Howard Washington Thurman National Memorial
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The Reflecting Pool - The Symbols
The following are the symbols of the twelve great ways of being religious, both theistic and nontheistic:
Egyptian sign for divine wisdom,
The Center of the Ancient Religious Mind
Australian Aboriginal hunting symbol,
The Center of Non-Literate Religions
(Hindu) Om: Mantra expressing the unity of reality,
The Hindu Center
Wheel: Buddhist symbol for the dharma or teaching,
The Buddhist Center
Chinese character of Dao ("Way"),
The Chinese Center
Zoroastrian fire symbol representing purity,
The Ancient Near-Eastern Center
Jewish menorah,
The Jewish Center
Cross of Christ,
The Christian Center
Crescent and Star: Ancient Byzantine symbols taken over by victorious
Islam,
The Muslim Center
A modern symbol suggesting human control,
The Humanistic Center
A symbol of the concentricity of the natural, the social, the divine, and the personal that religious searches for the center revealed.
Torii: Gate to Shinto shrines,
The Japanese Center
These interreligious symbols create an ecumenical reflecting pool around the Thurman Obelisk. The pool is an international tribute to the fact that Howard Washington Thurman is the most widely-read Christian theologian of African-American heritage in this century. He is believed to be one of the greatest psychologists of religion in the history of Christendom.
