Sun and Moon Symbolism

In Buddhism the sun and moon are nicely described in ' path of purification' i.e. Vissdhimagga by rev. Buddhaghosha on chapter vii-44, XII-102, XIII- 36,45,46

Here suriya is called sun and Chanda is called moon. They are the parts in the brain,as abhidhamma is related to study of structure and functions of brain described by Lord Buddha. The function of the this disc is to allivate the fear and to give courage. The function of the moon disc is to know desire. These structure may be thalamus and moon may be cingulate gyrus or hypothalamus respectively. It is also said that, this disc enlightens three out of four continent means three lobes of brain. If any one wants to get control over brain and to achieve Nirvana he must get control over these two parts. Hence they have shown in wheels of life or in Buddhist sculptures.

The symbols of sun and moon in Dharma imagery and Asian oral tradition / written records represent and describe the reality, the 'just what is'-ness, of where we exist...the dynamic actuality of this place that we are embedded in and subject to, independent of how we mistakenly perceive our imagined 'personal' existence as somehow separate from and somehow exempt from the effects of our embeddedness in these physical / energetic processes.

They were intended to remind us, to call our attention to, the scientifically verifiable reality that celestial mechanics, including the rotations of the moon and the dynamics of the sun, have direct and measurable effects on the physical, mental, and emotional reality and experience of our existence. Dharma records teach us how to exist here where we appear, in human bodies that are embedded in the natural world, that is embedded in the solar system and subject to its mechanics and physical properties, without being excessively and unconsciously conditioned and driven by these mechanical processes and their physical properties.

By training to be aware of how the orbital patterns of the moon and dynamic patterns of the sun both regulate and periodically disorder internal chronobiological processes which determine both physical and mental reactions (and hence, our perception of and mediation of reality), we can consciously exist in relationship with these fluctuating realities instead of being dragged around by these celestial mechanics that we are in no way separate or exempt from.

The notion that there is something 'supernatural' or 'religious / spiritual' about these celestial symbols in Dharma records is a very modern Western distortion of Dharma records / imagery. The concepts of 'supernatural' and 'religious' (and by extension, the even more modern notion of 'spiritual') didn't exist anywhere in the world prior to the 13th century and Thomas Aquinas' use of these newly invented Christian concepts. There are no comparable terms for 'religion', 'religious', or 'supernatural' in Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the common ancestor of Indo-European languages. Classical Greek has no

terms that function as ‘religion’ or 'supernatural'. In an article in the Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān, Patrice Brodeur writes of Arabic 'dīn': “Prior to the twentieth century, the English word ‘religion’ had no direct equivalent in Arabic nor had the Arabic word dīn in English. They became partially synonymous only in the course of the twentieth century as a result of increased English-Arabic encounters and the need for consistency in translation” (Brodeur 2013).

And the well-known Islamic scholar Fazlur Rahman Malik has suggested that 'dīn' (understood in modern society as 'religious') is best considered simply as “the way-to-be-followed” (Malik 1979). Native American oral traditions were similarly distorted and defined. Native American cultures (on both continents) had no concept of "religion" or "supernatual' prior to European Christian colonization and subjugation. Their oral traditions, rites, and symbols are

components of a sophisticated cultural astronomy, historical record, and an environmental and ecological awareness, melded with a way of life; a social code that kept an acknowledgement and familiarization of place at the foreground of the community’s vision in order to protect the wellbeing of society, individuals, and the non-human creatures of the earth. These traditions were brutally suppressed by Christian invaders and “settlers” who, in their cultural insularity, interpreted them as 'supernatural' religion, while they systematically and violently dismantled Native American culture and killed

millions in a very short period of time. And, as in Classical Greek, there is also a notable lack of any word in premodern Chinese that signifies ‘religion’ or ‘supernatural,’ or anything that corresponds to those terms. The modern Chinese term 'zongjiao' was first employed to mean ‘religion’ in the late nineteenth century as a direct result of Western Christian influence.

Many people in modern society have been taught to think that the concepts and emotional experience of ‘religion’ and an imagined ‘supernatural’ extends back to the origins of civilization, and even that it is somehow intrinsic to human evolution. However, scholars are increasingly contesting the idea that the concepts of 'supernatural' and 'religion' are ancient. The concepts of 'religion' and 'supernatural', the habits of thought, the emotional states, and

the way of seeing that are provoked by them (religiosity), and the redefining of ancient seasonal festivals and mnemonic rites as worship are carefully manufactured products of the late Christian Middle Ages and Christian High Scholasticism. This exploitive, science-easing dogma was then imposed on the cultural astronomy, oral traditions, written records, symbols, rituals, and social codes of non-Christian and non-Western cultures, and persuasively

impressed upon the leaders of these cultures, often with economic promises tied to aggressive military threats. These cultures then gradually came to accept this conceptual imposition so that their oral traditions, social codes, and mnemonic rites, now religionized and supernaturalized, will be regarded on the same level as Christianity, and to protect themselves from Christian Europe’s aggressive and frequently cruel persuasion tactics.

Japan is a clear example of the Christian export and spread of the fairly recently invented concepts of 'religion' and 'supernatural'. Jason Josephson writes in The Invention of Religion in Japan: “Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept for ‘religion’. There was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything that came close to its meaning until the 1850s when America forced the Japanese to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of

religion” (Josephson 2012). This freedom of religion clause was lobbied for inclusion by Western Christian leaders, who eyed Japan as virgin territory for Christian market share. To comply, Japan was forced to create an official state-defined category for religion. Shendao (Shinto)—the way, path, law (dao) of the celestial entities (shen)—was officially categorized as a science. All other variations of the ancient story, thirty-six of them named in the scholarly documents of the time, became newly classified as religion or as superstition to satisfy treaty demands. |

Similarly, our modern understanding of so-called "Buddhism" as a 'religion' and it's symbology and allegorical meaning is also largely a modern Western invention. Prior to Western culture’s attempt, beginning in the late 18th century, to explain and categorize this widespread Asian version of an ancient explanation of how this place that we exist in affects how we perceive this place where we exist in, there was no evidence for a concept of either

'religion' or 'supernatural' in Buddhism. Indeed, there was no sign of the odd creature we now know as ‘Buddhism.’ There was Dharma, understood as ‘the way’, the 'Law', 'Just What Is', referring to both the endless cycles of time, measured by and at the effect of rotational celestial mechanics, and a way of life consistent with them. Not a religion with a supernatural component, it was a syncretic mixture of ancient Indian, Persian, and Egyptian cultural astronomy encoded in oral traditions, symbols, and mnemonic rites, adapted and locally embellished by the Asian cultures it flourished in, that preserved a real-time awareness of the cycles of time and a sophisticated social code and personal practices that were designed to align perception with the patterns and processes of Earth and sky that affect and shape perception.

The symbols of sun and moon in Dharma were merely, but importantly, reflective of actual celestial processes and related physical properties that humans are at the effect of if not conscious of these processes and their effects. The notion that symbols of the sun and moon were solely allegorical, and not reflective of an actual cause / effect relationship, is a symptom of a very modern madness related to humanity's alienation from the natural world and the

celestial mechanics that regulate and periodically disrupt it. The central message of Dharma records, the admonishment to 'enlighten' or 'awaken', is a call to wake up to this cause and effect relationship between our human biological existence and the natural / celestial mechanics that have given birth to and sustains us. In this Age of Uncertainty, when human ignorance is responsible for the extinction of 150k species annually and accelerating, a clear non-religionized, non-supernaturalized, non-mystified understanding of Dharma is critically important.

More relevant: SUN AND MOON SYMBOLS 左右に日月を彫り

Found often on Kōshin (Koshin) statues with three monkeys. The Moon symbol is called Gachirin 月輪 (also Gatsurin or Getsurin). It is a perfectly round circle meant to represent the full moon, a frequently used symbol in Buddhist painting and sculpture. It represents the Buddha's knowledge and virtue, and it symbolizes the aspirations of sentient beings hoping to attain Buddhahood.

It also symbolizes the circular and luminous nature of the enlightened mind. The Gachirin is a defining attribute of Gakkō Bosatsu, who is often shown in statues/paintings wearing a headpiece representing the moon or holding a circular moon-shape in his hand. The Gachirin is also found often on Buddhist grave stones called Gorinto. The moon and sun are part of the traditional Chinese yin-yang theory of balance and contrast.

The moon is used as a symbol of adversities or obstacles. In contrast, the sun symbolizes hope, for even though a moon eclipse may block the sun’s light, there is always a portion of the sun that shines through. The Buddhist deity Nikkō Bosatsu represents sunlight, as does Dainichi Nyorai (Solar God, Cosmic Lord).