Elements of Buddhist Iconography c8.150

c8.150

The lotus support is double. The lower stem, rising directly from the Waters, corresponds to the earthly or Nirmāṇakāya level of manifestation; its flower supporting Mt Meru, as the skambha or sthauros that pillars-apart Heaven and Earth. This sheaf-like and fasciated column is on the one hand formed like a vajra, and on the other corresponds in shape to such representations of Mt Meru as may be seen in Grünwedel’s Figs. 243, 482. The knotted dragons or nāgas about the “waist” correspond to the many dragons that girdle the Meru “waist” in Grünwedel’s Fig. 243, and also to the paired dragons attached to the trunk of the Tree of Life (aśvattha) in the well-known Indus Valley seal, Fig. 6 in my History of Indian and Indonesian Art. The upper lotus stem and flower, corresponding to the heavenly and Sambhogakāya level of manifestation, rest upon the plane summit of Meru. The Bodhisattva seated on the crowning flower is an aspect of the “Boundless Light” indicated by the Amitābha of the headdress. The lateral branches of the upper lotus bear unidentified nimbate figures.