FUGEN-BOSATSU
The boddhisattva of good practice. He is represented riding on one of the elephants that support the world (a borrowing from Indian cosmology). Fugen represents the virtue embodied in the world, including all the buddhas and boddhisattvas of all the multiple universes. He carries a fly-whisk, a symbol of majesty and rule. Often a companion of Monju-bosatsu, they flank images of the Buddha Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. Fugen appears to those who meditate upon the sutras, riding his six-tusked elephant. This elephant is the incarnated nature of the Buddha, who first appeared on earth in his incarnation of a six-tusked elephant.
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REFERENCES:
- Frank, Bernard. 1991. Le pantheon bouddhique au Japon. Paris: Collections d’Emile Guimet. Reunion des musees nationaux.
- Joly, Henri L. 1967. Legend in Japanese Art. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
SOURCE:
Handbook of Japanese Mythology written by Michael Ashkenazi – Copyright © 2003 by Michael Ashkenazi