Amitabha Radiating Light

Amitabha Radiating Light :

Amitabha, the “Buddha of Boundless” Light, appears here in his Sino-Japanese form as Amida Buddha, who stands upon the seed-head of a multicolored lotus with many petals. Amitabha is golden in complexion and his divine form is endowed with the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor signs of an enlightened buddha. He wears an undergarment of embroidered green silk, and the outer robe of a Buddhist monk that is fashioned from sewn patches of richly embroidered silk.

With his raised right hand Amitabha makes the abhaya-mudra of dispelling fear and giving protection, and with his lower left hand he makes the boon-granting varada-mudra of supreme generosity. The index fingers and thumbs of both hands touch to form circles representing his skill in teaching or 'Turning the Wheel of Dharma' (Skt. dharmachakra), while his other three fingers are extended to represent the 'Three Jewels' of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. These two hand gestures are characteristic of Amitabha as he welcomes those who are fortunate enough to take rebirth into his Western Paradise or Pure Land, which is known as Sukhavati, the 'Blissful Realm'. Rays of golden light emanate from the urna or 'hair-curl' at the centre of his forehead, filling the blue immensity of space with Amitabha's luminous and compassionate presence.

© text by Robert Beer