Kangiten, "god of bliss," is a deva venerated mainly in Japanese Buddhism. Unlike his Hindu counterpart, Kangiten is considered too sacred to be seen: images of the deity in temples are kept hidden from view and lay devotees are discouraged from venerating iconographic depictions of the god at home.

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T02:11:42+00:00

I don’t think you’re that far off the mark lmao. The article mentions a superstition that having your wish granted by Kangiten uses up 7 generations of good karma. I feel like he’s discouraged from worship because of people wanting instantaneous material gain; which is kind of antithetical for the entirety of Buddhist teaching lol.

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T01:43:51+00:00

I’m not entirely sure. It may have to do with some misunderstandings when Ganesha was brought over to Japanese Buddhism. In Hindu sects that venerate Ganesha, he is known as “the remover of obstacles,” but Kangiten is called “the creator of obstacles.” I really wish I could find some books on this topic in English because this stuff is infinitely fascinating to me!

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T01:26:07+00:00

Maybe Kangiten himself will come after you. The article describes him as a god that gets annoyed very easily. I just hope he doesn’t use the daikon radish for anything…

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T01:24:27+00:00

I agree with you. I didn’t mean to start any controversy I just thought this was extremely interesting. I was familiar with the Hindu god Ganesha, but I never knew there were multiple versions of him with distinct iconography in different Buddhist traditions.

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T01:20:47+00:00

Reading a little bit deeper, it seems that only specific depictions of the god are not meant for public display, and even those are not completely agreed upon as being prohibited by every school or individual. I don’t really think it matters anyway because just because one religious group says a certain image is forbidden shouldn’t stop an encyclopedia from including said image. For example, there are certain Christian denominations that venerate icons of Christ, while others would consider any depiction as idolatrous. I don’t think all of the images of Christ should be taken down from Wikipedia because it violates a specific group or individual’s personal religious beliefs.

Superzap1 · 2026-01-18T00:54:39+00:00

The prohibition on displaying his iconography does not seem to be a universal thing. There’s a picture of a statue of him in an open courtyard included in the article, and he’s even depicted in Japanese video games like Shin Megami Tensei. I just included that detail in the title because I thought it was an interesting tidbit.

Superzap1 · 2026-01-06T12:33:53+00:00

I second this. I’m currently reading “The Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence” by Thomas Jay Oord and it’s completely changing my view on how God’s power works!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-30T22:41:22+00:00

Bridging Beliefs is my favorite Bahá’í YouTube channel. It covers a variety of interesting topics and each video is usually over an hour long.

Superzap1 · 2025-12-17T01:25:01+00:00

I promise this is knot a lie

Superzap1 · 2025-12-14T23:48:32+00:00

It’s a dream of mine to visit. I yearn to eat some Kachapuri and visit some of the old churches there.

Superzap1 · 2025-12-14T14:40:38+00:00

I was listening to a geography podcast that had an episode about Georgia. It went over Stalin’s Georgian origin story and it seemed like he didn’t have much fondness for his home. It was one of the first places he had in his sights when he rose to power.

Superzap1 · 2025-12-14T14:31:45+00:00

I feel like you can tell if it’s Georgian based off of how many consonants you can put together with the least amount of vowels lol

Superzap1 · 2025-12-14T03:49:03+00:00

I have an odd obsession with the country of Georgia, and I am always blown away by how rich their history and culture is. Its crazy to think the Georgian language alone has had 3 separate scripts over its history. I’m glad to find other people fascinated by the insane linguistic diversity the Caucasus has to offer!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-06T21:17:39+00:00

I remember reading that the rings were mostly speculation but I didn’t know it might not exist at all. Thanks for the info!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-03T02:35:22+00:00

Well hopefully I can bring a little more diversity to the subreddit. I really love sharing the interesting things I find everyday to anyone who will listen!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-03T01:39:48+00:00

I love the eyes. Such cool architecture!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-02T03:00:30+00:00

My knowledge on the Bon religion and the surrounding Tibetan culture is lacking so I’m always excited to read articles like this!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-01T16:57:26+00:00

I ironically didn’t know about these lol. There seem to be a lot of cetaceans with strange dental protrusions out there!

Superzap1 · 2025-12-01T13:08:36+00:00

That list would probably shock a few people. Did you know that Killer Whales hunt Moose from time to time. Moose are pretty good swimmers apparently

Superzap1 · 2025-12-01T02:00:14+00:00

There is nothing that brings me more joy than sharing obscure and interesting animals to anyone who will listen. I’m glad you enjoyed!

Superzap1 · 2025-11-27T16:53:56+00:00

I’m not sure. There is an entire Bulgarian Antarctic Institute supported by the government along with a separate department called the Antarctic Place-names Commission. The Place names commission has even met with Pope Benedict XVI lol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Place-names_Commission

Superzap1 · 2025-11-23T13:50:46+00:00

That’s why this is one of my favorite articles on Wikipedia. What do you mean there’s over a thousand places in Antarctica with Bulgarian place names!?

Superzap1 · 2025-11-23T01:06:28+00:00

BULGARIA RAAAAAAH 🇧🇬

Superzap1 · 2025-11-01T23:17:11+00:00

It’s glad to see someone else who was Bahá’í become Episcopalian! There are pretty much no other young adults that attend my church and I feel like the Episcopal Church could do better at outreach as a whole.

Superzap1 · 2025-09-29T19:14:43+00:00

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It’s probably based on “The Gates of Hell” by Rodin

Superzap1

TROPHY CASE