Page 26 - Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols

Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Sy 9/1/10 11:29 AM Page 8

8 T he Handbook of T ibet an B uddhist S ymbols

Lotus and flower buds.

uncontaminated by its defilements, emo- lotus that grew from the navel of Vishnu,
tional hindrances, and mental obscurations. like a lotus growing from an umbilical stem.
As a sacred symbol the lotus was Padmasambhava, the ‘lotus born’ tantric
adopted by many of the world’s great civi- master who introduced Buddhism into
lizations, from Egypt to Japan, and widely Tibet, was similarly divinely conceived from
incorporated into their arts and architecture. a miraculous lotus, which blossomed upon
The lotus opens and closes with the sun, and Dhanakosha Lake in the western Indian
in ancient Egypt the sun was conceived of as kingdom of Uddiyana. The lotus, as a divine
rising from an eastern lotus at dawn, and womb or vagina, is a potent sexual
setting into a western lotus at sunset. Simi- metaphor in both Hindu and Buddhist
larly Surya, the Vedic sun god, holds a lotus tantra. Padma and kamala are synonymous
in each of his hands, symbolizing the sun’s Sanskrit terms for the ‘lotus’ of the female
path across the heavens. Brahma, the Vedic vagina, which is soft, pink, and open. Like-
god of creation, was born from a golden wise the vajra is synonymous with the male