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Tian Tan – The Temple of Heaven

February 20, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 3 Comments
Tian Tan

Tian Tan

In my readings on mudras I found other information on the Tian Tan, or Temple of Heaven, that I thought was interesting.

The Tian Tan is a Taoist temple in Beijing, China, and its construction dates back to the fifteenth century when it was originally named the Temple of Heaven and Earth. This temple has been used for Chinese worship in year-rites, prayer ceremonies, harvest ceremonies, and sacrifices for several centuries.

A description of some of the traditional ceremonial activities that took place here is interesting:

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.

Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year. ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven))

In these practices I see a belief in priesthood-like vicarious authority, temple prayer worship, cosmology, special ceremonial clothing, esotericy, worthiness requirements, perfect performance of rites, and even a practice which recalls the Word of Wisdom. Could this all be coincidence? Or did these things stem from something more ancient?

Posted in: Artifacts, Practices Tagged: chinese, cosmology, esoteric, prayer, priesthood, rites, taoism, tian tan, word of wisdom

Mudra Ritual Gestures in Eastern Religion

February 20, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 6 Comments
Tian Tan Buddha

Tian Tan Buddha

I was reading a blog of a friend of mine, Dave Stoker, over at Thoughts of a Seeker when I noticed a photograph of a statue he used in a post. This statue, that he identified as the Tian Tan Buddha, was intriguing to me because of its unique posture that I had not before recognized in Eastern art. Dave informs us that these arm and hand gestures are quite universal in historical depictions of Buddha, and are known as mudras. He further says that this particular statue is the largest outdoor seated Buddha in the world, completed in 1993 in Hong Kong.

Tian Tan, I have come to find out, is Mandarin for “Temple of Heaven,” or more literally “Altar of Heaven,” and is the same name given to a Taoist temple in Beijing. The term mudra is Sanskrit for “seal” or “seal of authenticity.” Wikipedia further defines the mudra:

A mudrā (Sanskrit: मुद्रा, lit. “seal”) is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. Mudrā (Sanskrit) is a ‘spiritual gesture’ and energetic ‘seal of authenticity’ employed in the iconography and sadhana of Dharmic Traditions and Taoic Traditions; particularly those influenced by Tantra, Shinto and Shamanism. [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Practices Tagged: abhaya, buddha, buddhism, gestures, hinduism, mudra, rituals, signs, symbols, uplifted hands, varada

Gammadia at Ravenna

February 11, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 7 Comments
Gammadia at Ravenna

Gammadia at Ravenna

There is an old church in Ravenna, Italy, called the Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo. It was built in the late fifth or early sixth century, and was originally dedicated to Christ ((Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant’Apollinare_Nuovo)). One of the most singular and unique things about this church is the appearance of gammadia on many of the vestments of the religious figures in the mosaics. John Welch and Claire Foley have described the gammadia thus: [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Scholarship Tagged: gammadia, garments, markings, marks, symbolism, symbols, veil

An Early Christian Church Exhibit

February 8, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

An exhibition back in 2000 at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, which was curated by Yael Israeli and David Mevorah, shows artifacts from the early years of the Christian church. The exhibition was entitled “The Cradle of Christianity“:

The exhibition attempts to synthesize the literary sources with finds that have been excavated in this country, particularly over the past fifty years: architectural remains, liturgical objects from churches, personal belongings of the Christian inhabitants of this land, and souvenirs made for pilgrims.

They have made an effort to separate the artifacts from the religious doctrines, trying to present the artifacts as they are, objectively.

I found several things interesting as I browsed the website of the exhibition: [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts Tagged: altar, anointing, architecture, Artifacts, baptism, early christian, eucharist, garments, liturgy, penalty, prayer, tithing, uplifted hands, vestments
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