Lion Defenders of Asia

Lions have a long standing tradition of being protectors in Asia. To embody this, these sentinels are embodied in stone. I shall look at the snow lion of Tibet, the guardian lions of China and the komainu of Japan.

First, the snow lion of Tibet. They are depicted as white, genderless lions with a turquoise mane; however, the milk from the lioness is said to heal the body and to restore harmony. As they are in an eternal state of bliss, the reason why there are eight carved onto the Throne of the Buddha, they are cheerful, fearless, and in a state of natural delight. This theme of fearlessness is also to be found in the sound of the snow lion’s roar, in that it sound-manifest of the qualities of courage truth, and even emptiness. Further, they represent that when mind and body are fused, beauty and dignity is plentiful. These latter qualities seem illogical to hold with a stone carving, though snow lions are thought of as flesh-and-blood beings since before they were carved.

Next, the guardian lion of China. Palaces, temples and tombs are what the sacred places they defend. The temples are obviously sacred, though the palaces and tombs may not be so: the temples were the residences of the emperors, which were believed to have the divine right to rule, and the tombs are where the remains of their ancestors remain, and as Chinese society has deep traditions of ancestor veneration this undoubtedly makes tombs sacred. The male traditionally sits on the left with his right paw on an embroidered ball to signify supremacy, and he is tasked with defending the actual structure. The female traditionally sits on the left whilst she restrains a cub with her left paw; with this clear indication of nurturing, it is unsurprising that this gender is tasked with protecting the structure’s inhabitants.

Before I mention komainu and guardian lions, it is best to mention that there was a period in Japan’s history when they absorbed many cultural elements from China, such as the tea ceremony and perhaps also the lionesque sentinels. Both have pairs that guard the entrance of a sacred place, and both have one member of the pair with their mouth open and one with their mouth closed.

Finally, the komainu of Japan. These are depicted as ‘lion-dogs’, though they can have a horn or take the form of a tiger or a boar. Most often, komainu are to be seen guarding the entrances to shrines and Buddhist temples, they can also be seen in front of noble residences and sometimes guarding the gate of the inner shrine. The komainu of Inari, arguably the most important kami that rules over rice, tea and foxes, will be in the form of a fox. This form signifies messages and magical powers, which is assisted by the sometimes appearance of a key, a jewel or a sutra roll in their mouth.

So, even though the idea of a lion being a guardian first arrived from China, it can be seen by investigating both guardian lions and komainu that these stone sentinels have adopted qualities and inclinations from whatever culture they inhabit. This can be seen with the komainu fitting around Shintoism, though it is clearer still with the snow lion. The carved snow lions didn’t absorb any of the Chinese elements of the guardian lion other than to be a stone protector.

Affective Mood Disorder and Synaesthesia

Today, I’m going to look at two more mental phenomenon that produce a life experience that is, when peeling away all negative connotations, ‘abnormal’. These are Synaesthesia and Affective Mood Disorder.

I will start will start with Affective Mood Disorder. This is an umbrella term to cover many disorders that, quite simply, effect the mood of the individual. This can be mild-severe, though however much it affects an individual, it is disruptive to life. AMD encompasses three main disorders: depression, bipolar, and anxiety disorders.

   Depression is not an unexpected phenomenon in life, though perhaps dysthymia, a milder form of depression, is better for the description of this period in one’s life. Depression is characterised by extreme sadness and hopelessness where there is a lack of energy, interest and concentration. Feelings of guilt and even suicidal thoughts are not uncommon.

   Bipolar is not just the new term for manic depression: it is a condition from which an individual swings from one extreme to another. This is termed as ‘chronic mood swings’. Manic depression is of course the most common with an extremely high majority, so it is easy to understand from where the synonymy developed. Mania is not just when someone is extremely positive and active, as it can make the sufferer impulsive, delusional, irritable and even aggressive.

   Finally are the anxiety disorders. As with anything, there are many different types, though all include anxiety, fear and nervousness. Other symptoms include nausea, rapid heart rate, restlessness, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling. Some of the more common types are social anxiety, general anxiety, panic disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. When people first hear OCD as a anxiety disorder, they instantly deny it, though there is no doubt in the matter. OCD is when an individual obsessives over something that causes them worry, anxiety etc., and they are compelled to do something to solve/sort out/stop the anxiety. For example, if someone is anxious about dirt, they will obsess over dirt and they would be compelled to clean, as this ends the source of anxiety because the dirt has been cleared so it is gone.

Synaesthesia is when an individual’s senses are mixed, in that one sense will automatically initiates another sense. As the senses can be mixed in many ways, there are consequently several types of synaesthesia.

   The most recognised type is grapheme-colour, in that when people perceive words, letters and numbers, whether by sight or sound, there is a perception of a distinct colour. One of my friends has this: my voice is royal blue with streaks of salmon, and my name written is a mixture of royal blue and grey. When she listens to music, the sounds of the instruments and voices produce a myriad of colours. How the colours are ‘seen’ is varied. Some are projected, with the word/letter/number itself becomes its associated colour, whether others will see the colour purely in their mind’s eye, so they experience both the actual colour and the mind’s eye colour simultaneously. My friend is an example of this. This mind’s eye seeing can be autonomously induced: stare at a single coloured wall (say, pale blue) and imagine any colour (say, bright red); you will be able to perceive both simultaneously.

   Another type is word-taste, or lexical gustatory, which is when a word is perceived, again by either sight or sound, a taste is also experienced. Yet another type is mirror-touch, which is less common and not as well studied as the rest. In this, when the synaesthesiac perceives others being touched, they too sense that tactile experience.

   People with synaesthesia often have brilliant memories. They dual-perceive the world, by having two or more senses activated by the same stimulus simultaneously, so this creates many more connections in the brain than someone without synaesthesia. The more connections the brain has for a specific bit of information, the easier it is to recall that bit of information.

   Another interesting observation is that people on the autistic spectrum are more likely to have synaesthesia than non-autistic people. Now, as people on the autistic spectrum have superb memories, this may make synaesthesia itself as producing a good memory questionable, though perhaps autistic people with synaesthesia have the best memories. That’s a question for researchers.

   Finally, how synaesthesia is scientifically observed brings great joy to people who study phenomena of humanity, so scholars of religion, psychology, sociology and anthropology. As synaesthesia involves the mixing of the senses, it is a highly private and thus subjective experience; because of this, people need to report their experiences. There is no objective way to test or measure synaesthesia, yet scientific study of synaesthesia is accepted. This therefore makes subjective study of people’s personal experiences, whether it be a religious experience or some other internal feeling, more valid and acceptable. Hopefully this will allow natural scientists to not discredit the social sciences, which are vital in helping humanity’s understanding of itself.

Evolutionary Explanation of Religion

Religious Studies has three main methodologies: methodological atheism, methodological theism and methodological agnosticism. Methodological atheism takes the view that religions aren’t the truth, but rather they are a construct of the mind (Psychology), society (Sociology) or the human condition (Anthropology) to fulfil a certain purpose. Methodological theism takes the view that the religion that they study is the truth. Methodological agnosticism doesn’t pass truth-judgement on a religion. Rather, a description of the religion, and how it effects people’s lives in all aspects, whether that be practical, mental or emotional, is sought. The main type of methodological agnosticism is Phenomenology: phenomena, that which appears, and logos, study.

   Although I instantly prescribe to phenomenology, methodological atheist points are interesting. One explanation for religion that combines Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology is the Evolutionary approach. Evolutionary explanations argue that religion is a trait that humans evolved that helped to aid their survival. This can be supported with evidence of spirituality in chimpanzees and Neanderthals, though first I shall explain the theory itself.

   It is thought that brain growth in the cortex is connected with consciousness, language and emotion. This development can be seen in areas that have direct, archaeological evidence, such as complex tools. The very first creation of a complex tool would have required a mental image of an object that doesn’t exist in reality and also an understanding of the purpose of the tool. Both of these require an understanding of linear causality. This is a demonstration of intelligence.

   Intelligence is undoubtedly important in religion. Symbolic communication, social norms, the concept of a self (whether an autonomous self or a part of a greater whole is not necessarily relevant here) and the concept of continuity are all needed for a religion to work and function correctly.

   There are several supposed reasons for the development of religion. First, it is a way to keep unrelated individuals have a common cause, which would be important when individuals live in social groups. Considering that humans nowadays, and the vast majority of all primates, are social creatures, this instantly seems reasonable. Religion would serve to sustain itself with the use of rituals, beliefs and continual social contact, all of which would give a simple answer to things, such as weather or death, which are otherwise very complicated.

   There is evidence of the expression of religion in early human burials, though whether or not it is religious expression or not is another. For example, pictures of half-human half-animal are thought to demonstrate religion, though perhaps this is just people exercising their imaginations. Also, red ochre has been found on the bones of the deceased, but this could be remembering the death. Non-religious people nowadays will remember the dead without any religious connotations, so why not the ancient humans? This puts the rest of dead-remembrance evidence into question, though it is interesting nonetheless. There are examples of people being buried in cemeteries, with ‘grave markers’ and antlers being left as offerings.

   Now for the spirituality of Neanderthals. It is believed that they buried their dead with rituals, with red ochre on skulls being thought of as highly symbolic. Some scholars even argue that they practised early totemism or animal worship. Stone tools and animal bones were often put with the dead, which could possibly signify a belief in an afterlife. Some even view bones having their flesh removed is evidence of religion, though one must consider that Neanderthals lived in a cold environment, so food would have been difficult to find, so perhaps bones being defleshed is just evidence of cannibalism.

   A more direct example of spirituality in non-Homo sapiens sapiens is with the common chimpanzee. There is evidence that they greave death, which is a by-product of forming affectionate, supportive and enduring bonds, along with romantic love. They show altruism to others, such as feeding turtles, and they may demonstrate animism by cradling and grooming inanimate objects such as sticks and stones. It is also believed that chimpanzees have aesthetic appreciation, as they will notice sunsets, which scientists believe has no pragmatic application to the chimps (though it’s a signal of when to sleep and when to be awake), and they will show curiosity to pythons, which are neither prey nor predator nor competition in anyway.

   Dr. Jane Goodall conducted research on chimps on their approach to a waterfall, though this behaviour has also been observed during rain as well. Heightened arousal is shown with bristling hairs, with rhythmic swaying and rock-throwing being other, typical behaviours. After this ‘dance’, the chimp may sit and watch the waterfall. It is thought that this may be to challenge the elements or a challenge to a perceived ‘alpha male in the sky’. This may be an example of spirituality, or just that these chimps have learnt this behaviour from a chimp who had abnormal reactions to waterfalls and rain. Whatever the case, it is a very interesting example of common chimpanzee behaviour.

 

Even if this doesn’t point towards religion as being evolutionary, it may suggest that religion is a feature of creatures beside modern humans, which could suggest a universality of religion. I refrain from making any definite conclusions, because the theories in themselves are extremely interesting, and also I would be a poor phenomenologist if I did make judgements!

Diamond Rain, Diamond Planet and Asexuality

No, this isn’t going to be a post how diamonds are a girl’s best friend. That’s my position. Anyhoo, diamonds are one of a scientist’s friends, considering that diamond planets and diamond rain is possible. Sounds questionable, I know, though there is sound reasoning for these suggestions.

   First I’ll start with diamond rain. It is thought to rain diamonds on Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. As I have a limited understanding of meteorology and chemistry, I cannot disrepute this, though it seems rather reasonable. Even if it doesn’t happen, it’s a nice thought! Anyway, the reasoning. Lightning storms are thought to turn methane into soot, which is a form of carbon. As the soot falls, just like when it rains water it is because the clouds are made of water, the pressure increases so the soot hardens into graphite and then diamond. It is then thought that the diamond melts into a liquid at the planet’s core.

   So next is the diamond planet. Sounds delightful. It was found somewhere in the universe. The surface of this planet is said to be graphite, and it is surrounded by a thick layer of diamond, so that the land masses and mountains are diamonds. It is theorised that it has graphite and diamond instead of water and granite. For some unexplained reason, this planet would lack water; if temperatures were high, liquid on the surface would be carbon-rich compounds, such as tar.

Asexuality is a term to describe people who don’t experience sexual attraction. Other kinds of attraction can be felt, such as aesthetic, non-sexual physical and romantic, which is the need to be intimate with someone. So, as other kinds of attraction can be felt, an asexual may identify themselves as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, demisexual (sexual attraction develops when the primary source of attraction, such as aesthetic/romantic, is fulfilled) and anything else, though it isn’t unheard of for an asexual to feel no attraction whatsoever.

   A widely held view that is a mistake is that asexual people are repulsed by sex. Some can be, true, though sexually inclined people can also be repulsed by sex. Asexuality is just that there is no drive for procreation. This is similar to the drive for nourishment and hydration. One analogy is drinking water. Drinking water is pleasant at any time, though if one desires a drink, such as out of dehydration, the levels of satisfaction are greatly increased. In the same way, when sexually inclined people desire sex, the orgasm fulfils the primal urge and thus the levels of satisfaction are very high; an asexual, on the other hand, will orgasm and it will be simply pleasant because it does not fulfil that desire.

   There are many reasons why an asexual would have sex. They may want to have a child, express their love for their partner, and even as a hobby. Sex, as a pleasurable activity, can be considered a hobby, because other hobbies, such as reading, watching films, playing sports and gardening, are pleasurable without fulfilling any urge or primal desire. Perhaps the most important factor in an asexual wanting sex is the want for intimacy. Holding hands, stroking and cuddling are a few of the intimate ways a partner can show their compassion and devotion to their other half, though sex can be much more intimate and an asexual may have sex for this reason.

So that's all for now.