The 3 Monkeys and the 3 Wise Monkeys
When composing the new Lunar Messenger of the symbolism series on the symbolism of the monkey, for the Aquarius newsletter (still unpublished), I discovered that there is a profound difference between the Western and the Eastern understanding of the famous symbolic representation of the three monkeys:
While the three monkeys today in the West usually stand for “not wanting to see, hear or say anything” in order to ignore unpleasant things, in the East they symbolise three wise monkeys:
One monkey has his eyes covered, thus showing “I do not see the unimportant”. Another monkey covers his ears: “I do not listen to the unessential”. The third monkey covers his mouth: “I do not speak or eat unnecessarily”. These are instructions to be applied by a disciple of the Master’s precepts. In this way we prevent undesirable things and diseases from entering us.
When searching photos of the symbol for a future video on the three monkeys, I came across the following photo of the Indian Prime Minister Modi presenting the gift of a copy of statues of the three monkeys to the then US-president Trump and his wife Melania on 24 February 2020. The statues are in the garden of the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India.
The photo with these three persons and the three monkeys, chosen as a gift from India to America, is highly symbolic of the much-needed “fusion of the wisdom of the East and the strength of the West” to overcome the global antagonisms. “East” and “West” do not mean locations on the planet but “material” and “spiritual”. There is much “west” in the “East” and much “east” in the “West”.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:05 pm
Muy interesante. Mucho para relfexionar. Gracias hermano Ludger.
Siempre traes la sabiduría grande.
Abrazo,
Jesús y Evelia
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:35 pm
Hi Ludger,
Dont they stand for:
Speak no evil, See no evil and Hear no evil?
I guess many interpretations in different lands!
Mit Freundlichen Grusse
Ravee
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:40 pm
Hi Ravee
Yes, this is also an option to interpret the 3 monkeys. When I came across Master Kumar’s explanation, with “I do not see…”, in my notes, I looked a bit around on the web and found the Japanese meaning you mention, and also Chinese origin with Confucius is given. Indeed, there is a variety of used around – also with the related emojis 🙈 🙉 🙊 .