Monday, January 3, 2011

Tying the knot


"The Endless Knot is known as dpal be'u in Tibetan and shrivatsa in Sanskrit. Other names for it are the Tibetan Knot, the Mystic Dragon, the Knot of Eternity, and the Lucky Diagram.
The Endless Knot is one of the eight auspicious Buddhist symbols, known in as Sanskrit as Ashtamangala. The other seven symbols are a lotus flower, two golden fish, a parasol, a treasure vase, a conch shell, victory banner, and eight spoked wheel. The Endless Knot is an intertwined knot without beginning or end, symbolizing Buddha's wisdom and infinite compassion.
While the form pictured from Tibet, various Celtic knots are interlocking and bear a striking resemblence to the Endless Knot. Symmetrical knots that tie into themselves without beginning or end possessing a certain harmonic grace and elegance.
In fact, the Endless Knot has migrated and the arguement can be made that it's now a shared cultural meme. It gets used in non-religious contexts and finds itself incorporated into larger works."





Now here is the overly simplistic version that sort of evolved when I tried to draw the ideas I was having. Loosely based off a transparent cube, I wanted to draw my philosophical ideas in a multitude of ways in a simple image. 


It's a little difficult to put into words but I wanted to express these three major qualities. The macro- the knot, the expansive universe; the micro- the squares within the knot, the building blocks of all life; the whole- the fact that the small looks exactly like the large which looks exactly like the middle. 


The endless knot has been described as "an ancient symbol representing the interweaving of the Spiritual path, the flowing of Time andMovement within That Which is Eternal. All existence, it says, is bound by time and change, yet ultimately rests serenely within the Divine and the Eternal."[citation needed] Various interpretations of the symbol are:
WIKIPEDIA 

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