"4. Is the public display of the religious and cultural swastika banned?
The offence does not ban the public display of the swastika for genuine religious or cultural purposes.
The Victorian Government recognises the cultural and historical significance of the swastika for the Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and other faith communities as an ancient and sacred symbol of peace and good fortune.
The Government will deliver a community education campaign to:
raise awareness of the origins of the religious and cultural swastika
recognise its importance to the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities, and
explain its distinction from the Hakenkreuz."
" It is an aniconic symbol for the Buddha in many parts of Asia and homologous with the dharma wheel.[6] The shape symbolises eternal cycling, a theme found in the samsara doctrine of Buddhism.[6]"âWikipedia
Seems a bit odd that they waited this long to ban it⌠but I am glad to see the religious exemptions included. Back in Texas I used to see the swastika all the time at the Hindu temples, and on their signs, circulars, and calendars.
Victoria is a bit behind NSW, we got this in August.
I gather that the joint submission of the Hindu Council of Australia and the Jewish Board of Deputies is/will be influential in shaping recent new legislation around this issue in various Australian jurisdictions.
I.e. what you are seeing now with the legislation has already been through a process of joint input from Jewish and Hindu groups literally signing off on the same sheet of paper expressing shared feedback and aspirations.
I gather that both groups would like to see a free society where people can practice their beliefs, but not promote hate.
Itâs not a case of one group vs the other. I donât think Buddhist groups should be subject to arbitrary definitions of what is an isnât an essential symbol for them, either. It is well-known that the swastika is part of the symbolic vocabulary of many Buddhist groups, as well as for Jainism, a fact which was noted in the Hindu-Jewish joint submission.
Iâm no longer in Victoria so Iâm not fully up-to-date, but I understand that the Buddhist Council of Victoria has also been actively involved in this issue in that state. Both Buddhist and Jewish representatives in Victoria have supported an education campaign about the non-Nazi swastika.
Iâm quite sure we can all be free together. Darren Bark, of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, seems to agree (as quoted in the Guardian article above).
âPeople should be able to spot the difference between the two, allowing the Hindu community to feel proud to display their sacred symbol,â he said. âNobody should ever feel they cannot express their religion and their faith.â
the symbol has been used for millenia by asian cultures - the oldest use of the symbol in hinduism is over 10 000 years old.
in buddhism, it represents the four noble truths, and more recently in the 7th century, it was incorporated from buddhism into the chinese character set to mean infinity / eternity.
the recent appropriation of the symbol 75 years ago by a madman from Europe for horrific purposes belies its 10 000 year history of association with peace, compassion and spiritual integrity in Asia. this was the very reason the people behind the nazis sought to appropriate it.
i donât think you quite appreciate the deep level of respect and reverence the swastika continues to have in the east, rooted in over 10000 years of spirituality. i have wondered whether it is a remnant from a previous buddhaâs dispensation - similar to the use of the dhamma wheel in this dispensation.
unfortunately horrible people will always appropriate good things. even in the last 10 years, there have been attempts by right-wing activists to appropriate the dhamma.
should, say, someone like donald trump decide to convert to this right wing version of buddhism, and it become the new religion of the international right with a wave of horrific acts committed in that brand of buddhismâs name, do we then completely abdicate the use of the buddha, the dhamma and the sangha?
i think ultimately the best advice for this comes from the buddha - equanimity in the face of atrocities committed - and this was an atrocity committed against the entire of humanity: the jewish people, and indeed, an entire eastern culture.
valuing and re-appropriating the swastika in the west as the symbol of spirituality, peace and compassion that it continues to be in east - robbing it from the western right - seems like the only sensible response. otherwise we are allowing the legacy of this atrocity to continue to persist into the present.
The Nazi swastika is shifted at an angle where as the Hindu swastika is not, and usually has dots in it. When itâs black with dots it doesnât seem as âthreateningâ as the red and angled Nazi one.
