Simple Understanding of the Eight Auspicious Tibetan Symbols in Buddhism

The tantrik culture and Buddhism is prevalent in Tibet and China. Since ancient times the monks used to write scriptures on flags and tie it above the mountains or huts. They believed that the wind when blowing would take these symbols to many other places of the world and bring about peace and enlightenment everywhere. The five elements theory of balancing all the five elements when living,that is fire, wood, earth , water and metal , what we know today as the principles in feng shui existed even before we came to know about this. The basic principle behind this is living in harmony  with nature. peaceful existence with nature not harming any element in way for progress.
There are eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism which were traditionally offered to teachers to transmit them to students and in healing rituals.Each symbol represents one of Buddha\'s teachings and when used all together their power is multiplied many folds. With these symbols appearing in most of my healing paintings along with Reiki symbols and Chinese Calligraphy I would like to give an simple explanation of these eight auspicious symbols.

Ashtamangala, oil painting on Canvas Rizwana A.Mundewadi

1) Parasol- The Umbrella, symbolizes royalty and spiritual power, protection from negative energies.
2) Gold Fishes, represent fertility and good fortune.Two fishes help to swim through the ocean of life problems smoothly.
3) Treasure Vase, a vase of inexhaustible treasures, spiritual and material abundance,   satisfaction from all material desires.
4) Lotus, denotes mental and spiritual purity and peace. The growing of lotus in muddied water symbolizes the mind and soul growing from disturbances towards enlightenment.  
5)  Conch Shell represents the call for Buddha teachings, the symbol of enlightenment.
6) Endless knot having twined knots that are inter linked together also termed as  mystic knot as the beginning and end of the knot is not visible.
7) Victory Banner depicts victory of truth, peace and harmony over evil forces. Used to bring about victory in career, wealth and health and in fact all areas of life.
8) Wheel, representing the never ending cycle of life learning, its movement in circular direction, never ending indicates spiritual growth and learning of Buddha principles and bringing about spiritual change.
The eight lucky symbols often termed as Ashtamangala are the most powerful symbols used to bring about harmony, luck peace and enlightenment. The qualities of Buddha are represented by these eight auspicious symbols.
In some places the eight auspicious symbols are also depicted as symbol bearing Goddesses holding each symbol termed as Tashi-Lhamo Gyal in Tibet an culture, The Ashtamangala Devi in sanskrit. Each Goddess is seen holding a symbol and is decked with jewels and ornaments.
My latest painting has a form of green figure, is I think the Green Tara a Goddess in female form which I will write about later on.
 Paintings come first and later on the explanations...
God Bless and All the Best from Rizwana!
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