順時鐘或逆時鐘？右旋或左旋？
陳榮基
在巴金森氏病的治療用藥中，有左多巴(levo-dopa)，有別於右多巴，兩者的化學構造相同，但物理結構上一個是左旋，一個是右旋。左旋的才有治病的功效，因此只有左多巴可用來治療病人。我們也常用順時鐘或逆時鐘來形容旋轉的方向。
在佛教界有個神聖的符號，「卍」(讀音”萬”)字，一般認為要順時鐘或右旋，不宜寫作逆時鐘或左旋的「卐」。英文叫Swastika。顯示全文/隱藏全文
多年前曾經到印度新德里參加世界神經學大會，在大會安排的參訪中，到一家很莊嚴的印度廟，好奇的請教住持(?)，到底卍字應該右旋或左旋，他告訴我，此字是古亞利安族(ARYAN)的太陽的象徵，代表吉祥幸運純潔完美等。他指著廟兩側窗戶上的卍字窗欄，告訴我，你從廟內往外看如果是右旋，從外往內看，不就是左旋了嗎？因此，左旋或右旋，逆時鐘或順時鐘都可以；只要擺正就好了，如果擺歪了，就成了納粹的鉤十字(Hakenkreuz)了。
回國後居然在一個我常親近的佛堂看到兩尊供奉在一起的佛像，胸前的卍字，一個是右旋，一個是左旋(如上圖)。再度澄清了我的疑惑。
人生在世，遇到不同意見或不合我意的情境時，也許試著換個方向，換個角度，為別人設身處地想一想，也許就可獲得妥善的結論了。凡事隨喜，隨順眾生，何必爭得頭破血流？對方可能是未來佛呢！
2008年11月6日 星期四
*順時鐘或逆時鐘？右旋或左旋？
訂閱：
張貼留言
(
Atom
)
![2015周大觀基金會熱愛生命獎章<[請點下圖連署支持全責護理]>](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0XE7vtBmB6Y/VijWC6eVOtI/AAAAAAAAN84/lZpfif8QS5k/s1600-r/Fcover_final.jpg)
2 則留言 :
While reading over your description of either right-facing (卐) form or its mirrored left-facing (卍) form, I have seen both forms in the Budha statues in Taiwan. Many American, especially Jewish, very much dislike Swastika sign --- which is symbol of Nazi. They frequently ask why Buddhist uses Swastika. As I run through Internet, I came across some interesting (although sometimes may not be completely accurate) information on this subject in Wikipedia.
Swastika(Some citations from the Encyclopedia Wikipedia):
Westerners whose family originates from India, including religions such as Jain, Hindu and other Indian religions, still use the swastika as a religious symbol, with no connection to Nazism, although not without being accused of cultural insensitivity.
The swastika symbol was popular[82] as a good luck or religious/spiritual symbol in the United States, prior to its association with Nazi Germany. The symbol remains visible on numerous historic buildings, including sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also appeared on tiles, lampposts, metal valves, tools, surfboards, stock certificates, brand names, place names, medals, commercial tokens, postcards, souvenirs, rugs and clothing;
In South Asia, the swastika remains ubiquitous as a symbol of wealth and good fortune. In India and Nepal, electoral ballot papers are stamped with a round swastika-like pattern (to ensure that the accidental ink imprint on the other side of a folded ballot paper can be correctly identified as such).[citation needed] Many businesses and other organisations, such as theAhmedabad Stock Exchange and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce[89], use the swastika in their logos. The red swastika was suggested as an emblem of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in India and Sri Lanka, but the idea was not implemented [4]. Swastikas can be found practically everywhere in Indian cities, on buses, buildings, auto-rickshaws, and clothing.
In 2005, authorities in Tajikistan called for the widespread adoption of the swastika as a nationalsymbol. President Emomali Rahmonov declared the swastika an "Aryan" symbol and 2006 to be "the year of Aryan culture," which would be a time to “study and popularize Aryan contributions to the history of the world civilization, raise a new generation (of Tajiks) with the spirit of national self-determination, and develop deeper ties with other ethnicities and cultures.”[90]
The Falungong qigong movement uses a symbol that features a large swastika surrounded by four smaller (and rounded) ones, interspersed with yin-and-yang symbols. The usage is taken from traditional Chinese symbolism, and here alludes to chakra-like portion of the esoteric human anatomy, located in the stomach
The Red Swastika Society (simplified Chinese: 世界红卍字会; traditional Chinese: 世界紅卍字會;pinyin: shìjiè hóngwànzìhuì) is a voluntary association founded in China in 1922 by Qian Neng-kun (錢能訓), Du Bing-yin (杜秉寅) and Li Jia-bo (李佳白) as the philanthropic branch of the Daodeshe(道德社) "Society of Dao and Virtue", a syncretist Daoist school, which changed at the same time its name to Daoyuan. It was one of a number of new transnational world redemptive societies founded at the time in China, drawing on Western examples such as the Red Cross to build charitable institutions grounded in religions such as Buddhism and Daoism. (The swastika is a Buddhist/Hindu religious symbol.) Its strength during the 1920s and 1930s seem to vary widely, with citations of 30,000 "members" in 1927 to 7-10 million "followers" in 1937.
社團法人世界紅卍字會台灣總主會
張貼留言