Ace of Swords from the Rider–Waite tarot deck(Left), Chinese Character for Self(Light)
Looking at the etymology of self, it means one's own. The Chinese character for self is written as 我. If this letter is divided into two sub-letters, Hand (手) and sword (戈) are remained.
我 = 手 + 戈
What a coincidence it is? It's like the hieroglyphs for the ace of swords in Tarot. The symbol of the Tarot says,
The Ace of Swords shows a gleaming hand appearing from a white cloud, a representation of the Divine. It holds an upright sword, symbolic of the mind and the intellect, and at the tip of the sword sits a crown draped with a wreath, a sign of success and victory. While this Ace is a sign of triumph, the jagged mountains in the background suggest that the road ahead will be challenging. You will need mental resilience to navigate this path. 1) UPRIGHT: Breakthroughs, new ideas, mental clarity, success, 2) REVERSED: Inner clarity, re-thinking an idea, clouded judgement Ace Of Swords
On the other hand, Buddhism emphasizes the truth of non-self(Anattā). It's a strong advice to cut off anything that clings to you(pathologically obsessive ownership mind) with the knife you hold in your hand! Knife in
In Buddhism, the term anattā (Pali) or anātman (Sanskrit) refers to the doctrine of "non-self" – that no unchanging, permanent self or essence can be found in any phenomenon. While often interpreted as a doctrine denying the existence of a self, anatman is more accurately described as a strategy to attain non-attachment by recognizing anything as impermanent, while staying silent on the ultimate existence of an unchanging essence. Anattā
The sword held tightly in the hand is wisdom. Whether this will be the hilt of evil or of good is up to you. There is SELF(我) between the two paths of Spiritual growth or regression.
The valley spirit dies not | Clear mind facing the flows | Clear mind facing the flows | virtue of patience | Death of Narcissus and anattā | Inner light as wisdom | Inner clarity1 | Inner clarity 2 | Nama-Rupa as α & ω of spiritual traditions | Alchemy of blue sky | The destructive illusion and sweetness of the phenomenon | 52 mental factors we should understand | Self, two face of letters
