MURYOKO
'Infinite Light'
Journal of Shin Buddhism
Harold Stewart
Universal Existence
If we represent Universal Existence by a sphere, then the successive evolutions and involutions of any cycle of change, whether in the macrocosm or in the microcosm, may be figured by a single helical line traced around the surface of that sphere. Thus the inception of a cosmic cycle or the birth of an individual life will begin from the central point at the top of the vertical axis, or north pole. Gradually, as the possibilities of the cycle are realized in time and space, the spiral will unwind in ever-widening curves, each representing one particular world or one phase of an individual life in each of those degrees or planes of universal existence. This expansion will continue until it reaches its maximum at the equator, which will correspond to the fullest development of the superior possibilities, or maturity in either world or individual. But once this equatorial cycle is passed, the helical turns will begin to contract and at the same time increase in rate of change, as the inferior possibilities come to be realized. Finally at the south pole, the end of Becoming or death of the individual is reached, when the mortal coil rejoins the central axis at its lowest point. Notice that the process accelerates throughout the whole cycle, which accords with our individual and social experience of time with the rate of change growing ever more rapid, both in ourselves and in the world around us. Every point on any particular turn of the helix is analogous to similar but never identical points on the cycles above and below it. For example, our second childhood resembles yet differs from our first; or different cultures pass through analogous but varied historical or stylistic periods; which reveals the qualitative aspect of time. History never repeats itself exactly, for that would be to impose a limitation on Infinite Possibility; and this in itself demonstrates the fallacy of any ‘eternal return’.
If the two hemispheres be divided, again as before, at the equatorial plane and placed side by side without breaking the connecting line of the curve at its widest around the equator, then the plane projection of the entire helix on to the flat surfaces of the hemispheres will produce the double spiral. This is a geometrical figure of deep Metaphysical significance, which has been used as a ‘decorative’ motif on artifacts found throughout the ancient and medieval worlds; its real purpose being to make such utensils spiritually as well as materially useful. When the double spiral is ‘squared’- that is, when the cycles of Heaven are applied to the square of Earth - it becomes the well-known Chinese fret-pattern, sometimes combined with the two forms of the svastika to produce the manji-fret. This double squared spiral constitutes one of the solutions to the ancient problem of ‘squaring the circle’, found also in Chinese Taoist initiatory rites, which closely resemble their Masonic counterpart in the West. Besides, if the double spiral be given pictorial representation, it is often as two dragons entwined. Nor should we be surprised to find them on this stele, since in both the East and the ancient West serpents were long regarded as the guardians of tombs. In the Traditions of the West, the two serpents were usually coiled in contrary directions around the World Tree, or its microcosmic equivalent, the caduceus of Hermes; and as Titus Burckhardt shows, these correspond to Mercury and Sulphur, not only as chemical substances but as symbols of the two principles at work in the alchemical formula: solve et coagula. He also points out a Hindu parallel in the two subtle or psychic currents of Kundalini, the Serpent Power; for these, known respectively as Ida and Pingala, encircle the Merudanda, or microcosmic extension of the Axis of Mount Sumeru, whose corporeal equivalent is the human spinal column. But in the Far East we more often find the twin nagas or dragons with their heads, as the two poles, opposed and facing each other, while their two tails, as the equatorial link, are entwined. They are thus the pictorial equivalent of the dark and light comma-shaped halves in the double spiral vortex of the Yin-Yang, co-operating by conflict of opposites to produce the universe yet united in the Tai-Chi.
Considered from the macrocosmic viewpoint, the two dragons, as the positive and negative or complementary but opposing phases of a single productive power, represent nature in dynamic aspect. They are exemplified by the sun's annual course in increasing cycles from the winter to the summer solstice followed by its decreasing course from midsummer back to midwinter. These two extreme limits symbolize respectively the Gate of Purgatory and the Gate of Paradise. It will be recalled that the ancient Chinese, as the inventors of the southward-pointing chariot or compass, had already discovered that the physical earth is itself enveloped in a vast magnetic field and that subtle forces, both electromagnetic and psychic, travel between its poles. Since serpents or dragons by their undulatory rhythm of propulsion aptly exemplify such energies, they called the lines along which such currents passed ‘dragon-paths’ and made them the basis of their science of Feng-Shui, or Wind-and-Water. This geomancy was employed in the siting of all buildings, from temples and palaces down to simple dwellings, so as to attract, neutralize, or divert such subtle influences, which could affect human society as well as the individual psyche for good or ill.