When many of people see a swastica cross, the first
reminds to the Second World War and the Nazi.
Indeed, Adolf Hitler was used badly t'is symbol. But
we must note that the nazi wasn't and isn't not the only
beholder of t'is sacred symbol.
This symbol art with us since the beggining of the human
kind and maybe before...
Swastika word came from sanskrit. The root "Svas" mean
Goodness and/or benevolence. Many of ye maybe asking now: "So, why then,
Hitler used such symbol to make many of people suffer under this
one?". Calm down, please. Surely I will explain it
latter. For now we must understand that the swastika have
many types and is presented in many cultures. (Even
between the Jews. Is it not Ironic nah?)
The Swastika is called in japanese as Man-ji and is 
considereed one (or two) of the many kanji characters.
This Man-ji means Goodness and art generally meaning Good
Fortune. In Japan, it was know to be brough by Buddhism.
The four spronged one that is more knowed can be called
as Solar Wheel too 'cause these wheel symbolise the
Solar Annual Year with the four seasons.
This four spronged swastika have two types. Clockwise and
Counterclockwise.
The Clockwise Swastika represents all creacting forces
in Universe. The another Unclockwise Swastika, of
course, means Entrophy (The Natural Forces that work
for the ending of the Universe). In an abrahamic
dualistic view point, it may be understood as Good and
Evil. But the reality is not so simply. The two sides
of the Swastika have its bad and good sides as all in
the Nature. By example, we can imagine that the unclock-
wise swastika means the "Evil" simply 'cause its meaning
of Universal Destruction, but if the force that t'is
Swastika don't exist, what will destroy the Old and
decay things for give places to the Birthing of the New
things? And we can imagine too that the clockwise
Swastika means the good nah? Well... If All things is
borning, borning and borning, and everythings never end,
the changing nature of the Universe will stop and we
will be doomed with the Danger of the Stagnation...
Imagine seeds that turn to be litle plants but never will
give its fruits. Imagine People starving in this
hipothetically world because these plants never give the
fruits and never dying, doomed with the feeling of the
starvation without and end. Ye can say that the people can
eats the little plants, but since everything never dies,
the plant will not be consumed by thy body or thy
stomach don't stoping thy starving. And else, these ones
will cause another pain in thy body as thou hast eaten
some stones as meals. And if thou hast taken a sickness,
that ye would never be cured, since the bacteria, virus and
other things never would die too. That is because the
Vajrayana Buddhism have a symbol generally used in a
throne of an Great Acarya(jp. Ajari) or Lama (in tibetan
Buddhism) with two swastikas in the botton.
One Clockwise and Another Unclockwise. Between these
two, art an double crossed Vajra (the same that the
atribute of the Amoghasiddhi, one of the 5 Dhyani
Buddhas(jap. Gonin Nyorai)) meaning the dual activity
of the vajra-body. These symbol means that Buddhism is
in the middle-way. Without tendency for one creacting
force or another Destroying force of Nature.
Working only in favor of the Ending of All Sufferings
of the sentient beings. 


In ancient Norse tradition we
can see the swastika being called as the Thor's Hammer.
In This tratidion, t'is symbol was used as protection
against evil forces and was used by Einherjars 
(Great Warriors or Heroes who fighted to the death for
Justice, for they own people, etc). We can see t'is 
Symbol in the scealta (celtic) culture and many others,
as Greek, Jewish, North American Indians and much more.
We can see too in the Palm of the hindu God Ganesha
(the elephant faced God of good fortune), and in The
Breast of Vishnu (The God who protect the Universe, one
of the Trimurti) and even in the breast of the
Chakravartin rajam (the wheel rolling kings) as one of
the 32 signs of the Universal honored one's body.
So, we can see its symbol too in the breast of the
Shakyamuni Buddha too.

As it was explained before, the clockwise swastika is not
evil or good itself, nor the unclockwise. And the clockwise
represents the creaction forces and the unclockwise
represents the destruction forces. Hitler was used the
unclockwise swastika to use her powers in aid of his
destructive works and because the swastika is a so ancient
symbol that it is a part of the germanic people sub-conscience
archaetipal. 

As it was already explained, the swastika is a universal
archaetipal symbol. Under various shapes, it can be found
in the aztec, buddhist, chinese, japanese, denmark, hindu,
tibetan (buddhism and bompo), native americans, saxons and
scandinaves peoples religion. The mere word swastika comes
from the sanskrit word "svas" (goodness) and the entire word
"swastika" means "All is good". It is believed that it is
derivated from the solar ring or from the greek cross inside
a circle, that constitute another important symbol amongst
the Hallristinger characters. It denotes the daily sun
movement across the sky and the annual season circles,
ritualistically refered in the observance of the pagan
religion. In the extreme orient, the swastika is acknowledged
in all places as a symbol of good healthy, happiness
and cosmic perfection.
It exists some indices that the swastika was used by the
Church under the medieval age, even if the German National
Socialist Party addopted it as their politic symbol because
it is a pagan symbol. Nigel Pennick, who extensively writened
about the swastika than the runes, has said that the mitra
used by Thomas Beckett when he was assassined, showed
its edge filled with many swastikas. 
It was a pagan inscription too: 

"Hail, Oh Earth, Mankind Mother. 
Shall thee be prosperous
in the God's embrace and be 
inundated by fruits to the men's welfare".

 It was whispered that Beckett has some
clandestine conections with the Old Pagan Religion than
the cartarians Heretic religion, and that his death
was a ritual murder.
Pennick said also about the kristjan uses of Swastika
in a stained-glass window of the Saint Sepulchre church,
in Cambridge, and in a church in Cliffory, in the Sligo county
where still have a stone of unknow age with a celtic cross
and a swastika carved on. All these kristjans examples could be
pagan remnicenses, but what we can say about the swastika that
was found in the ruins of an ancient sinagogue at the east of
Jordan River, as mentioned by Pennick?
The Swastika is directly conected with the runes by the Hallristinger
characters [the ancestral characters of the runic futhark alphabet,
 according to many researchers, and maybe it was used by the Vanir worship
that existed before the aesir worship in north europe, since these
characters is from the stone age or neolithic times. Halristinger
characters hast used as strong nature force symbols with
shamanical purposes, then I suppose it was used in Spae-Craft in the
past], as well the fact it is frequently found near runic symbols.
A classical example of that is the fammous menir of Hogby, in Sweden.
T'is menir is covered with several runes that was carved on its
surface, as well some greek crosses, crosses of the kristjan calvary,
wyrms and swastikas. Pennick tells about the scandinavian influence
oven the neighbour Finland, that hast native shamanistic traditions
too. Even in 1939, airplanes of the Finnish Airforce hast used
swastikas in their wings. Both militar and civil medals emmited by
Finland government at this time was with swastika in the design.
But since the german troops invaded France in 1940, the swastika
disapeared, with the obvious exeption of the nazi flags. In the
early years around 1930 C.E., the british writer Rudyard Kipling
hast ordered that the swastika, a symbol that was addorned on all of
his books, to be retired. Kipling don't advogated the 
national-socialism; as a passionated lover of India, he used the
swastika in its old meaning, as a good fortune charm.

The National-Socialism [Nazi] adopted the swastika because it is a
symbol that has a great meaning to the arian "race" or to the 
Indo-European folks. According to their political ideology, an arian
was any non-judaic folk whose ancestry was teutonic or nordic.
The word "arian" comes from the sanskrit "arya" and means "noble".
It refers to the people who was warriors and fighters, and appeared
near the Caspian sea with their own independent ethnical identity
around  3000 B.C.E. In India, these arian caste is represented by the
brahman caste [the priesthood caste] and the Warrior caste know in
sanskrit as Ks'atrya. These proto-indo-european folks was the ancestral
folks of the romans, germanic, greeks, slavonians, iranians, and according
to some researches, of the Central america's Mayan folks, that
means of course, the Brazil native Indians whose ancestry is direct
conected with the mayan, to have a conection with the Indo-European
folks. These ones formed the basis of the nowaddays severan ethnical
branches of the european family.
More than that, the swastika is an warrior charm that help the warrior
to be granted with victory on a battle. Through the forces involved
is not infalible, the german army that was not the most powerful at
the beggining of the II world war, conquered almost of the Europe and
they lost the war only for a tactical error of Adolph Hitler in trying
to conquer Russia at a very wrong season time.
As a charm, the swastika was not good, NOR evil, but only a tool that
could be handed by a evil or a good hand.
This is the reasons that we cannot deny the holyness of the swastika
and cannot blamme it for the crimes perpretated by the nazi as in the
same way, we can't blamme a knife of assassination in the hands of a
murderer. All the fault is in the hands of the murderer. The same
knife can still be used to save someone's life or prepare some
meals. The Swastika still being a powerful symbol, and it still can
be used to several positives issues. 
And why not?
It can even
be again a inspirative symbol of compassion and benevolence.


A Word Against Intolerance

I had written this article, because I consider my duty,
as a Heathen, to act in defense not only
of Our Troth [faith, way], but for the
good name of our Elder Kin [The Aesir, Vanir and Jotnar. Our Gods]
and our Old Sacred Symbols. I am tired of those
crimminals who make dirty not only the name of our troth,
but the name of one of our most sacred symbols.
And in the same way, I am tired of certain
religious leaders of kristendoom who still
bad-mouthing the swastika as a nazi symbol only
with the purpose to promote hatred and
religious intolerance against heathenism.
Here in t'is work, I made evident that even the kristendoom
uses of the swastika in an attempt to shut-up
these bad-mouths of its kristjan thurses.
The anti-semitism feelings in some germans have only
kristjan origins. It origins in the myth that it was
the jews who killed their Jesus. A person that have
no meaning to us, and even I have serious doubts
he has existed in historical sence since there is no
valid evidence of that. In that way, heathens have no
reason to hate jews, or anybody just because their art
different. Of course I would be against those jews who art
against the goyin [the non-judaic folk], because I am not
a jew, and it is a racism that is also against me, but why
would I be against a jew who practices
religious and ethnical tolerance?
I don't like their abrahamic values,
 and of course that is why
I am a heathen instead of a jew, but their are free
to apply their values between their folk as
the same way we are free to apply our values
between our folk.

Hatred is a natural feeling of Human Beings,
But Blind-Hatred is always a stupidity!


SOTTHI THE SWASTIKA AND THE SOUL

What would be yer feelings if something that is most holy and loved, as a photo
of yer parents, the crest of yer family, or the holy symbols of yer religion, would be
used to promote racial hate, extremism, atrocities against old people and children<
including genocide and simmilar shameful things by people that aren't even members
of yer family? People who don't follow yer religion?

The Swastika as a holy symbols is present into the humankind history since the
pre historic stone age, and even jews used it as this article above confirms. This is
an symbol of benevolence and goodness, and should not be used to promote bestial
or racial hatred. Under certain aspects, it also represents the yoni, or the
female sexual organ that of course, all womans have, and in this way, all of our mothers
have it too, and it is the place from where all of us comes. This is a symbol of life
and rejoyce. Don't allow that this be used to promote Hatred!

Now in this present page, we are proud to present a contribution by an honourable
reverend theravadim monk (who follow the theravada tradition that is orthodox buddhism)
who shows here that this cause is also a buddhist cause, and inspire all of us to
look once more to the Swastika or Sotthi in Pali language, one more time as
something that inspires benevolence and not hatred anymore.

Copyright 2002 Venerable Shakya Aryanatta
Used under authorization!

SANSKRIT: SU(SVA)-ASTI(KA) [SWASTIKA].

PALI: SOTTHI. (swastika), pronounced in the Pali as 'SOO-TEE'

bahuka'ro kho me ayam. kullo; ima'ham. kullam. nissa'ya hatthehi
ca pa'dehi ca va'yamama'no sotthina'pa'ram. uttin.n.o.
MN 1.135 This raft (Dhamma) has brought me to fulfillment. Depending
upon this raft and striving by hand and foot I have crossed into
sanctuary (sotthi) upon the
further shore.

Atta'nam. sankamam. katva', yo sotthim. samata'rayi
J-1.83 Gone unto the Soul, this is the sanctuary (sotthi) of
quintessence.

puriso ekam.va nidhimukham. gavesanto sakideva eka'dasa
nidhimukha'ni adhigaccheyya; evameva kho aham., bhante, ekam.
amatadva'ram.
gavesanto sakideva eka'dasa amatadva'ra'ni alattham. bha'vana'ya.
purisassa aga'ram. eka'dasa dva'ram., so tasmim. aga're a'ditte
ekamekenapi dva'rena sakkun.eyya atta'nam. sotthim. ka'tum.; evameva kho
aham., bhante, imesam. eka'dasannam. amatadva'ra'nam.
ekamekenapi amatadva'rena sakkun.issa'mi atta'nam. sotthim.
ka'tum..
AN 5.347/MN 1.353 Just as if an entity were seeking after one door to a
hidden treasure all the sudden came upon eleven doors leading to that
hidden treasure, so
have I as well, while seeking after one door to the Immortal, all the
sudden came upon eleven doors leading to the Immortal. Just as if an
entity had a home with
eleven doors and when that home caught ablaze, he could bring the Soul
unto sanctuary (sotthi) by any one of those eleven doors, so have I as
well, while seeking
after one door to the Immortal, fled by any one of those eleven doors to
the Immortal which brings the Soul unto sanctuary (sotthi).

tatha'ru'pa'su a'pada'su pariyodha'ya sam.vattati. Sotthim. atta'nam.
karoti
AN 2.68 He purifies and guards the Soul. He has made sanctuary (sotthi)
for the Soul

sotthim. atta'nam. karoti
AN 3.45 He has made sanctuary (sotthi) for the Soul.

sotthibha'vo mahatta'
J-1.132 Great Soul become sanctuary (sotthi).

sotthimatta'nam.
MN 1.403 Made sanctuary (sotthi) for the Soul.

///////////////////////////////////////

sota'panna': stream enterer, Buddhist, going upstream. Same meaning as
sotthi+panna, or going unto sanctuary/upstream (of/to the Soul).

Su: bliss, refulgence, superior, to squeeze out (the Immortal juice of
Soma)

Arthur Anthony MacDonnell Sanskrit-English Dictionary page 372
Svasthi'-bhu: to return to ones own natural state.
Svastha: to be the Self, Self-abiding, to be home, to be at tranquil
ease.
Suasti [svasti, su+asti]: auspicious, well being, -ka crossing the hands
over the heart, auspicious sign. Sitting with legs crossed.
Sva: own, mine, me, self.

Arthur Anthony MacDonnell Sanskrit-English Dictionary page 33
Asti: to be, to exist, be present in

Arthur Anthony MacDonnell Sanskrit-English Dictionary page 60
#2 Ka': (who?) esp. of Pajapati, Brahma, n. bliss, water, head.

Rhys Davids Pali-English Dictionary PTS
Sotth?na (nt.) [cp. Sk. svastyayana] blessing, well--fare Sn 258; A
IV.271, 285; J V.29 (where the metre requires sotthayana?, as at IV.75);
VI.139.

Sotthi (f.) [Sk. svasti=su+asti] well--being, safety, bless ing A
III.38=IV.266 ("brings future happiness"); J I.335; s. hotu hail! D
I.96; sotthi? in safety, safely Dh 219
(=anupaddavena DhA III.293); Pv IV.64 (=nirupaddava PvA 262); Sn 269;
sotthin? safely, prosperously D I.72, 96; II.346; M I.135; J II.87;
III.201. suvatthi the
same J IV.32. See sotthika & sovatthika.--kamma a blessing J I.343.
--k?ra an utterer of blessings, a herald J VI.43. --gata safe wandering,
prosperous journey
Mhvs
8, 10; sotthigamana the same J I.272. --bh?va well--being, prosperity,
safety J I.209; III.44; DhA II.58; PvA 250. -v?caka utterer of
blessings, a herald Miln 359.
--s?l? a hospital Mhvs 10, 101. (adj.) [fr. sotthi] happy, auspicious,
blessed, safe VvA 95; DhA II.227 (°iya; in phrase d?gha° one who is
happy for long [?]).

Sotthiya1=sottiya a learned man, a brahmin Dh 295; ThA 200 (Ap V.6); J
IV.301, 303; V.466.
Sotthivant (adj.) [sotthi+vant] lucky, happy, safe Vv 8452.

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