| Swami Bodhananda created this symbol to represent his organization's spiritual mission. The symbol consists of three consecutive arcs of different colors with three birds each flying at different levels-two within the arcs and one escaping. The three rings may be imagined to have several meanings-the three bodies (gross, subtle and causal); the three gunas (tamas, rajas and sattwa); the triputi paradigm (knower, knowing, known or experiencer, experiencing, experience, etc.); the three periods of time (past, present and future); the three states of consciousness (waking, dreaming and deep sleep); the first three words of the Gayatri mantra (Om Bhur Bhuvah); or the three letters representing the sound of OM (A-U-M), etc. The two birds within the arcs may be imagined to represent human bondage, samsara, duality, the pairs of opposites, likes and dislikes, etc. The single bird, escaping from the enclosed space, represents freedom, the flight of the Atman into the Infinite, Enlightenment, etc. One can go on contemplating. The image may become a spiritual sadhana and any number of meanings may be derived. |