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📿 GOLDEN SWASTIKA

Golden Swastika is a Buddhist community that centers around normative and historical Buddhism as practiced by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It's a platform that was built to be a safe and serious "dharma-first" space for all Buddhists of all schools worldwide.

We aim to address key obstacles and pitfalls within Buddhist spaces, both online and offline. Our mission statement specifically targets these three major issues:

🟡 MISSION STATEMENT

• 1. Preventing the Secularisation and Misrepresentation of Buddhism.

One of our founding pillars is to be a community that oppose non-dharmic harmful groups that damage the reputation and the integrity of the dharma. Such as Secular Buddhism, the New Age movement or a myriad of cults looking to exploit it's members using the Buddhist title.

The rise of mindfulness and secular Buddhist movements has led to the commodification and decontextualization of Buddhist practices in the West, often compromising the tradition's integrity. As a result, online Buddhist spaces sometimes see non-Buddhists outnumbering actual practitioners, necessitating better self-regulation. This community provides a space for authentic Buddhist discussions with proper moderation to prevent the spread of non-Buddhist ideas or misinformation, and where we can openly talk about problems facing Buddhists today such as Cultural appropriation of Asian Buddhist cultures.

If you want to understand this topic better, here is more by Buddhiststuff and Eishin.

• 2. Creating a platform to give voice and power to normative Buddhism

Golden Swastika exists to fight against the modern colonial projects of culturally appropriating Buddhist cultures and call out ideas/people that perpetuate race essentialist and harmful power structures over people of color.

Buddhism and it's misrepresentations do not exist in a color-blind vacuum, and this is a space that is not afraid to talk about these issues. Many times this also comes in the form of just sharing what actual real Buddhism looks like in Buddhist-born families and countries.

• 3. Building a community that opposes both Bigotry and Sectarianism.

This space firmly opposes all forms of sectarianism and bigotry. Inspired by the Dharma, Golden Swastika stands against hate in any form, including racism, xenophobia, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. This is a welcoming and non-hostile environment.

We do not tolerate the hateful appropriation of the Dharma and strongly reject any form of racial supremacy, Nazism, colonialism, or ideologies promoting political violence. Racism is fundamentally opposed to the Dharma, and this community welcomes individuals from all ethnic and national backgrounds.

Additionally, this space is open to all Buddhists, regardless of lineage. Any legitimate tradition that follows the Triple Gem—whether Mahayana, Vajrayana, Theravada, or any other school—is welcome. While personal preferences for practices may vary, we discourage behavior that disparages other Buddhist traditions.

\*🧑 Why do you use a Swastika **❓*

The swastika german nazis used were stolen from Dharmic religions and culturally appropriated.

But in truth, It is an ancient sacred symbol that represents the eternal cycle of life, theories of chakra, and the great footprints of Buddha. It is analogous with dharmachakra. It is extremely common to see it in Asia and Buddhist art.

Golden Swastika's soul is about not compromising Buddhism and Buddhist culture to appeal to western sensibilities and expectations. Swastika has been our symbol of peace for thousands of years before the Nazis appropriated it. Starting to use it back in its original meaning is the only way to recontextualise the symbol and educate people in the west of its true meaning.

Disclaimer ❗

While we value and respect the diverse political opinions of Buddhists globally, the Golden Swastika establishment does not endorse or align with any particular Buddhist geopolitical issue or or support one Buddhist country over another. Our focus remains on fostering harmony among all Buddhist communities around the world.

Disclaimer 2 ❗

The Discord server named "Dharmachakra" is not affiliated with the subreddit. It was founded by Golden Swastika's prominent members but later on diverted paths and became independant.

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Huge thank you to Buddhiststuff, who was a reddit user that created this community, which now grew to have multiple branches all over the internet. Without him, none of this would have been possible.

r/sangha - A subreddit aimed at finding digital/pyhsical temples for Buddhists without temples and teachers. (temple guide)

r/NewBuddhists - Curated resources for beginners.

r/ReflectiveBuddhism - Created by one of the leaders of r/goldenswastika, MYkerman. A platform that enables political and race-critical critique of Buddhist spaces and the misrepresentation of the dharma.

Goldenswastika's moderators entry on misconceptions surrounding Buddhism - By Buddhiststuff, Bodhiquest and others.

Kurosaki Buddhist - A TikTok influencer who is a member of GoldenSwastika, and showcases normative Buddhism on Tiktok.

Kermans Reflective - MYKerman's tiktok. Goldenswastika/ReflectiveBuddhism but in TikTok form.