The Shekinah has been titled 'The Rose of the World' the meaning of
the name Rosamundi.
Jon
http://www.sophiafoundation.org/bulletinboard.html
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/rose.htm
http://www.pbc.org/dp/roper/kings/3066.html
The Rose of the World
Daniel Andreev
By warning about the coming Antichrist, and pointing him out and
unmasking him when he appears, by cultivating unshakeable faith
within human hearts and a grasp of the metahistorical perspectives
and global spiritual prospects within human minds?[we help Sophia
bring to birth the new culture of love and wisdom called by Daniel
Andreev the "Rose of the World"]?[Sophia's] birth in one of the
zatomis will be mirrored not only by the Rose of the World. Feminine
power and its role in contemporary life is increasing everywhere. It
is that circumstance above all that is giving rise to worldwide
peace movements, an abhorrence of bloodshed, disillusion over
coercive methods of change, an increase in woman's role in society
proper, an ever-growing tenderness and concern for children, and a
burning hunger for beauty and love. We are entering an age when the
female soul will become ever purer and broader, when an ever greater
number of women will become profound inspirers, sensitive mothers,
wise counselors and far-sighted leaders. It will be an age when the
feminine in humanity will manifest itself with unprecedented
strength, striking a perfect balance with masculine impulses. See,
you who have eyes.
http://biblia.com/jesusbible/ezekiel4.htm
The Zohar, that has been called a "vast and hidden source of
universal philosophy"13, tells us that "the Lord God took this man
(Adam) and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it".
It is said in another passage that Adam was set to grow roses.
Before the instigation of blood sacrifice the gifts that Adam placed
on the altar in Eden were offerings of aspiration. He preferred
roses as symbols of his desires. He longed for a companion. This
relates to the mystery of womanhood, the real sense of that Garden
which he was given to cultivate. The roses were the very offspring
of Shekinah, the Rose of the World, that immanent, demiurgic power
of the divine who is herself represented by the Garden. The Shekinah
(Hebrew "shachan", meaning "to reside") is the female manifestation
of God in humanity, the indwelling spark of the divine. In the New
Testament the Shekinah is the glory emanating from God, his
effulgence. She is equated with certain Sephira, particularly
Malkuth, the Kingdom, and is mentioned as a messenger from on high,
when she appeared to Moses. Maimonides regarded Shekinah as an
intermediary between God and the World.14. This blinding light of
Shekinah was the flame of the burning bush, a bush with thorns, a
rose-bush no less, guarded by the angel Zagzagel, which name
means "divine splendour", the angel of the Presence. This bush is
the ever-flaming, ever-revealing blossoming of divine power that is
truly Rosa Mundi, the Rose or Soul of the World, that had dwelt in
Eden since the Creation, and which sustains the world. The Talmud
tells us that when God drove Adam out of the earthlly paradise, the
Shekinah remained behind "enthroned above a cherub under the Tree of
Life, her splendour being 65,000 times brighter than the sun", and
that this radiance "made all upon whom it fell exempt from disease",
and, further, that then "neither spirits nor demons could come nigh
unto such to do them harm". Here is the origin of that sheltering
star invoked in the ritual of the cabalistic cross.
"Rosa Mundi", wrote Crowley, "red glory of the secret heart of
love". Perdurabo defined ritual as the uniting of the microcosm with
the macrocosm. The androgynous figure of the magus must conjure with
the elements if he is to pluck the rose at the heart of nature. The
Gnostic Gospel of Thomas declares: "When you make the two one, and
when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and
the above as the below, and when you make the male and female a
single one, then shall you enter the kingdom". Herein lies that
consummation devoutly to be wished, the accomplishment of the Great
Work whihc is possession of the Mystic Rose. Pico Mirandola, in his
essay on human dignity, said that every man was higher than the
angels. Dante may have been led by St Bernard but "every man and
every woman is a star" said the Beast, and each has his or her won
guardian angel as guide to Paradise wherein thr Rose of Shekinah
blooms. In lesser quests, roses are made use of in works of
attraction and devotion, for healing and purification. The ancients
burned roses for luck. Rose of Crucifixion oil is variously used by
modern spirit cults. A crown of roses is worn by the practitioner in
all operations of Venus. The rose is also related to Hulda, Hathor
and Demeter, and to Aurora, Goddess of the dawn. In the Almadel of
Solomon the angel guardians of the Eastern altititude are crowned
with roses. The Roman Sybil who foretold the birth of Jesus also has
the rose as her emblem, a seal for the new covenant given her by
grateful monks.
Daniel Andreev, The Rose of the World (Lindisfarne Books: Gt.
Barrington/MA, 1997), p. 358
[words in brackets added by Robert Powell]
http://www.sophiafoundation.org/bulletinboard.html
Pure Land Buddhism as Vaishnavism
Part Five: Who Is The Jewel / Mani in the Lotus / Padma ?
By Bhakti Ananda Goswami
So Who IS 'The Jewel in the Lotus' of Tibetan Buddhism, and the rest
of Mahayana Buddhism? OM MANI PADME HUM is one of the main mantras
of Nepalese and Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism. It is Sanskrit. It
invokes 'The Jewel in the Lotus'. Mani means 'jewel' or 'pearl' and
Padma means 'lotus'. These words do not refer to a mundane pearl in
a lotus, or to mundane Tantric intercourse as has been promoted by
the late 'Tantrists'. The Mani referred to is the Dharma Kaya or
Original Form of the Adi Buddha. He is called AMITABHA, BHAGAVAN,
CHAKRAVARTIN, PUROSHOTTAMA, HRIH, ADI BUDDHA and other names of
Krishna / Vishnu in the Pure Land Buddhist Scriptures, and is
identified with the two-armed Form of Amitayus (Tshe-dpag-med)
Lokeshvara HRIH in Sanskrit, and sometimes Chen Rei Zei (Spyan-ras-
gzigs) in Tibetan. Thus AMITABHA'S Mani Padme Mantra is sometimes
referred to as the Mantra for Chen Rei Zei. AMITABHA / Chen Rei
Zei's highest unity with His Feminine Shakti is not depicted
iconographically in full realistic detail, as with the multi-form of
Tara and Lokeshvara. In Their 'Lila Avatara' Forms, such as Lakshmi-
Nrsimha, in Tibetan iconography, the YAB-YUM or MALE-FEMALE Forms of
the Lord and His Shakti are revealed in their inseparability in a
conjugal union. However when it comes to the form of Lokeshvara,
Chen Rei Zei, Amitayus or Amitabha, the union is symbolized by the
Masculine / Giver Deity's presence within or on a PADMA / LOTUS,
which represents the highest, most esoteric Form of His Feminine /
Receiver Shakti. Thus the 'Original' or Dharma Kaya Form of
Amitabha (`Od-dpag-med' in Tibetan) is depicted standing or sitting
on His Shakti in Her Form as His PADMA or Lotus-abode. Since secular
scholars have long considered Amitabha to be in the class
of 'supreme solar deities', it amazes me that there have not been
any major studies (that I know of anyway) comparing Helios of Rhodes
(in the Minoan Era Mediterranean), with the Mani Padme Tradition of
Amitabha.
On ancient Rhodes, Helios Kouros (Krishna) was worshiped with His
Beloved Rhoda. They were considered to be the Transcendent Origin of
all the gods and goddesses. One of Rhoda-Kore's names on Rhodes was
Nymphia. Nymphia means both Maid / Bride / Virgin and LOTUS. Rhoda
means Red, Rose, or any Red or Pink Flower. Another by-name of Rhoda-
Nymphia was ASTERIA meaning Star. TARA means STAR. Asteria's symbol
was the HEXAD, a pictorial pun on another one of Her numerous by-
names HEKATE. The Hexad is the STAR, ROSE or LOTUS SYMBOL used for
Shekinah & Eli-Yahu Bridal Mysticism in the Judeo-Catholic
Traditions, and for the unity of Shiva & Shakti, Vishnu & Shakti and
Lokeshvara & Shakti. When the Star, Lotus or Rose / Red Flower has a
Jewel, Bija, Circle, Pearl, Vajra or other Purusha / Masculine Deity
symbol in it, this is an iconographic short-hand for depicting the
unity of Krishna and Radha, Kouros and Rhoda, Eli-Yahu and Shekinah,
Shiva and Shakti, Vishnu and Padme (Sri Lakshmi is worshiped in the
Amida cultus of Yakushi-ji as Kichijo-ten in Japan), Lokeshvara and
Tara, and Their Dharma Kaya Forms as the 'Jewel in the Lotus'.