Endless Knots

Endless knots, like the one pictured above, are something we automatically link to the People’s Republic of China. After visiting China I can attest to the link of this symbol with China. I noticed them everywhere. They are traditionally a Buddhist symbol. The knot (not the tassel) has no beginning or end it shows the endless compassion of the Buddhists and the wisdom of Buddha.  It can also show the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth or the cycle of suffering. It might depend on what culture or demographic you are looking at or even the individualistic perspective on it.

  I saw these knots all over China not just in Buddhist temples. I saw them in Methodist churches, catholic churches, the YMCA, and even a local McDonalds. This brings up the question if they are strictly Buddhist. I asked a friend whom I met in China that was going to school at a Methodist Seminary in China. She said that her seminary in particular displays the endless knot for other reasons. They love the idea of the endlessness that the knot has and they adopted it into their own “doctrine”. They, as seminary students, see it as an endless connection with God and an endless life of serving him. This shows that a material object in one religion can be taken and used in many different ways. It reminds me of the chapter on the office as a religious space in Sensational Religion. It is a non-traditional religious space but to some people they might have time to pray, read scripture, or mediate in their office, which can make it religious. This also makes me think about all the families that have pictures of Jesus on their wall at home but are not religious. My roommate has a picture of Jesus in her house but neither her nor her parents are religious. I asked her mom why they display such a religious picture so proudly if they are not religious. She said even though they do not fully believe in a religion they can see how some people may and they want to foster the same values that religion does in their family so it is s gentle reminder to be living up to their family values. 

The story of my roommates mom and the endless knot shows how material religion is individualistic and doesn’t always have to be rooted in distinct religion. It can just be a moral compass to a family. It also shows how material religious objects can over lap into different religions.

This knot in particular I saw in my friend’s car while we were driving to a local market in Wyomissing. I also have one of these knots in my car. But to see my friend have one I was very curious. To me it has significant meaning. It reminds me of the time where I fully felt like I was independent. I was newly 16 and I was traveling out of the country for the first time. My parents did not come with me and I didn’t know any of the people I was going with until I met them at the Philadelphia airport. To me my endless knots are sacred but to my friend they are an interesting work of art. She told me that she got hers in Chinatown in Philadelphia. Most things in Chinatown are authentic but she did not having an emotional connection to her endless knot like I did.