Toshiya Unebe
Nagoya University
In a Mahāyānasūtra, Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha, it is said that in Sukhāvatī there is a pond where a variety of colored lotuses grow: blue, yellow, red, white and multicolored. In the Japanese pure land Buddhists context, the variety of colors is understood as symbolizing gradations of human capacity, which metaphorically teaches that any kind of people, irrespective of their capacity and situation, will be saved in the Sukhāvatī, the pure land of Amitābha Buddha. Although this seems to be a popular interpretation of the modern days, which is not directly based on the scripture, this interpretation is not completely baseless.
In the Mahāvagga in the Pāli Vinayapiṭaka, there is a famous episode of the entreaty of Brahmā. After his awakening, the Buddha hesitated to teach the Dhamma in fear of misunderstanding or no understanding by people in the world. Then Brahmā came and entreated him to teach, saying that there are gradations of human capacity like lotus flowers of various colors, so that some may understand the Buddha’s teaching. In this way, the color of lotus flowers as a simile for human capacities is used in very early sources.
In a far later period, in a nineteenth century illustrated manuscripts of Phra Malai, deities coming to Tāvatiṃsa to see Metteya are illustrated as holding a variety of flowers in their hands. These colors symbolize their deeds in their previous lives.
In this presentation, I will take up the relevant Sanskrit/Pāli passages from scriptures, showing their illustrations in Japanese hanging scrolls and temple murals and manuscripts illustrations in Thailand.
(Presented in the 2014 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum: Flower Culture in Asia, 8-9 July 2014, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, and Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University)