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The 'Snowlion' (also 'Snow Lion'. Tibetan: Gnyan. Wylie: 'Gangs Senge') is a celestial animal of Tibet. It symbolizes fearlessness, unconditional cheerfulness, east and the earth element. It is one of the Four Dignities. It ranges over the mountains, and is commonly pictured as being white with a turquoise mane. In Mainland China, the Snow Lion is called a Fu Dog.

Contents

Roar

Flag of Tibet

Snow Lioness Milk

The Snow Lion in Buddhist Art

Tibetan Lion Dog

Attributes

Notes

References

See Also

External Links

Roar

The roar of the Snow Lion embodies the sound of emptiness, courage and truth, and because of this is often a synonym for the Buddhadharma, the Buddha’s teachings, as it implies freedom from karma and the challenging call to awakening. It was considered to be so powerful that just a single roar could cause seven dragons to fall from the sky.

Flag of Tibet

Two snow lions appear on the Flag of Tibet. They represent here the country's victorious accomplishment of a unified spiritual and secular life. The Snow Lion forms the insignia of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism) and is also represented on Tibet's government seals of office, coins and stamps.

Snow Lioness Milk

In Tibetan folklore the milk of the Snow Lioness (Tibetan: Gangs Sengemo) contains special nutrients to heal the body and restore it to harmony. Some holy medicinal remedies are believed to contain the essence of Snow Lioness milk. Her milk is also used to symbolise the Dharma and it's purity, as Milarepa replies to a man seeking to buy the Dharma from him with expensive gifts:

"I, the snow lioness who stays in snowy solitudes,
Have milk which is like the essential nectar.
In the absence of golden cups,
I would not pour it in an ordinary vessel."

The Snow Lion in Buddhist Art

The Lion is a sacred and regal symbol in many ancient cultures from Egypt to the Greek and Roman Empires and further east to Persia and ultimately to Buddhist India in the second century. In Buddhism the Snow Lion is the protector of Buddha and in paintings and sculpture is usually seen as holding up the Buddha's throne (one on the left and one on the right of the throne.) The body of the Snow Lion is white while it's flowing hair of mane, tail and curls on legs, is either blue or green. While most Snow Lions are gender neutral in Buddhist art there are some that are represented as obviously male and some as obviously female. When represented as a symmetrical pair the male is on the left and the female on the right. Sculptural Snow Lions are often in repousse metal that has been gilt and painted.

Tibetan Lion Dog

The Shih Tzu is called the Tibetan Lion Dog after its resemblance to the Snow Lion, however it is unknown whether the dog was bred to resemble the Snow Lion or if the artistic design was influenced by the features of the dog.

Attributes

The Snowlion is an archetypal thoughtform confluence or personification of the primordial playfullness of joy and bliss, somewhat energetically comparable to the western unicorn, though without a horn. Though paradoxical, the snowlion does not fly but their feet never touch the ground; their existence is a playful continuum of leaping from mountain peak to mountain peak. The energetic potency (wisdom or shakti) of the Snowlion is expressed in the attribute of the gankyil/gakyil ('bliss+whirling' or 'wheel of joy') that the Snowlion keep in eternal play. The gankyil is a vriddhi derivation of the dragon's fiery 'pearl of great price'.^[1] The gakyil is the principal polyvalent symbol and teaching tool of all the doctrinal trinities of Dzogchen, and is the energetic signature of the trikaya. The gankyil is the inner wheel of the Dharmacakra of the Vajrayana Ashtamangala path of Buddhism.

Notes

1 Source: http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/symbols_tibet_buddhism.htm#4; accessed: Friday January 19, 2007

2 Ingersoll, Ernst (1928). 'Chapter Ten: The Dragon's Precious Pearl' in ''Dragons and Dragon Lore''. Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/ddl/ddl12.htm (accessed: Friday January 19, 2007)

References

★ Beer, Robert. "The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs", Serindia Publications, London.

★ Ingersoll, Ernst (1928). ''Dragons and Dragon Lore''. Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/ddl/ddl12.htm (accessed: Friday January 19, 2007)

See Also

★ Tibet

★ Tibetan Buddhism

★ Shih Tzu

★ Ashtamangala

External Links

★ Snow Lion Publications

★ Symbols of Tibetan Buddhism