The United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum, located in Washington, D.C. was designed by architect James Ingo Freed. The 90 million dollar building is a memorial intended to remember the events of the holocaust, and the 6 million Jews who lost their lives. The museum was first commissioned in 1979 and opened to the public in 1993. Freed did not intend for the architecture of the building to be based off of any specific places or events, but instead wanted to allude to the history as a whole through the use of abstract forms. Because the architecture is based broadly on the history of the holocaust, the accompanied meaning is up for interpretation. This allows the museum goer to have a unique experience as they enter and observe the museum. A memorial in the form of a museum is a somewhat unusual concept. The act of visiting a museum is a ritual in itself unlike the act of visiting a memorial. The reason museum going is a ritual is because every aspect of the design of the museum has a purpose. The museum goer observes each individual exhibit in a prescribed order, which is intended to evoke a certain emotional experience with each exhibit. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum could be considered a sacred place for Jews because of the specific experience it evokes. Jews share a history and culture that was greatly impacted by the events of the holocaust in some shape or form. The United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum not only provides recalls the events of the holocaust, but also remembers a culture that was destroyed. The memorial creates an environment where Jews can feel connected to their ancestors, as well as each other, which is what makes it a sacred place.
Tulkism is rarely well known outside of the esoteric Buddhism traditions. It is an intimate term mainly used by the Tibetan Lamas. It is expressed by the belief of a lineage of beings that are directly connected to a central being. The lineage of the Dalai Lama is an example of this. The Dalai Lama is the representative of the Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, which is why it is so important to find the new one when the old one has passed.
The word tulku literally means “a form created by magic process”. It is almost always from Agarthinian in origin, which means they are beings from the Sudha Dharma Mandalam, or the Great White Fraternity, or mysterious beings that, from time to time, emerge onto the surface of the Earth in order to transform it. Among the Tibetans and Mongols, these are known as “Shambahla people”.
In addition to choosing the manner of their rebirth, tulkus are able, on their deathbed, to make known the place of their next birth, sometimes adding various details about their future parents, the situation of their house and so on. If such details are lacking, the monks whose duty it is to locate his reincarnation, resort to a lama-tulku astrologer, or tsispa, for directions.
In the image, the lines of the seven main Bodhisattvas came from the Buddhic, or Christic beings. In their turn, the Seven Manus sprang from the seven main Bodhisattvas. From the Manus, new centers are generated and from them emanate the tulkus with infinite emanations and manifestations of consciousness.
The living Buddha is a tulku, or a mayavic shadow projected by a Buddha. The Dalai Lama is an incarnated disciple, hence the origin of the words: Lha and Ma, where the spirit takes upon incarnation or the word is made flesh.
Reincarnation is the theory or belief that human beings are born into the physical body, not just once, but multiple times. In many religions and teachings, it includes being born into animal bodies, but in others, such as in theosophy, only in human forms.
Belief in reincarnation is an ancient one. In the East, it is an integral part of Hindu philosophy and religion, and may be found in the Laws of Manu, Bhagavad Gita, the Upanisads, Puranasand even in the earliest of the Vedas, the Rig Veda. It is also called Samsara or the cycle of birth and rebirth from which every aspirant seeks release to attain liberation or Moksha. The cause of such return is trishna? Or thirst due to attachment to people and things. Buddhist belief, despite the fact that Buddhism denies the existence of an enduring Self orAtman. The reincarnating entity is composed of Skandhas or aggregates which are manifested from life to life.
