
QMRThe name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthāvirīya, one of the early Buddhist schools, from which the Theravadins claim descent. After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a small group of "elderly members", i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mahāsāṃghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira sect.[1] According to its own accounts, the Theravāda school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjavāda "doctrine of analysis" grouping,[2] which was a division of the Sthāvirīya.
According to Damien Keown, there is no historical evidence that the Theravāda school arose until around two centuries after the Great Schism which occurred at the Third Council.[3] Theravadin accounts of its own origins mention that it received the teachings that were agreed upon during the putative Third Buddhist council under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada.[4] Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council.[5] Later, the Vibhajjavādins in turn is said to have split into four groups: the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya.
Other religions chapter
Sociology chapter
QMRUnderstanding the Tool
The Outsourcing Decision Matrix, shown in Figure1, helps you consider two important factors in outsourcing a task:
How strategically important is the task to your business? Strategically important tasks are sources of competitive advantage.
What is the task's impact on your organization's operational performance? Tasks which have a high impact on operational performance are those which, if done well, contribute greatly to the smooth running of the organization or, if done badly, greatly disrupt it.
Outsourcing Decision Matrix Diagram
The quadrants are as follows:
The quadrants are as follows:
Form a strategic alliance – Tasks in this quadrant are high in strategic importance, but contribute little to operational performance. So, although you need to retain control of them to ensure they are done exactly as you want, or you get the quality you want, they are relatively insignificant in terms of cost or smooth running and so not worthy of full in-house focus. This means that you should form a strategic alliance Add to My Personal Learning Plan. For example, an auto manufacturer could align with an advertising agency. The manufacturer needs to be closely involved in the message and tone of adverts, but advertising has little impact on the day-to-day operational performance of the company.
Retain – Tasks in this quadrant are high in strategic importance and have a big impact on operational performance. These tasks should be kept in-house so that your organization keeps maximum control. In our auto manufacturer, the assembly of cars would be retained as it is strategically critical – it should be one of the organization's core competences Add to My Personal Learning Plan, in fact – and it makes a massive contribution to the smooth running of the organization.
Outsource – Tasks this quadrant are important for successful operational performance, but are not strategically important. These tasks could safely be outsourced. They're simply not worth spending in-house time managing. For example, the auto manufacturer in the example above could outsource its delivery logistics to a specialist company. How you deliver cars to dealers is generally not a source of competitive advantage, as it doesn't touch the customer's experience, but how well it's done has a huge impact on operational performance. If transporters are late, stock builds up at the manufacturing plant, and dealers don't have the vehicles they need in their show rooms for customers to test drive. You can learn more about outsourcing in Working with Outsourced Suppliers Add to My Personal Learning Plan.
Eliminate – Tasks in this quadrant are not important to your organization's overall strategy and nor do they make a significant contribution to its day-to-day operational performance. Although you might not be able to eliminate these tasks completely, it's important to check why you're doing them. An example might be running a subsidized staff crèche. Although having an in-house childcare facility might help you to attract certain staff (strategic importance) or reduce absenteeism caused by childcare problems (operational performance), does the effort involved justify doing it? Perhaps it does, but equally, perhaps you might be better off paying your people a little more, so that they can afford to use independent crèches situated nearby.
QMRHow I (currently) Explain The State of Blockchains To Executives and Researchers
Seems everyone these days is getting into the game of providing frameworks for thinking about blockchains and trying to convince others that their definitions are the correct definitions. Into that marketplace of metaphors, I provide this entry.
When I look at the development of the sector generally, what I see is roughly two “types” of blockchains and within each of those types, two “flavours” of blockchains. These types and flavours can be graphically depicted using two dimensions.
On the X axis of the diagram we can formulate a spectrum of permission-able-ness. These permissions are usually capabilities based permissions, meaning the permission is to interact with a capability of what the blockchain can do. Whether a blockchain design is capable of being put into permissioned mode or not is an important operational consideration for application developers (whether those are startups or enterprises). That permission layer may provide an advantage in censorship resistance (if it is absent) or in compliance risk mitigation (if it is present).
On the Y axis of the diagram we can formulate a spectrum of optimizations. These optimizations are roughly binary at this point, although we fully expect that it will be more of a spectrum that will develop over time. On one side we have transactional optimized blockchains. These are the chain designs which have been developed to support digital cash and are now being permissioned and built to provide clearing and settlement solutions. On the other side we have logic optimized blockchains. These blockchains have been optimized to provide an arbitrary framework for running small scripts which are saved onto the blockchain (which we call “smart contracts”).
In total, my mental diagram looks like this:
While the above may not perfectly capture all of the blockchains in existence, I think it does a fairly good job of providing a framework for placing most of the space into some easier to consume boxes.
The Optimization Spectrum
On the lower half of the quadrant we have blockchains which give application developers a clear and efficient way to verifiably track title transfers in a distributed environment. Whether these blockchains are permissioned or unpermissioned, they are a good fit for application developers seeking to build transfer mechanisms, clearing and settlement, and provenance applications. In other words, they’re really interesting property registers. These blockchain designs – to some extent or another depending on the blockchain in question – do provide some limited logic capabilities (bitcoin, famously, has its multi-signature capacity which operates in a similar area to logic). However, they really have been optimized to track movement of title over “property” from one node on the network to another.
On the upper half of the quadrant we have blockchains which give application developers a clear and efficient way to verifiably track business and governance process logic in a distributed environment. Whether these blockchains are permissioned or unpermissioned, they are a good fit for application developers seeking to build complicated business process mechanisms. In other words, they’re really interesting process auditors. Similarly to transaction optimized blockchain designs, they have capabilities of supporting verifiable title transfers, but they have really been optimized to run arbitrary business logic.
The Permissioned Spectrum
On the left half of the quandrant we have unpermissioned blockchains. These blockchains lack an access control layer and as such handle anti-spam and consensus via purely economic mechanisms. We may not like to have to pay a bank a fee to update our address in their database, but if our bank operates on a public blockchain that’s basically what we’d have to do in order to overcome the necessary anti-spam protections (and other protections) which have been put in place to protect these unpermissioned blockchains. These blockchains are the best solution for censorship resistance. If someone needs data to exist forever in a rock solid vault of math and environmental degradation, then public blockchains are the place for that data. Public blockchains also have public governance mechanisms, as we are finding out with the blockchain debate. Whether the increased uncertainty which is the current state of the public blockchain governance oligarchy is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen. Lastly, public blockchains have been designed to provide the backbone for a variety of applications. That means that they were probably not well suited for any one type of application. Depending on what application one is seeking to build this may be a benefit or a detriment.
On the right half of the quandrant we have blockchains which are capable of being put into a permissioned mode. Generally speaking, permissions can be made fully public, or use whitelisting to control who can validate batches of transactions, who can add functionality to the blockchain in the form of smart contracts, and who can transact with the chain. These chains are not susceptible to external attack by unknown actors because the clients running the chain will reject blocks from not-whitelisted nodes (if the client is running in “permissioned” mode for a particular blockchain in question). These chains also may have slight performance advantages over public blockchains because they are only dealing with the functionality required for that chain rather than all the functionality for all of the people for all of the time. While permissioned chains have some upsides, they also have some downsides of course. The downsides include a reduction in censorship resistance, and an increase in responsibility for application developers (who now have to also have some operational responsibilities).
Hope that helps your own mental framing of the state of blockchain technology.
Art Chapter
Painting Chapter
QMR The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross (German: Lotharkreuz) is a crux gemmata (jewelled cross) processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne.[1] It is an outstanding example of medieval goldsmith's work, and "an important monument of imperial ideology",[2] forming part of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, which includes several other masterpieces of sacral Ottonian art. The measurements of the original portion are 50 cm height, 38.5 cm width, 2.3 cm depth. The cross comes from the period when Ottonian art was evolving into Romanesque art, and the engraved crucifixion on the reverse looks forward to the later period.
The Cross takes its name from the large engraved greenish rock crystal seal near its base bearing the portrait and name of the Carolingian ruler Lothair II, King of Lotharingia (835–869), and a nephew of Charles the Bald. The cross was actually made over a century after Lothair’s death for one of the Ottonian dynasty, the successors of the Carolingian dynasty; possibly for Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor.[3] It appears to have been donated to the Cathedral as soon as it was made.
The Cross is still used in processions today. On high feast days it is carried into Aachen Cathedral where it is placed next to the main altar during mass. For the rest of the time it is on display in the Cathedral Treasury Museum.
Description and interpretation[edit]
The oak core of the Lothair Cross is encased in gold and silver and encrusted with jewels and engraved gems – a total of 102 gems and 35 pearls. The front of the cross (in the terms used here) is made of gold and silver plate and is richly decorated with precious stones, pearls, gold filigree and cloisonné enamel.[4] There is a case for describing this as the reverse side, as some sources do, as it may have been carried that way in processions, with the plain engraved crucifixion facing forward, and the gem-encrusted face facing the emperor who followed the cross. The enamel is on the bands of the terminals that are interrupted by the points of the triangular sections. The gems in the centre rows are mounted in raised drum-like platforms, their sides decorated with arcades in filigree. The flat surface of the arms is decorated all over with filigree tendrils.[5] At the meeting point of the arms is a first-century AD sardonyx three-layered cameo of the Roman Emperor Augustus holding an eagle sceptre,[6] also mounted on a raised drum.[7]
On the assumption that the Ottonians were aware that the cameo was a portrait of Augustus, it served to link the Ottonian dynasty with the original Roman emperors, and assert them as God's representatives on earth.[8] On the other hand, an engraved gem portrait of Augustus's daughter Julia at the top of the "Escrin of Charlemagne", an elaborate treasure given to the Abbey of Saint-Denis by Charles the Bald, was treated as an image of the Virgin Mary. Another gem portrait of the Roman Emperor Caracalla had a cross and the name of Saint Peter added to it before use in metalwork for the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is now impossible to know the degrees of awareness of this iconographic recycling among the different categories of people creating and seeing these objects.[9]
The second largest gem, below Augustus, was probably Lothair's seal and has his portrait with the inscription "+XPE ADIVVA HLOTARIVM REG" ("God save King Lothar").[10] This served a similar function, linking the Ottonians with the Carolingian dynasty who had established the position of Holy Roman Emperor. Other gems on the cross have classical carvings on them, including an amethyst with the Three Graces and a lion in onyx, both of which are mounted with the images placed sideways.[11]
The reverse side of the Cross is a plain gold plate engraved with the “Crucifixion of Jesus”, with above it the Hand of God holding a victor's wreath containing the dove of the Holy Ghost; here this represents God the Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. This is the earliest known appearance of the dove in this motif, which introduces the whole Trinity into a crucifixion, an iconography that was to have a long future.[12] The Serpent, representing Satan, is twined round the bottom of the cross. In medallions at the ends of the arms are personifications of the sun and moon with heads bowed and surmounted by their symbols.[13] The Hand with the wreath was a common motif in mosaics in Rome, and also used in art associated with the early Holy Roman Emperors, including in illuminated manuscript portraits of themselves, to emphasize their authority from God.
This is an outstanding and moving example of the “Crucifixion”, closely related to the slightly earlier life-size wooden Gero Cross in Cologne, which was a crucial work in developing the Western image of the dead crucified Christ, whose head is slumped to his shoulder, and whose sagging body forms a S shape, showing the marks of his suffering, here with blood spurting from the spear-wound in his side.[14] Engraved backs are found in many jewelled crosses of the period.[15] The cross is now mounted on a 14th-century Gothic stand, itself decorated with two small crucifixions and other figures.
This style of gem-studded gold decoration, re-using material from antiquity, was usual for the richest objects at the time.[16] In particular, the motif of the glorified jewelled cross, a "transformation of the crude gibbet on which Christ died", goes back to Late Antiquity, when pagan opponents of Christianity often mocked the mean nature of the primary Christian symbol.[17] Until about the 6th century, crosses rarely showed the figure of Christ, but by 1000 other grand jewelled crosses had already moved the crucifixion, usually in gilded cast bronze, to the front face of the cross, to make them crucifixes, which would remain the most common Catholic form of cross. Some examples are the crosses of Bernward of Hildesheim (c. 1000, Hildesheim Cathedral), Gisela of Hungary (Regensburg, 1006, now Munich Residenz[18]), and Mathilda of Essen (973, Essen Cathedral, see left),[19] which uses a virtually identical design for the terminals of the arms to the Lothair Cross.[20]
The Lothair Cross is in this respect a somewhat conservative object, leaving the front free for imperial symbolism, and also perhaps as a deliberate revival of Carolingian style; for example most rich crosses of similar date made more use of enamel. The two sides can be taken to represent Church and state, fittingly for an Imperial donation that was carried in front of the Holy Roman Emperors as they processed into the church.[21] The broad form of the design matches that of the small cross at the front of the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (c. 973/83?), which also has a jewelled front side and an engraved crucifixion on the rear.[22]
QMRThe Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix ("Gero-Kreuz" in German), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Gero, Archbishop of Cologne, who died in 976, thus providing a terminus ante quem for the work. It is carved in oak, and painted and partially gilded – both have been renewed. The halo and cross-pieces are original, but the Baroque surround was added in 1683. The figure is 187 cm high, and the span of the arms is 165 cm.[1]
The Gero Cross is important to medieval art for the unique way it depicts Christ. The figure appears to be the earliest, and finest, of a number of life-size German wood sculpted crucifixions that appeared in the late Ottonian or early Romanesque period, later spreading to much of Europe. It is the first monumental depiction of the crucified Christ on the Cross and the first monumental sculpture dating from this period.[2] Standing over six feet tall, it was one of the largest crosses of its time. Additionally, it appears to be the oldest Western depiction of a dead Christ on the cross;[3] in most earlier depictions, Christ holds his head erect and looks straight ahead, or in some Carolingian examples looks down at the Virgin at the foot of the cross.[4]
The shape of the Gero Cross is traditional to Carolingian religious art, however, this piece puts extra emphasis on the suffering of Jesus Christ's crucifixion with the slumped head, lifeless body, and closed eyes. Other depictions are idealized and do not show Christ as vulnerable and disfigured. This was a major influence on later crosses, especially in 11th century Germany, where you see more crosses that follow this rounded, natural style. The slumped head and twisted body, which arises as the hands are nailed to the cross at different heights, are found neither in Carolingian nor Byzantine art, and were to be slow to influence Western depictions, although the long hair spread over the shoulders is found in some Carolingian works.[5] The style of the Gero Cross shows a great deal of Byzantine influence, most likely stemming from Otto II's marriage to a Byzantine princess, creating a cultural link between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire. In crucifixions of the Gothic period, a still more slumped and curved figure of Christ, with knees bent sideways, was to become the standard depiction.
Earlier large figures of Christ on the Cross appear to have been in metal, or metal on a wooden core; there was said to be one in Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen, and the Golden Madonna of Essen is an example of this type.[6] The development of a tradition of free-standing monumental sculpture was a crucial development in Western art; in Byzantine art such images were and are avoided.
The cross has always been in Cologne Cathedral; it now hangs in its own chapel near the sacristy – now a different, Gothic, building from the one it was made for. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg, written 1012-1018, said that it was originally displayed above Gero's grave; though no one is now sure where that was located in the old church, most scholars place it somewhere on the central axis of the nave,[7] in which case it may have been at the chancel arch, the usual location of later roods or large crucifixes. It has long been celebrated and visited by pilgrims.
The old cathedral only underwent minor changes until the 13th century. Cologne became one of the most important churches in Europe for religious pilgrimages, containing not only the Gero Cross, but also the Magi reliquary and the Madonna of Milan. When it was decided to rebuild it, the old building was taken down piece by piece before the new building could be put up in 1248. In 1322, the Gero cross was placed in the new building where it remains today.[8]
In 1904, a new layer of paint was added to the cross by W. Batzem. This, along with several other layers of paint below it, concealed many of the original details from the piece. However, modern day x-ray technology has determined that the eyes on the original layer of paint were indeed closed. This is unique because the artist did not depict Christ as idealized and overcoming death, but vulnerable and humanized. This is most likely because of a change in Christian teaching in the late tenth century that put salvation through Christ's death at the heart of Christian doctrine.[9] The beam and the corpus are original, however, the gold sun and the marble altar it stands in were donated in 1683 by Canon Heinrich Mering.[10]
Until the 1920s, despite local tradition, and the reference in Thietmar's chronicle [11] associating it with Gero, it was thought to be at least a century later in date, and it is indeed innovative for its date.[5] The dating was confirmed by dendrochronology in 1976, ending the controversy.[3] Contrary to long-held tradition, the studies in 1976 revealed that there is no space in the back of the head to place relics.[12]
According to the Luccan local histories, the Holy Face of Lucca in Italy is considerably older, though that sculpture had to be recreated in the Gothic period after being nibbled away by pilgrims, which makes this claim difficult to verify by art historians.[13]
A replica of the crucifix hangs in the St. Alphonsus Chapel located in the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.
QMRVisions of John the Evangelist, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Four cherubim surround the throne and twenty-four elders sit to the left and right
QMRStaurogram Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 2.jpg[edit]
A staurogram used in the second century Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV to represent the word cross in (Luke 14:27)
The Staurogram (meaning monogram of the cross, from the Greek σταυρός, i.e. cross), or Monogrammatic Cross or Tau-Rho symbol, is composed by a tau (Τ) superimposed on a rho (Ρ). The Staurogram was first used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament manuscripts such as P66, P45 and P75, almost like a nomen sacrum, and may visually have represented Jesus on the cross.[15]
Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th-century explained these two united letters stating that the tau refers to the cross, and the rho refers to the Greek word "help" (Βoήθια [sic]; proper spelling: Βoήθεια) which has the numerological value in Greek of 100 as the letter rho has. In such a way the symbol expresses the idea that the Cross saves.[15] The two letters tau and rho can also be found separately as symbols on early Christian ossuaries.[16]
The tau was considered a symbol of salvation due to the identification of the tau with the sign which in Ezekiel 9:4 was marked on the forehead of the saved ones, or due to the tau-shaped outstretched hands of Moses in Exodus 17:11.[15] The rho by itself can refer to Christ as Messiah because Abraham, taken as symbol of the Messiah, generated Isaac according to a promise made by God when he was one hundred years old, and 100 is the value of rho.[16]:158
The Monogrammatic Cross was later seen also as a variation of the Chi Rho symbol, and it spread over Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries.[17]
Chi
Chi Rho Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 1.jpg[edit]
The Chi-Rho symbol ☧, Catacombs of San Callisto, Rome
Main article: Chi Rho
The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" =Christ in such a way to produce the monogram. Widespread in ancient Christianity, it was the symbol used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as vexillum (named Labarum).
IH
IH Monogram IH Monogram with iota and eta superimposed.jpg[edit]
The first two letters of the name of Jesus in Greek, iota (Ι) and eta (Η), sometime superimposed one on the other, or the numeric value 18 of ΙΗ in Greek, was a well known and very early way to represent Christ.[18] This symbol was already explained in the Epistle of Barnabas and by Clement of Alexandria.[5] For other christograms such as IHS, see Article Christogram. They are usually superimposed on each other to form a cross
IX Monogram Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 4.jpg[edit]
A IX Monogram from a 4th century Sarcophagus from Constantinople
An early form of the monogram of Christ, found in early Christian ossuaries in Palestinia, was formed by superimposing the first (capital) letters of the Greek words for Jesus and Christ, i.e. iota Ι and chi Χ, so that this monogram means "Jesus Christ".[16]:166 Another more complicated explanation of this monogram was given by Irenaeus[19] and Pachomius: because the numeric value of iota is 10 and the chi is the initial of the word "Christ" (Greek: ΧΡΕΙΣΤΟΣ [sic]; proper spelling: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ) which has 8 letters, these early fathers calculate 888 ((10*8)*10)+((10*8)+8) which was a number already known to represent Jesus, being the sum of the value of the letters of the name "Jesus" (IHΣΟΥΣ) (10+8+200+70+400+200).[16]:169–170
They are usually superimposed on each other making a sort of cross but this cross has six parts
QMRAnchor Anchor pictogram.svg[edit]
The Christians adopted the anchor as a symbol of hope in future existence because the anchor was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. For Christians, Christ is the unfailing hope of all who believe in him: Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and several of the early Church Fathers speak in this sense. The Epistle to the Hebrews 6:19-20 for the first time connects the idea of hope with the symbol of the anchor.[24]
A fragment of inscription discovered in the catacomb of St. Domitilla contains the anchor, and dates from the end of the 1st century. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries the anchor occurs frequently in the epitaphs of the catacombs. The most common form of anchor found in early Christian images was that in which one extremity terminates in a ring adjoining the cross-bar while the other ends in two curved branches or an arrowhead; There are, however, many deviations from this form.[24] In general the anchor can symbolize hope, steadfastness, calm and composure.
The anchor has a crossing at the top, respembling a cross
QMR Lily crucifix[edit]
Lily Crucifix at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, Suffolk
The coat of arms of the Anglican diocese of Trinidad contains several Christian visual symbols
A lily crucifix is a rare symbol of Anglican churches in England. It depicts Christ crucified on a lily, or holding such a plant. The symbolism may be from the medieval belief that the Annunciation of Christ and his crucifixion occurred on the same day of the year, March 25.[27]
There are few depictions of a lily crucifix in England. One of the most notable is a painting on a wall above the altar at All Saint's Church, Godshill, Isle of Wight. Other examples include:
An alabaster example on a tomb in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.
The Lady Chapel of St Helen's, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has a wall painting.
Five examples are in glass as at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.
At All Saints, Great Glemham, Suffolk, the image is on the base of a font.
At St Mary, Binham, Norfolk, an image in a bench end may be a lily crucifix.
In Tong, Shropshire, St. Bartholomew's choir stall No. 8 depicts a lily crucifix.
The Church of St John the Baptist, Wellington includes a lily crucifix in the carving of the centre mullion of the east window of the Lady chapel
The coat of arms of the Anglican diocese of Trinidad contains several Christian visual symbols
QMRCross and Crown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crosscrown.svg
The Cross and Crown (a cross passing through a crown), is seen by some to be a Christian symbol appearing in many churches, particularly Roman Catholic; and has also been used in heraldry.[1][2] It is often interpreted as symbolizing the reward in heaven (the crown) coming after the trials in this life (the cross) (James 1:12).
Background[edit]
In addition to Roman Catholic and orthodox Christianity uses, the symbol also appears in the seal of the Church of Christ, Scientist, where it is surrounded by the words "Heal the Sick, Cleanse the Lepers, Raise the Dead, Cast Out Demons", from the Gospel of Matthew, 10:8. In this symbol the crown stands for victory over death.
The symbol is also associated with Freemasonry, specifically the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite of Freemasonry. The symbol is also known as "Knight Templars Blood-Red Passion Cross and Crown". The cross and crown symbol is often surrounded by the phrase "In Hoc Signo Vinces", which is Latin for "By this sign thou shalt conquer". This is a reference to the story of Constantine, who reportedly had a vision of a Chi Rho symbol, and a voice saying "By this sign thou shalt conquer". [3][4][5]
The symbol was also featured in the early publications and memorabilia of the International Bible Students Association. First appearing on the cover of the January 1881 issue of Zion's Watch Tower,[6] the cross and crown were surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves, and the symbol was also used on lapel pins, buttons (metal and celluloid) and pendants of various designs. However, not all of its uses by the I.B.S.A. included the wreath of laurel leaves. Although Charles Taze Russell's gravesite is marked by a pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society[7][8] with an illustration of the Cross and Crown symbol, the Watchtower Society later discontinued using the cross and crown some years after, viewing it as a "pagan symbol" - their doctrine for some time since is that Jesus was executed not on a cross but on an upright stake.
The Cross and Crown symbol is also the key emblem of the Royal Black Institution, (a sister organisation of the Orange Order), a Protestant fraternity, with structural and symbolic links to Freemasonry.
The Cross and Crown symbol also appears on the cover of the 1998 book, The Power of the Cross, by Tim Lahaye.
QMRThe heraldic trefoil is a stylized clover. It should not be confused with the figure named in French heraldry tiercefeuille, which is a stylized flower with three petals. It differs from the heraldic trefoil in being not slipped. It could be translated as threefoil.[2]
Trefoil in heraldry
Or a fess sable between three trefoils vert
Gules a cross flory argent between four tiercefeuilles Or
Croatian trefoil, used by the Axis-sympathetic Croatian Air Force Legion in World War II, formed from a defaced Balkenkreuz[3]
The trefoil is depicted to look like a cross
QMRTitulus Crucis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the titulus crucis as described in the Gospels, see INRI.
Titulus Crucis (Latin for "Title of the Cross") is a piece of wood, claimed to be a relic of the True Cross, kept in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome. Christian tradition claims that the relic is half of the cross's titulus (inscription) and a portion of the True Cross.[citation needed] It is generally either ignored by scholars[1] or considered to be a medieval forgery.[2]
The board is made of walnut wood, 25x14 cm in size, 2.6 cm thick and has a weight of 687 g. It is inscribed on one side with three lines, of which the first one is mostly destroyed. The second line is written in Greek letters and reversed script, the third in Latin letters, also with reversed script
The Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was built about 325 AD by Saint Helena (the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great) after her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, during which she reportedly located the True Cross and many other relics which she gave to the new church. The Titulus Crucis is alleged to have been among these relics. At the time of Egeria's pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 383 a "title" (titulus) was shown as one of the relics at Jerusalem : "A silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table."[4] The 6th-century pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza describes a titulus in Jerusalem and its inscription: it said Hic est rex Iudaeorum ("Here is the king of the Jews"), while the one kept in Rome shows Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum ("Jesus the Nazarene king of the Jews").[5] He also described the wood as nut.
Sometime before 1145 the relic was placed in a box which has the seal of Cardinal Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, raised to the cardinalate in 1124 as cardinal priest of this church, who became Pope in 1144, as Lucius II, thus dating the seal.[6] It was apparently forgotten until February 1, 1492, when it was discovered by workmen restoring a mosaic, hidden behind a brick with the inscription Titulus Crucis.[6]
Authenticity[edit]
In 1997, the German author and historian Michael Hesemann performed investigation of the relic. Hesemann presented the inscription of the title to seven experts on Hebrew, Greek and Latin palaeography: Dr. Gabriel Barkay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Prof. Dr. Hanan Eshel, Prof. Dr. Ester Eshel and Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Dr. Israel Roll and Prof. Dr. Benjamin Isaac of the University of Tel Aviv and Prof. Carsten Peter Thiede of Paderborn/Germany and the University of Beer Sheva, Israel. According to Hesemann, none of the consulted experts found any indication of a mediaeval or late antique forgery. They all dated it in the timeframe between the 1st and the 3-4th century AD, with a majority of experts preferring and none of them excluding the 1st century. Hesemann concluded that it is very well possible that the Titulus Crucis is indeed the authentic relic.[7]
Carsten Peter Thiede suggested that the Titulus Crucis is likely to be a genuine part of the Cross, written by a Jewish scribe. He cites that the order of the languages match what is historically plausible rather than the order shown in the canonical New Testament because had it been a counterfeit, the forger would surely have remained faithful to the biblical text.[3] Joe Nickell refers to this argument as "trying to psychoanalyze the dead," saying that "Forgers — particularly of another era — may do something cleverer or dumber or simply different from what we would expect."[6]
In 2002, the Roma Tre University conducted radiocarbon dating tests on the artifact, and it was shown to have been made between 980 and 1146 AD. The carbon dating results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Radiocarbon.[8] The Titulus Crucis recovered from the residence of Helena is therefore most likely a medieval artifact; some have proposed that it is a copy of the now-lost original.
QMRStained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor
The depiction has the cross halo behind Jesus head
QMR Statue of Jesus Christ in Świebodzin. His arms are outstretched like a cross
QMRA crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body").[1][2]
The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, but is also used in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, in Coptic, Armenian[3] and other Oriental Orthodox churches, as well as in Methodist, Lutheran[4][5] and Anglican churches, but less often in churches of other Protestant denominations, which prefer to use a cross without the figure of Jesus (the corpus). The crucifix emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, such as a Tau cross or a Coptic cross.
Western crucifixes usually have a three-dimensional corpus, but in Eastern Orthodoxy Jesus' body is normally painted on the cross, or in low relief. Strictly speaking, to be a crucifix, the cross must be three-dimensional, but this distinction is not always observed. An entire painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus including a landscape background and other figures is not a crucifix either.
Large crucifixes high across the central axis of a church are known by the Old English term rood. By the late Middle Ages these were a near-universal feature of Western churches, but are now very rare. Modern Roman Catholic churches often have a crucifix above the altar on the wall; for the celebration of Mass, the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church requires that, "on or close to the altar there is to be a cross with a figure of Christ crucified".[
Description[edit]
Cimabue's Crucifix, 1287-1288, Panel, 448 cm × 390 cm (176.4 in × 153.5 in)
Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence.
The standard, four-pointed Latin crucifix consists of an upright post or stipes and a single crosspiece to which the sufferer's arms were nailed. There may also be a short projecting nameplate, showing the letters INRI (Greek: INBI). The Russian Orthodox crucifix usually has an additional third crossbar, to which the feet are nailed, and which is angled upward toward the penitent thief Saint Dismas (to the viewer's left) and downward toward the impenitent thief Gestas (to the viewer's right). The corpus of Eastern crucifixes is normally a two-dimensional or low relief icon that shows Jesus as already dead, his face peaceful and somber. They are rarely three-dimensional figures as in the Western tradition, although these may be found where Western influences are strong, but are more typically icons painted on a piece of wood shaped to include the double-barred cross and perhaps the edge of Christ's hips and halo, and no background. More sculptural small crucifixes in metal relief are also used in Orthodoxy (see gallery examples), including as pectoral crosses and blessing crosses.
Western crucifixes may show Christ dead or alive, the presence of the spear wound in his ribs traditionally indicating that he is dead. In either case his face very often shows his suffering. In Orthodoxy he has normally been shown as dead since around the end of the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm.[7] Eastern crucifixes have Jesus' two feet nailed side by side, rather than crossed one above the other, as Western crucifixes have shown them for many centuries. The crown of thorns is also generally absent in Eastern crucifixes, since the emphasis is not on Christ's suffering, but on his triumph over sin and death. The "S"-shaped position of Jesus' body on the cross is a Byzantine innovation of the late 10th century,[8] though also found in the German Gero Cross of the same date. Probably more from Byzantine influence, it spread elsewhere in the West, especially to Italy, by the Romanesque period, though it was more usual in painting than sculpted crucifixes. It's in Italy that the emphasis was put on Jesus' suffering and realistic details, during a process of general humanization of Christ favored by the Franciscan order. During the 13th century the suffering Italian model (Christus patiens) triumphed over the traditional Byzantine one (Christus gloriosus) anywhere in Europe also due to the works of artists such as Giunta Pisano and Cimabue. Since the Renaissance the "S"-shape is generally much less pronounced. Eastern Christian blessing crosses will often have the Crucifixion depicted on one side, and the Resurrection on the other, illustrating the understanding of Orthodox theology that the Crucifixion and Resurrection are two intimately related aspects of the same act of salvation.
Another, symbolic, depiction shows a triumphant Christ (Latin: Christus triumphans), clothed in robes, rather than stripped as for His execution, with arms raised, appearing to rise up from the cross, sometimes accompanied by "rays of light", or an aureole encircling His Body. He may be robed as a prophet, crowned as a king, and vested in a stole as Great High Priest.
On some crucifixes a skull and crossbones are shown below the corpus, referring to Golgotha (Calvary), the site at which Jesus was crucified, which the Gospels say means in Hebrew "the place of the skull."[9] Medieval tradition held that it was the burial-place of Adam and Eve, and that the cross of Christ was raised directly over Adam's skull, so many crucifixes manufactured in Catholic countries still show the skull and crossbones below the corpus.
Very large crucifixes have been built, the largest being the Cross in the Woods in Michigan, with a 31 feet (9.4 m) high statue.[10]
Usage[edit]
Prayer in front of a crucifix, which is seen as a sacramental, is often part of devotion for Christians, especially those worshipping in a church, and also privately. The person may sit, stand, or kneel in front of the crucifix, sometimes looking at it in contemplation, or merely in front of it with head bowed or eyes closed. During the Middle Ages small crucifixes, generally hung on a wall, became normal in the personal cells or living quarters first of monks, then all clergy, followed by the homes of the laity, spreading down from the top of society as these became cheap enough for the average person to afford. By the 19th century displaying a crucifix somewhere in the general reception areas of a house became typical of Catholic homes.
Roman Catholic (both Eastern and Western), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and other Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services. They believe use of the crucifix is in keeping with the statement by Saint Paul in Scripture, "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God".[11]
In the West altar crosses and processional crosses began to be crucifixes in the 11th century, which became general around the 14th century, as they became cheaper. The Roman Rite requires that "either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, a cross clearly visible to the assembled people. It is desirable that such a cross should remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations, so as to call to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord."[12] The requirement of the altar cross was also mentioned in pre-1970 editions of the Roman Missal,[13] though not in the original 1570 Roman Missal of Pope Pius V.[14] The Rite of Funerals says that the Gospel Book, the Bible, or a cross (which will generally be in crucifix form) may be placed on the coffin for a Requiem Mass, but a second standing cross is not to be placed near the coffin if the altar cross can be easily see from the body of the church.[15]
Eastern Christian liturgical processions called crucessions include a cross or crucifix at their head. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the crucifix is often placed above the iconostasis in the church. In the Russian Orthodox Church a large crucifix ("Golgotha") is placed behind the Holy Table (altar). During Matins of Good Friday, a large crucifix is taken in procession to the centre of the church, where it is venerated by the faithful. Sometimes the soma (corpus) is removable and is taken off the crucifix at Vespers that evening during the Gospel lesson describing the Descent from the Cross. The empty cross may then remain in the centre of the church until the Paschal vigil (local practices vary). The blessing cross which the priest uses to bless the faithful at the dismissal will often have the crucifix on one side and an icon of the Resurrection of Jesus on the other, the side with the Resurrection being used on Sundays and during Paschaltide, and the crucifix on other days.
Exorcist Gabriele Amorth has stated that the crucifix is one of the most effective means of averting or opposing demons. In folklore, it is believed to ward off vampires, incubi, succubi, and other evils.
Modern iconoclasts have used an inverted (upside-down) crucifix when showing disdain for Jesus Christ or the Catholic Church which believes in his divinity.[16] According to Christian tradition, Saint Peter was martyred by being crucified upside-down.[17]
Controversies[edit]
Unlike many other Protestants, Lutherans retained the use of the crucifix, Martin Luther church in Oberwiesenthal, Germany
Protestant Reformation[edit]
Early Protestants generally rejected the use of the crucifix, and indeed the unadorned cross, along with other traditional religious imagery, as idolatrous. Martin Luther did not object to them, and this was among his differences with Andreas Karlstadt as early as 1525. Luther at the time of the Reformation retained the crucifix in the Lutheran Church. Only in America, where Lutheranism came under the influence of Calvinism, was the plain cross used.[18] Calvin was violently opposed to both cross and crucifix.[19] In England the Royal Chapels of Elizabeth I were most unusual among English churches in retaining crucifixes, following the Queen's personal conservative preferences. Under James I these disappeared, and their brief re-appearance in the early 1620s when James' heir was seeking a Spanish marriage was the subject of rumour and close observation by both Catholics and Protestants; when the match fell through they disappeared.[20]
Modern[edit]
In 2005, a mother accused her daughter's school in Derby, England of discriminating against Christians after the teenager was suspended for refusing to take off a crucifix necklace.[21]
A British prison ordered a multi-faith chapel to remove all crucifixes, presumably to avoid offending Muslims.[22]
In 2008 in Spain, a local judge ordered crucifixes removed from public schools to settle a decades-old dispute over whether crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings in a non-confessional state.[23] A 2008 Quebec government-commissioned report recommended that the crucifix of the National Assembly be removed to achieve greater pluralism, but the Liberal government refused.[24]
On 18 March 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the Lautsi v. Italy case, that the requirement in Italian law that crucifixes be displayed in classrooms of state schools does not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.[25][26][27]
Crucifixes are common in most other Italian official buildings, including courts of law.
On 24 March 2011, the Constitutional Court of Peru ruled that the presence of crucifixes in courts of law does not violate the secular nature of the state.[28]
Detail from a carved portal, 6th century, Basilica of Santa Sabina all'Aventino, Rome.
Crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in Košice, Slovakia
A handheld crucifix
A crucifix in a church, with votive candles.
Russian Orthodox crucifix, brass
Orthodox crucifix in Vilnius
Old crucifix in Żukowo, Kashubia
Crucifix, ca. 1795-1862, Brooklyn Museum
Lutheran crucifix with the portrait of Luther at Saint George's church in Immeldorf, Lichtenau
modern crucifix in the road church Baden-Baden, Germany
QMRFeast of the Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russian icon of Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (icon from Yaroslavl by Gury Nikitin, 1680. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. While Good Friday is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion, these days celebrate the cross itself, as the instrument of salvation.
QMRExaltation of the Cross from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly)
QRMOrthodox Cross set for special veneration on the feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross.
September 14[edit]
This feast is called in Greek Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου καὶ Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ[1] ("Raising Aloft of the Honored and Life-Giving Cross"), in Russian Воздвижение Креста Господня' and in Latin Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. In English, it is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day, a name also used by Lutherans. The celebration is also sometimes called Feast of the Glorious Cross.[2]
According to legends that spread widely, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross[note 1] placed inside it. Other legends explain that in 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, and remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. Initially taken to Constantinople, the cross was returned to the church the following year.
The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335.[3] This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.
Western practices[edit]
Exaltation of the Cross from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly)
In Roman Catholic liturgical observance, red vestments are worn at church services conducted on this day, and if the day falls on a Sunday, its Mass readings[note 2] are used instead of those for the occurring Sunday in Ordinary Time. The lectionary of the Church of England (and other Anglican churches) also stipulates red as the liturgical colour for 'Holy Cross Day'.[4]
Until 1969, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the calendar week after the one in which 14 September falls were designated as one of each year's four sets of Ember days by the Church in the West. Organization of these celebrations is now left to the decision of episcopal conferences in view of local conditions and customs.
September 14 is the titular feast of the Congregation of Holy Cross, The Companions of the Cross and the Episcopal Church's Order of the Holy Cross. This date also marked the beginning of the period of fasting, except on Sundays and ending on Easter Sunday, that was stipulated for Carmelites in the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert of 1247.[5] The Rule of St. Benedict also prescribes this day as the beginning of monastic winter (i.e., the period when there are three nocturns of psalms and readings at matins) which also ends at Easter.
Eastern
Eastern Orthodox practice[edit]
Orthodox Cross set for special veneration on the feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross.
In Byzantine liturgical observance, the Universal Exaltation (also called Elevation in Greek Churches) of the Precious and Life-creating Cross commemorates both the finding of the True Cross in 326 and its recovery from the Persians in 628, and is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the church year. September 14 is always a fast day and the eating of meat, dairy products and fish is prohibited. The Feast of the Exaltation has a one-day forefeast and an eight-day afterfeast. The Saturday and Sunday before[note 3] and after[6] September 14 are also commemorated with special Epistle and Gospel readings[note 4] about the Cross at the Divine Liturgy.
On the eve of the feast before small vespers the priest, having prepared a tray with the cross placed on a bed of fresh basil leaves or flowers, covered with an aër (liturgical veil), places it on the table of prothesis; after that service, the priest carries the tray on his head preceded by lighted candles and the deacon incensing the cross, processes to the holy table (altar), in the centre whereof he lays the tray, in the place of the Gospel Book, the latter being set upright at the back of the altar.[7] Those portions of the vespers and matins which in sundry local customs take place before the Icon of the Feast (e.g.,the chanting of the Polyeleos and the Matins Gospel[note 5]) instead take place in front of the Holy Table.[8] The bringing out of the cross and the exaltation ceremony occur at matins.[7]
The cross remains in the centre of the temple throughout the afterfeast, and the faithful venerate it whenever they enter or leave the church. Finally, on the leave-taking (apodosis) of the feast, the priest and deacon will incense around the cross, there will be a final veneration of the cross, and then they will solemnly bring the cross back into the sanctuary through the Holy Doors. This same pattern of bringing out the cross, veneration, and returning the cross at the end of the celebration is repeated at a number of the lesser Feasts of the Cross mentioned below.[9]
Oriental orthodox practice[edit]
Armenian Apostolic Church[edit]
The Armenian Apostolic Church observes a five-day fast, called the Fast of the Holy Cross from September 10 through September 14, in preparation for the Feast of the Holy Church in view of the Holy Cross, which they celebrate on September 15. September 16 is observed as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Khachverats in Armenian), a feast which continues for several days thereafter. It is counted as one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Church, and the most important of the four feasts of the Holy Cross. According to Armenian tradition, the first one to "exalt" the Cross was the Apostle James of Jerusalem, the "Brother of the Lord". On the Sunday nearest September 14, the liturgy is marked with an antasdan service (blessing of the fields) during which the processional cross is adorned with basil (a symbol of royalty) and the four corners of the church are blessed as a sign of the sanctification of the world.
On the Sunday nearest September 28 (always two weeks after the Exaltation) the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Cross of Varak (Varaka Khach) commemorating the third century placement of an authentic relic of the cross in Armenian soil at Varagavank. This is a cross feast unique to the Armenian Church.
On the Sunday closest to October 26, the Armenian Church celebrates the Discovery of the Holy Cross (Kyood Khach), commemorating the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena (327 AD).
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Coptic Church of Alexandria[edit]
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Coptic Church of Alexandria, commemorate the finding of the true cross on Meskerem 17 of the Ethiopian Calendar (17 Thoout in the Coptic Calender) correspondng to September 27 in the Julian Calendar (or, in leap years, one day later). The eve of this day is popularly called "Demera" in Amharic - meaning Bonfire. The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lights a large bonfire in Maskal Square, Addis Ababa's greatest open arena, and smaller bonfires are lit by individuals and local parishes throughout the country. Thousands attend the colourful and vibrant ceremony of religious chantings around the bonfire in Maskal Square, which owes its name to the ceremony, maskal meaning in Ge'ez "cross". According to tradition, the bonfire commemorates how Queen Helena, as legend has it, found with the smoke of a bonfire, where to search for the true cross in Jerusalem, or how, by a series of bonfires, she signalled to her son Constantine in Constantinople her success in finding it.
Malankara[edit]
In the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church a special offering called panchasarayumanda is made on this day, in particular at the Akaparambu Mor Sabor-Mor Aphroth Church in the Ernakulam District, Kerala.
September 13[edit]
The Assyrian Church of the East celebrates the finding of the Cross on September 13, and considers it to be a major feast. The Assyrian Church considers the Sign of the Cross to be a seventh sacrament, by which all of the other sacraments are sealed and perfected (it takes the place of marriage, which they do not name in their traditional list of sacraments). Saranaya (Assyrians) hold a shara every year in cities like Chicago, Illinois, and Modesto, California, and other parts of the world. The shara in Modesto is held every Sunday prior to September 13 at East La Loma Park, where they sacrifice lambs in remembrance of the Feast Of the Cross. People gather and feast and sing and dance to celebrate a happy day.
October 12[edit]
In the Russian Orthodox Church, October 12 is the commemoration of the Translation of a Portion of the Life-Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina.
A portion of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, as well as the Philermos icon of the Mother of God and the right hand of St. John the Baptist were preserved on the island of Malta by the Knights of the Catholic Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who controlled the island.
In 1798, when the French seized the island, the Maltese Knights turned to the Russian Empire for defense and protection. To this end, they elected Paul I, the Tsar of Russia, as Grand Master of the Order. The Tsar accepted his election. On October 12, 1799, Maltese knights came to their new Priory Palace, just built for them by Paul in Gatchina (45 km. [27 miles] south of St. Petersburg), and offered these ancient and holy treasures to their new Grand Master, the tsar.
In the autumn of 1799 the holy items were transferred to St. Petersburg and placed in the Winter Palace within the internal church dedicated to the Icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands. The feast for this event was established in 1800.[10]
March 6[edit]
On the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church, this day commemorates the Uncovering of the Precious Cross and the Precious Nails by Empress Saint Helen—that is to say, the anniversary of the actual discovery; the date for the September 14 feast was determined by the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a lesser feast, and does not have any of the liturgical peculiarities of the September 14 feast.
Icon
May 3[edit]
In the Gallican usage, beginning about the seventh century, the Feast of the Cross was celebrated on May 3, and called "Crouchmas" (for "Cross Mass") or "Roodmas". When the Gallican and Roman practices were combined, the September date was assigned to commemorating the rescue of the Cross from the Sassanid Persians, and the May date was kept as the Finding of the Holy Cross or Invention of the True Cross to commemorate the finding. (In this context "invention" (from Latin invenire, "to find") does not have the modern sense of creating something new.) Pope John XXIII removed this duplication in 1960, so that the General Roman Calendar now celebrates the Holy Cross only on September 14.
May 3 is the date given in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer liturgy, but the new Common Worship liturgy, following the Roman Catholic Church's lead, celebrates Holy Cross Day on September 14.
August 1[edit]
The Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Rite Catholics commemorate the Feast of the Procession of the Venerable Wood of the Cross (or Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of Jesus Christ) on August 1. This day marks the beginning of the Dormition Fast. The propers of the feast are combined with those of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs, the commemoration of whose endurance is deemed appropriate for the first day of a fast. Unlike the September 14 observance, this commemoration is considered to be a minor feast, but it does have the bringing out of the cross and veneration by the faithful like the September feast.
The history of this feast begins in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). It was the custom there to carry the relic of the True Cross through the streets and squares of the city to ask for God's blessing, and for relief from sickness. On the eve of the feast (July 31), which is observed as a forefeast, it was taken out of the imperial treasury, and laid upon the altar of the "Great Church" (Hagia Sophia). On August 1 it was solemnly placed in the middle of the Great Church for the faithful to venerate. The relic was taken in procession daily throughout the city, offering it to the people to venerate until the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15), when it was returned again to the imperial treasury.
In commemoration of this tradition, it is customary to have a crucession (a procession headed by the cross) and celebrate the Lesser Blessing of Water on August 1. It is the first of three "Feasts of the Saviour" in the month of August, the other two being the Transfiguration (August 6) and the Icon of Christ "Not Made by Hands" (August 16). Because of the blessing of holy water, this holy day is sometimes called "Saviour of the Water." There may also be celebrated on this day the Rite of Blessing New Honey, for which reason the day is also referred to as "Saviour of the Honey."
According to Saint Nikolaj Velimirović, this feast was instituted by mutual agreement of the Greeks and Russians to commemorate the simultaneous victories of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos over the Bulgarians and the Russian Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky over the Saracens in the 12th century.[11]
In the Russian Orthodox Church, this feast also celebrates the Baptism of Rus, which occurred on August 1, 988.
Moveable Feasts[edit]
In addition to celebrations on fixed days, the Cross may be celebrated during the variable, particularly in Lent and Eastertide.
Eastern Christians celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent. The services for this day are modeled on the Feast of the Exaltation (September 14), and include bringing the cross to the holy table at little vespers and with solemnity out into the center of church at matins, albeit without the ceremony of the Exaltation of the Cross, for veneration by the faithful.[12] It remains in the centre of the church for nearly a week (the Fourth Week of Great Lent). On the Monday and Wednesday of that week, a veneration of the Cross takes place at the First Hour (repeating a portion of the service from matins of the previous Sunday). On Friday of that week, the veneration takes place after the Ninth Hour, after which the priest and deacons return the cross to the sanctuary.[13]
Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and some Anglican churches have a formal Adoration of the Cross during the services on Good Friday.
In the Roman Breviary before the 1961 reform, a Commemoration of the Cross is made during Eastertide except when the office or commemoration of a double or octave occurs, replacing the suffrage of the Saints said outside Eastertide.
Wednesday and Friday[edit]
In addition to all of the above commemorations, Orthodox also hold Wednesday and Friday throughout the year as a commemoration of the Cross.
Veneration of the Cross[edit]
Feast Days[edit]
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, on several of the feast days mentioned above, there is a public veneration of the cross. It may take place at matins, after the cross is brought out, at the end of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, or at the end of one of the Little Hours, depending upon the particular feast and local custom.
The faithful come forward and make two prostrations, make the sign of the cross on themselves, and kiss the feet of Christ on the cross, and then make a third prostration. After this, they will often receive a blessing from the priest and bow towards their fellow worshippers on each side of the church (this latter practice is most commonly observed in monasteries).
End of Services[edit]
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, and at some other services as well, it is customary for the faithful to come forward and venerate the "Blessing Cross" (hand-cross) which is held by the bishop or priest, and to kiss his hand. This practice is also called the "Veneration of the Cross", though it does not involve making prostrations. The cross which is venerated is small (typically 10-16 inches). This cross is usually metal, often gold or gold-plated, and can be enameled and/or decorated with jewels. The figure of Jesus on the Cross (the soma) is usually engraved, enameled, or painted on the cross, rather than being a separate three-dimensional figure as is found on a crucifix. This is due to the Orthodox practice of using icons rather than statues in church.
QMRThe Pietà (Italian pronunciation: [pjeˈta]) is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ. When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Pietà is often used for this as well, and is the normal term in Italian.
Art and religion are always linked. Art is the third square and religion is the second sure field of inquiry. The pieta commemorates Jesus coming off of the cross and being mourned by his Mom.
QMRCross and crucifix[edit]
Main article: Christian cross
The Crucifix, a cross with corpus, a symbol used by the Catholic Church, in Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism, in contrast with some Protestant denominations, which use only a bare cross.
The top of the Nestorian Stele, a Christian monument erected in A.D. 781 near Beijing, showing the cross above the inscription which reads: "Stele to the propagation in China of the luminous religion of Daqin"
The cross, which is today one of the most widely recognised symbols in the world, was used as a symbol from the earliest times. This is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of the 2nd century (cited as AD 197) or the beginning of the next.[3][4]
By the early 3rd century, the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the Epistle of Barnabas, that the number 318 (in Greek numerals, ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14 was a foreshadowing (a "type") of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letters of his name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, standing for 18).[5]
His contemporary Tertullian could designate the body of Christian believers as crucis religiosi ("devotees of the Cross").[6] In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.[7]
The Jewish Encyclopaedia states:
The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55-60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85-97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21-22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross.[8][9]
One of the earliest crosses in history is the St Thomas cross, which is a Greek cross with clover leaf edges, especially popular in Kerala and India. Its variant, the open air Rock Cross in front of almost all old Kerala churches, with four members viz., the base which is generally in the form of a lotus flower with a socket for the cylidrical end of the main shaft, which carries the arm and the capital above the arm, all in granite and rarely in laterite stone. These rock crosses are perhaps unique to Kerala's Malabar Churches.[10]
Although the cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did not appear in use until the 5th century.[11] French Medievalist scholar and historian of ideas M.-M. Davy has described in great detail Romanesque Symbolism as it developed in the Middle Ages in Western Europe.[12]
QMRDescent from the Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rogier van der Weyden. The Descent from the Cross. (c.1435) Oil on oak panel, 220 x 262 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
Peter Paul Rubens. The Descent from the Cross (1617–18), (Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille).
Events in the
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The Descent from the Cross (Greek: Ἀποκαθήλωσις, Apokathelosis), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion (John 19:38-42). In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the 10th century. The Descent from the Cross is the 13th Station of the Cross.
Other figures not mentioned in the Gospels who are often included in depictions of this subject include St. John the Evangelist, who is sometimes depicted supporting a fainting Mary (as in the work below by Rogier van der Weyden), and Mary Magdalene. The Gospels mention an undefined number of women as watching the crucifixion, including the Three Marys, (Mary Salome being mentioned in Mark 15:40), and also that the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene saw the burial (Mark 15:47). These and further women and unnamed male helpers are often shown.[1]
Development of the image[edit]
Even in early depictions the details and posing of the composition, and especially the position of Christ's body, are varied. The scene was usually included in medieval cycles of the Life or the Passion of Christ, between the Crucifixion and the Entombment of Christ. The Lamentation of Christ, or Pietà, showing the body of Christ held by Mary, may intervene between these two, and is common as an individual image, especially in sculpture. The Bearing of the body, showing Christ's body being carried to his tomb, and the Anointing of Christ's body, showing the body laid flat on the top of the tomb or a similarly-shaped "anointing-stone" are other scenes that may be shown. This last is especially important in Orthodox art, where it is shown on the Epitaphios.
With the Renaissance the subject became popular for altarpieces, partly because of the challenges of the composition, and the suitability of its vertical shape. The Mannerist version of Rosso Fiorentino is usually regarded as his most important work, and Pontormo's altarpiece is perhaps his most ambitious work. The subject was painted several times by both Rubens and Rembrandt, who repeated one of his paintings (now in Munich) in a large print, his only one to be mainly engraved, as well as making two other etchings of the subject.
Selected examples[edit]
With articles:
Deposition of Christ, (ca. 1433) by Fra Angelico, in the National Museum of San Marco, Florence.
Descent from the Cross (ca. 1435) by Rogier van der Weyden, in Museo del Prado, Madrid).
The Entombment (ca. 1501), Michelangelo, in the National Gallery, London.
Deposition from the Cross (1528) by Pontormo at Capponi Chapel of church of Santa Felicita, Florence.
Deposition from the Cross (1521) by Rosso Fiorentino in Pinacoteca of Volterra.
The Entombment of Christ (1602–1603), by Caravaggio, at the Vatican Pinacoteca
The Descent from the Cross (1612–14), by Rubens, at the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp
Descent From The Cross (1995–1996), by David Folley, now at the Jesus Chapel, St. Andrew's Church, Wickford, Essex.
Others:
Codex Grecus 510 (9th century Byzantine, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris)
Codex Egberti (ca. 980, Trier city library).
St Albans Psalter - English Romanesque miniature (ca. 1130-45) [1]
Externsteine relief (12th century)
Toros Roslin (13th century) [2]
Byzantine Museum of Kastoria (ca. 1400) [3]
Nicolas Mostaert (1579) [4]
Rembrandt (1634, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) [5] [6] [7]
Athens, Benaki Museum No. 3001 (ca. 1700) [8]
Gustave Doré [9]
Max Beckmann (1917) [10]
Enrique Miguel de la Vega [11]
Eastern Orthodox Icons of the Descent from the Cross.[12]
The Antimension [13]
Gallery[edit]
Benedetto Antelami.
Deposition from the Cross (1178). Carved stone relief.
Parma Cathedral
Externsteine Relief (12th century). Natural sandstone.
Teutoburger Wald, Germany
Limbourg brothers.
The Deposition, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 156v (c. 1410). Illuminated manuscript.
Musée Condé, Chantilly
Fra Angelico.
Deposition of Christ, Fra Angelico (1437-1440). Tempera on wood, 176 x 185 cm.
Museo di San Marco, Florence
Anonymous.
Deposition of the Cross
Church of Our Lady, Bruges, Belgium
The prayer Obsecro te (1470s), from the Book of Hours of Angers
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Descent from the Cross (1495), from Ss. Johns' church in Toruń.
Diocesan Museum, Pelplin
Pietro Perugino.
Deposition (1495)
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
Anonymous.
Vilar de Donas stone altarpice (16th century)
San Salvador de Vilar de Donas, Palas de Rei. Galicia.
Guglielmo della Porta.
Deposition (16th century). Marble.
Museo d'arte antica, Castello Sforzesco, Milan
Rosso Fiorentino.
Deposition (1521). Oil on wood, 375 × 196 cm.
Pinacoteca Comunale di Volterra
Jacopo Pontormo.
The Deposition from the Cross (1528). Oil on wood, 313 × 192 cm.
Santa Felicità, Florence
Agnolo di Cosimo ("Bronzino")
Deposition of Christ (1540-1545) Oil on wood, 268 × 173 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besançon
Caravaggio.
The Entombment of Christ (1604).
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome
Simone Peterzano, Deposition of Christ, church of San Fedele, Milan
Rembrandt van Rijn.
Deposition (1633). Oil on wood. 89.4 × 65.2 cm.
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Pedro Roldán
"Deposition of Christ" (1666)
,Church of the Shrine, Seville
Jean Jouvenet, The Descent from the Cross (1697).
Musée du Louvre, Paris
The Deposition from the Cross (18th century). Clay statues.
Sacro Monte di Belmonte (near Turin)
Jean-Baptiste Regnault.
Deposition (c. 1789). Oil on panel
Stanford Museum, Stanford University, California
Deposition. Carved and painted stone.
Church of Santa Teresinha, Porto Alegre, Brazil
frères Avondo
Deposition. Fresco.
Pont de Beauvoisin, Savoie, France
Cluny Abbey
Deposition with Twelve Apostles (bishop's mitre). Ink on cloth
Musée national du Moyen, Paris
Antonio Ciseri.
The Deposition of Christ (c. 1883)
Antimension (1890). Printed on silk.
Oradea-Mare, Transylvania, Romania
Viktor Vasnetsov
Entombment, (1896). Mural.
St Volodymyr's Cathedral, Kiev
Deposition: His body taken down from the cross (modern). Carved stone.
Münster, Germany
Ludvig Karsten.
Nedtagelsen (Deposition) (1925). Oil on canvas.
Jacek Andrzej Rossakiewicz.
The Deposition (St John Passion - 7) (1990). Oil on canvas, 245 x 140 cm
Titian, 1559
QMRThe Antimins (from the Greek Ἀντιμήνσιον, Antimension: "instead of the table"), is one of the most important furnishings of the altar in many Eastern Christian liturgical traditions. It is a rectangular piece of cloth of either linen or silk, typically decorated with representations of the Descent of Christ from the Cross, the Four Evangelists, and inscriptions related to the Passion. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into it.
QMRStations of the Cross refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and also to the prayers Christians say when contemplating those images. Often a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order around a church nave or along a path, and the faithful travel from image to image, in order, stopping at each "station" (Latin: statio) to say the selected prayers and reflections. This will be done individually or in groups. Occasionally the faithful might say the Stations of the Cross without there being any image, such as when the Pope leads the Stations of the Cross around the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday.[1] This practice is common in Roman Catholic, as well as in a number of Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches.[2]
The style and form of the stations can vary widely and often reflect the artistic sensibility and spirituality of the time, place and culture of their creation. The stations can consist of small plaques with reliefs or paintings, or of simple crosses with a numeral in the centre.[3][4]
The Stations of the Cross are also called the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, or simply, The Way. In Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa is believed to be the actual path that Jesus walked, and the stations there, the actual places the events occurred.
The tradition of moving around the Stations to commemorate the Passion of Christ began with St. Francis of Assisi and extended throughout the Roman Catholic Church in the medieval period.[citation needed] It is most commonly done during Lent, especially on Good Friday, but it also done on other days as well, especially Wednesdays and Fridays.[citation needed]
The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem. A desire to reproduce the holy places in other lands seems to have manifested itself at quite an early date. At the monastery of Santo Stefano at Bologna a group of connected chapels was constructed as early as the 5th century, by St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, which was intended to represent the more important shrines of Jerusalem, and in consequence, this monastery became familiarly known as "Santa Gerusalemme".[5] These may perhaps be regarded as the germ from which the Stations afterwards developed, though it is tolerably certain that nothing that we have before about the 15th century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense. Although several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the twelfth, thirteenth, and 14th centuries (e.g. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce, Burchard of Mount Sion, James of Verona),[6] mention a "Via Sacra", i.e., a settled route along which pilgrims were conducted, there is nothing in their accounts to identify this with the Way of the Cross, as we understand it.[citation needed] The devotion of the Via Dolorosa, for which there have been a number of variant routes in Jerusalem, was probably developed by the Franciscans after they were granted administration of the Christian holy places in Jerusalem in 1342. Today, nine of the Stations of the Cross that were established by the Franciscans are located along the Via Dolorosa as it wends its way from the northwest corner of the Temple Mount to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, within which the remaining five stations are located.
The earliest use of the word "stations", as applied to the accustomed halting-places in the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in the mid-15th century, and described pilgrims following the footsteps of Christ to the cross. In 1521 a book called Geystlich Strass (German: "spiritual road") was printed with illustrations of the stations in the Holy Land.[6]
During the 15th and 16th centuries the Franciscans began to build a series of outdoor shrines in Europe to duplicate their counterparts in the Holy Land. The number of stations varied between seven and thirty; seven was common. These were usually placed, often in small buildings, along the approach to a church, as in a set of 1490 by Adam Kraft, leading to the Johanneskirche in Nuremberg.[7] A number of rural examples were established as attractions in their own right, usually on attractive wooded hills. These include the Sacro Monte di Domodossola (1657) and Sacro Monte di Belmonte (1712), and form part of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy World Heritage Site, together with other examples on different devotional themes. In these the sculptures are often approaching life-size and very elaborate. In 1686, in answer to their petition, Pope Innocent XI granted to the Franciscans the right to erect stations within their churches. In 1731, Pope Clement XII extended to all churches the right to have the stations, provided that a Franciscan father erected them, with the consent of the local bishop. At the same time the number was fixed at fourteen. In 1857, the bishops of England were allowed to erect the stations by themselves, without the intervention of a Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this right was extended to bishops throughout the church.[8]
Spiritual significance[edit]
The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for many Christians, especially among Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans,[3][4] and "is often performed in a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion."[4][9]
In his encyclical letter, Miserentissimus Redemptor, on reparations, Pope Pius XI called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as "some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury" with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.[10] Pope John Paul II referred to Acts of Reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".[11]
Traditional form[edit]
Set of the traditional 14 scenes in Limoges enamel
Portuguese Church, Kolkata
The early set of seven scenes was usually numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 14 from the list below.[12] The standard set from the 17th to 20th centuries has consisted of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:
Jesus is condemned to death
Jesus carries his cross
Jesus falls the first time
Jesus meets his mother
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Jesus falls the second time
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Jesus falls the third time
Jesus is stripped of his garments
Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is taken down from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Although not traditionally part of the Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus is sometimes included as a fifteenth station.[13][14]
Scriptural Way of the Cross[edit]
Main article: Scriptural Way of the Cross
Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have clear scriptural foundation. Stations 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 are not specifically attested to in the gospels (in particular, no evidence exists of station 6 ever being known before medieval times) and Station 13 (representing Jesus's body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of His mother Mary) seems to embellish the gospels' record, which states that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross and buried him. To provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday 1991. He celebrated that form many times but not exclusively at the Colosseum in Rome.[15][16] In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI approved this set of stations for meditation and public celebration: They follow this sequence:
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested,
Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin,
Jesus is denied by Peter,
Jesus is judged by Pilate,
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns,
Jesus takes up his cross,
Jesus is helped by Simon to carry his cross,
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem,
Jesus is crucified,
Jesus promises his kingdom to the repentant thief,
Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other,
Jesus dies on the cross,
Jesus is laid in the tomb
New Way of the Cross[edit]
In the Philippines, a third version of Stations of the Cross is used, also based on scripture. In this version, the Denial of Peter is omitted (given that Jesus is practically absent from that scene), the condemnation of Pilate is conflated with acceptance of the cross, the Last Supper is designated as the First Station, and the Resurrection as the fourteenth. [17]
The Last Supper
The Agony in Gethsemani
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
The Scourging and Crowning with thorns
Jesus receives the Cross
Jesus falls under the weight of the Cross
Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross of Jesus
Jesus meets the pious Women of Jerusalem
Jesus is nailed to the cross
The Repentant Thief
Mary and John at the foot of the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is laid in the tomb
Jesus rises from death
Modern usage[edit]
Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross, Good Friday procession 2011 at Ulm, Germany
The devotion may be conducted personally by the faithful, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having an officiating celebrant move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The stations themselves must consist of, at the very least, fourteen wooden crosses, pictures alone do not suffice, and they must be blessed by someone with the authority to erect stations.[18][dubious – discuss]
In the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II led an annual public prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday. Originally, the Pope himself carried the cross from station to station, but in his last years when age and infirmity limited his strength, John Paul presided over the celebration from a stage on the Palatine Hill, while others carried the cross. Just days prior to his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II observed the Stations of the Cross from his private chapel. Each year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. Past composers of the Papal Stations include several non-Catholics. The Pope himself wrote the texts for the Great Jubilee in 2000 and used the traditional Stations.
The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the Fridays of Lent, especially Good Friday. Community celebrations are usually accompanied by various songs and prayers. Particularly common as musical accompaniment is the Stabat Mater. At the end of each station the Adoramus Te is sometimes sung. The Alleluia is also sung, except during Lent.
Structurally, Mel Gibson's 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, follows the Stations of the Cross.[19] The fourteenth and last station, the Burial, is not prominently depicted (compared to the other thirteen) but it is implied since the last shot before credit titles is Jesus resurrected and about to leave the tomb.
Place of Christ's resurrection[edit]
Some modern liturgists[20] say the traditional Stations of the Cross are incomplete without a final scene depicting the empty tomb and/or the resurrection of Jesus, because Jesus' rising from the dead was an integral part of his salvific work on Earth. Advocates of the traditional form of the Stations ending with the body of Jesus being placed in the tomb say the Stations are intended as a meditation on the atoning death of Jesus, and not as a complete picture of his life, death, and resurrection.
The Stations of the Resurrection (also known by the Latin name of Via Crucis) are used in some churches at Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church[edit]
As part of a process of de-Latinization, the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church eliminated the devotion of the Stations of the Cross.[citation needed] In response to this, a schismatic group called the Society of Saint Josaphat (SSJK) has formed with a seminary of its own in Lviv with thirty students at present.[citation needed]
Russian Orthodox depiction of crucifixion by a painter of the Novgorod School, 1360
Christ on the Cross by Fra Carnevale, circa 1445–1467
Crucifixion by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1514–1516, with tiny donor couple among the feet of the main figures
Cristo crucificado by Diego Velázquez, 1632, showing a Baroque return to realism and emotion in the depiction
Crucifixion, seen from the Cross by the French painter James Tissot, 1886–1894, shows the view from the perspective of the crucified, and is regarded as an early example of the transition to modern art.[23]
14th-century wood crucifix, Milan
Seventeenth century copper alloy crucifix, Democratic Republic of the Congo
18th-century Russian Orthodox brass crucifix
Crucified by José Luján Pérez, 1793, Canary Islands Cathedral, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Crucifix at the Church of St Mary of the Angels, Singapore, 2004
Crucifixes fashioned out of coral, Ambras Castle, Innsbruck, Austria, date uncertain
Modern
Crucifixion has appeared repeatedly as a theme in many forms of modern art.
The surrealist Salvador Dalí painted Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), representing the cross as a hypercube. The sculpture Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian, by Barbara Hepworth, stands on the grounds of Winchester Cathedral. Porfirio DiDonna's abstract Crucifixion is one of a number of religious works he painted in the 1960s, "blending the artist's devotion to the liturgy and his commitment to painting".[24] The "Welsh Window", given to the 16th Street Baptist Church after it was bombed by four Ku Klux Klansmen in 1963, is a work of support and solidarity. The stained glass window depicts a black man, arms outstretched, reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus; it was sculpted by John Petts, who also initiated a campaign in Wales to raise money to help rebuild the church.[25]
Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's 1975 self-portrait shows the artist, nude and smiling, posed as if crucified.[26][27] The 1983 painting Crucifixion, by Nabil Kanso, employs a perspective that places the viewer behind Christ's cross. In 1987 photographer Andres Serrano created Piss Christ, a controversial photograph that shows a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine, in which Serrano intended to depict sympathetically the abuse of Jesus by his executioners.[28] In the 1990s, Marcus Reichert painted a series of crucifixions, though he did not identify the figure as Christ, but as a representation of human suffering.[29]
Other artists have used crucifixion imagery as a form of protest. In 1974, Chris Burden had himself crucified to a Volkswagen. Robert Cenedella painted a crucified Santa Claus as a protest against Christmas commercialization,[30] displayed in the window of New York's Art Students League in December 1997. In August 2000, performance artist Sebastian Horsley had himself crucified without the use of any analgesics.[31]
Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), 1954, by Salvador Dalí
Crucifixion by Porfirio DiDonna, 1964, oil on linen, 24 x 20 inches
Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian, 1966, by Barbara Hepworth
Chris Burden's 1974 performance piece Trans-Fixed, in which he is crucified on a Volkswagen
Marcus Reichert, Crucifixion VII (1991), oil and charcoal on linen with newsprint collage, 74" x 62"
Popular art[edit]
Crucifixion in popular art, as with modern art, is sometimes used for its shock value. For example, a World War I Liberty bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo depicts a German soldier nailing an American soldier, his arms outspread, to the trunk of a tree. Crucifixion imagery is also used to make points in political cartoons.
Liberty Bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo
Postcard protesting German occupation of Poland. Sergey Solomko, circa 1915–17
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