How can the brute force of a raging bull be associated with the subtlety of the 6th sense? To escape from the effects of past life kamma requires the skills and courage of one who fearlessly grabs an angry bull by the horns – and do a backflip – elegantly.
To control the mind
“mental gymnastics”
of the Knossos bull leaper
Liberation, 47th and final symbol on the Phaistos Disk
Did the bull, used as an-iconic symbol for the Buddha in India, represent sensual attachment that can be conquered by practicing the meditation system?
Did the legend of the Knossos labyrinth in Crete symbolise endless life in samsara and was the Minotaur the personification of passion that caused rebirth in lower realms? Was the thread that led Theseus to the centre, where he killed the beast, a symbol for concentration and the meditator’s pursuit of liberation from rebirth by investigating 12 Dependent Origination factors as taught by the Buddha?
To say that Knossos in Crete was a major Buddhist learning centre in Europe for centuries may sound like a fantasy, but there is written evidence.
Knossos Minotaur appears in Dante’s Divine Comedy in Circle 6 to 7 Canto 12: meditation codes Was Dante fully aware of the meditation system numbers illustrated on the Phaistos Disk when he wrote the Divine Comedy in the 14th century?
Famous poet Dante described the appearance of the Minotaur in the Divine Comedy at the exact spot that was used for meditation codes in Crete. Written in the 14th century, Dante still knew the numbers illustrated on the Phaistos Disk and he knew the meaning, he meticulously followed the existing structure of the meditation system in use for 1,800 years to write his poem, a great masterpiece of European literature, a system that was eventually forgotten when people stopped meditating.
The scene of Plato’s Epinomis, The Philosopher, and the Laws (Nomis) were the only two dialogues that did not take place in Athens but en route from Knossos to the cave of Zeus. Was Knossos the site of a famous Buddhist learning centre?
The 47th and last symbol on the Phaistos Disk, obscure and difficult to identify, is a summary of the meaning of the entire disk: an upside-down bull’s head to symbolise a meditator’s victory over inner defilements as illustrated by the Knossos bull leaper.
The symbolic meaning of the number 47 when separated is “4 the Four Noble Truths” and “7 the Seven Stages of Purification”. When added up 4+7=11 the number 11 again refers to a symbol on the Phaistos Disk: the seated meditator in pursuit of liberation, Buddhist Nibbāna.
In the same way the number of every symbol on the Phaistos Disk can be analysed as a meditation formula: an additional layer of specialised knowledge.
The Buddha as source of knowledge is identified by the 8-petalled rosette in the centre of Side A: the Eightfold Noble Path of Purification is the meditator’s target. The rosette is the pupil of “the eye to see the truth”, Vipassanā Insight Meditation. Placed in Field A32 it refers to a Pali text that describes the Buddha: “32 Marks of a Great Man”. The 8-petalled rosette (Eightfold Noble Path) was illustrated on Minotaur coins minted in Crete in the 5th century BC.
Cultural symbols such as the story of the Minotaur caught in the labyrinth under the Palace of Knossos were used to illustrate complex concepts. With numbers of symbols illustrated on the Phaistos Disk “meditation formulas” were composed and visually illustrated on coins minted in Crete. Horns were used in Europe as symbol to illustrate the 6th sense for 1,800 years.
Coded horns: the concentrated 6th sense, 21st symbol on the Phaistos Disk
Pictish Beast and floating figure on the Gundestrup Cauldron with Phaistos horn no. 21: perception of the light of wisdom with the concentrated mind, the 6th sense
The Buddha described the mind, the 6th sense:
“Wandering far and wide on its own, without form, the mind lies in the heart-cavern within. To bring it under control is to be freed from the bondage of ignorance.”
Dhammapada verse 37
Ajhahn Munindo – published by Aruna Publications 2006
“Bondage of ignorance”: philosopher Plato’s Cave Simile with its shadows on the walls illustrated by massive silver chains of Scotland
Western scholars have not yet noticed the influence of the meditation system taught by the Buddha in Europe, which links famous cultural landmarks in a network of knowledge that was well known for up to 1,800 years. Plato’s famous Cave Simile in The Republic with prisoners bound by chains to only see shadows on the wall, an imitation of the truth, was an allegory comparable to the labyrinth of Knossos where the Minotaur was held captive by chains.
When Dante described in the Divine Comedy (1308-1320) that philosophy left Athens to settle in Scotland, he became the main witness who recorded the forgotten history of the origins of philosophy in writing. Dante’s passage about Alba reveals the meaning of the massive silver chains of the Picts: an illustration of philosopher Plato’s Cave Simile and how to observe truth with the light of wisdom of the concentrated 6th sense:
“When Pallas died to give it sovereignty. Thou knowest it made in Alba its abode”
– Dante, Divine Comedy Paradise Canto 6, lines 36-37 Translation Longfellow
Pict massive silver chains with codes illustrated on the Phaistos Disk: how to break the bondage of attachment by following the 8-fold Noble Path taught by the Buddha (32 Marks of a Great Man)
How to visually illustrate something as fleeting and invisible as “perception” and “concentration”?
On the Phaistos Disk the concentrated 6th sense was illustrated by a horn-shaped symbol, an imitation of the shape of the light that appears in a meditator’s “mind’s eye” when concentrated: the 6th sense. The “horn” appears as a beam of silver light that turns into a silver thread that links the meditator’s mind to meditation objects. The horn was combined with the bird with an infinity sign: to investigate meditation objects in pursuit of liberation.
Two Golden Horns c. AD430 with complex coded illustrations of the 6th sense and a ring with 32 runes around the rim, similar to the 32 Fields on the Phaistos Disk, were found in Gallehus, Denmark. The 6 and 7 segments were the same as Dante’s Circles in Canto 12 where the Minotaur appeared, the main theme is rebirth: 12 Dependent Origination factors. The total of 13 was illustrated on the Phaistos Disk by the “prisoner of attachment; with hands tied behind his back.
Gundestrup Cauldron AD93-144: meditation diagram with an overview of the meditation system
The silver Gundestrup Cauldron (AD93-144) found in Denmark and Ribe Viking coins (c. AD825) are a good preparation to better understand the mysterious images of the Golden Horns of Gallehus dated to c. AD430. The meditation system illustrated on these mysterious objects can still be decoded with the numbers of the Phaistos Disk.
Gundestrup Cauldron central panel Bull and floating meditator carrying a sword of wisdom to illustrate investigation of existence with the concentrated 6th sense
“Horned deity” teacher panel with illustrated codes
Gundestrup Cauldron meditation system taught by the Buddha (Dhamma Cakka Ppavattana Sutta)
Votive Viking coins from Ribe, Denmark c. AD825
If the silver Cauldron found buried near Gundestrup in Denmark was indeed designed during the reign of Hadrian, it was rescued from Rome and well known in Scandinavia.
A series of votive Viking coins found in a ploughed field at Ribe in Denmark contain exquisitely detailed images of Deer and ships comparable to the Gundestrup Cauldron Teacher’s panel and Phaistos Disk symbol no. 30. The designs on the Viking coins form a bridge linking the Phaistos Disk (6th century BC), the Gundestrup Cauldron (AD93-1430 and thousands of abstract Runestones made in Scandinavia until the 13th century.
Ribe Viking Coin with Phaistos Disk symbols: coded Deer (teacher) and Ship turned 90 degrees: Phaistos no. 30 investigation to cross the ocean of samsara
Sword of Wisdom and a Helmet “to see the truth as it is” from Valsgärde and Vendel Sweden 6-7th century
“Viking coins” were minted after sacred sites were destroyed in Southern Europe starting in AD381 with Theodosius I, first Christian emperor of Rome. Vandals attacked Rome in AD455, immortalised by the word for senseless destruction “vandalism”, but Christian armies who turned the Mausoleum of Hadrian into a fort threw exquisite objects down onto the supposed attackers. Objects from Vendel and Välsgarde in Sweden discovered in burial mounds are sophisticated votive objects: helmets “to see the truth as it is” and “Swords of Wisdom”.
The Pantheon in Rome was consecrated as a Christian Church in AD609. “Viking” helmets and swords and coded coins as meditation diagrams were created in the same century to preserve knowledge about the system of numbers.
Golden Horns of Gallehus: illustrated 6th sense to attain liberation
The unique golden horns with illustrations of the 6th sense were found in a ploughed field at Gallehus in Denmark. The Golden Horns were melted down, but the images were recorded on good quality etchings (J. R. Paulli, 1734 National Museum of Denmark). The Horns were made early in the 5th century around the same time when the Visuddhi Magga, a summary of the Pali Tripitaka texts, was written in Sri Lanka, 1,000 years after the Buddha. The “Path of Purification”, a meditation manual, may have been known in Scandinavia.
32 Runes: coded meditation formula combined with Images
Phaistos Disk 8-fold Noble Path in Field 32: 32 Marks of a Great Man
The Golden Horns of Gallehus are pivotal objects because images of the function of the 6th sense were combined with a row of 32 runes divided into 4 blocks, a coded meditation formula similar to the divisions into fields to form clusters on the Phaistos Disk.
The 32 runes combined with images show how the transformation took place from early drawings and engravings on rocks to the use of abstract Scandinavian runes.
Golden Horn of Gallehus B
32 runes as coded meditation formula “32 Marks of a Great Man, the Buddha” divided into 4 blocks, the Four Noble Truths, 6 zones represent investigation of 6 senses.
Gallehus Horn B 32 Runes: the meditation formula
Images: illustration of the Four Noble Truths
Golden Horn of Gallehus A
7 zones Seven Stages of Purification, 22 images represent knowledge taught by “the teacher who knows the way” to cut the roots of the tree of life, symbol 22 on the Phaistos disk.
Mysteries of Mithras: to conquer inner defilements
Hadrian as patron of Crete had to be fully aware of the learning centres and was the most likely person to have introduced the Mysteries of Mithras. The Golden Horns of Gallehus in Denmark were made shortly after the Romans left Britain as an illustration of the 6th sense.
The Mysteries of Mithras were practiced by Romans from Fort Inveresk in Scotland to Petra in Arabia. The bull was an an-iconic symbol for the Buddha often used on Ashoka pillars. The bull represents attachment to sensual life that is sacrificed in the tauroctony using the “sword of wisdom” by the meditator Mithras in pursuit of liberation from rebirth, depicted by the seeds in ears of wheat that form the tail: seeds of kamma to be discarded. The dog represents ignorance, the snake rebirth and the scorpion suffering, dukkha in Pali. Stars on the inside of the cloak represent investigation of particles dissolved into space (analysis of Ultimate Reality of Mentality nāma & Materiality rūpa).
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Was “Mithras” the symbol of Stoic philosophers who meditated in “manmade caves” in Rome? The meaning of Mithraism that originated in Rome (thought to be a deity from Persia) in the second century AD is still a mystery, but with an analysis of all elements of the tauroctony (where Mithras sacrifices a bull) from a meditation perspective there is a seamless match with the system of meditation techniques originally taught by the Buddha Gotama in India. The suffering of repeated birth, ageing and death can be overcome by cutting the roots of attachment to sensuality symbolised by the bull, symbol of sensual attachment and the an-iconic symbol used for the luxury life as a prince of the Buddha-to-be. The 7 stages of initiation of Mithras can be aligned with Seven Stages of Purification, which were illustrated on the Gundestrup Cauldron that was made between 94-143 AD, according to recent carbon dating: during the reign of Roman Emperors Trajan and Hadrian. During the same time the Pantheon was built in Rome: a meditation diagram in the shape of “an eye to see the Truth”. The design of the Pantheon, Gundestrup Cauldron and Mithraism seem to be linked: launched by Hadrian as projects to promote peace in the Roman Empire by promoting the practice of meditation techniques: the dialectics of philosophy.