The Buddha Karita of Asvaghosha
in the traditional horizontal format of Indo-Tibetan palm leaf texts.
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Queen Maya's Dream
The scriptures describe Queen Maya of Kapilavastu, wife of King Sudhodana, as having falling asleep, dreaming of a white elephant (with six tusks in some accounts) and awaking to discover she has conceived a child.
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Birth in Lumbini
On her way to her mother's house, Queen Maya's birth pains took her early and so her child was born in the beautiful garden of Lumbini. |
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Asita's Prophecy
A proud King Sudhodana presented his new son to the priests and ministers. Even Asita, the revered rishi attended the child's blessing and proferred a enigmatic prophecy for the young prince.
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closeup of Yashodhara's Secret
The prince grew into a brilliant, handsome young man, but ignorant of Asita's prophecy and ignorant too of the his father's steps to prevent that prophecy from coming true. Even the prince's wife, Yashodhara, was forbidden to reveal these secrets to him.
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Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) scroll
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closeup of Medicine Buddha scroll
The idea to copy and illustrate a portion of the Medicine Buddha Sutra unto ascroll was inspired by the similar Ethiopian practice of making "medicine scrolls" for the sick and dying. These scrolls are usually hung near the ailing person and recited by them or by visiting clerics. The format seemed so natural to transfer to Medicine Buddha's sadhana.
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closeup of Avalokitesvara section of the Surangama Sutra
In a continuation of the hanging scroll idea, this section of the Surangama Sutra invokes Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's vow to appear in 32 forms throughout existence to ferry beings across the sea of suffering.
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