Iconography

The front has a flaming Cintamani perched atop Mt. Meru & flanked by 4 sacred mountains, all done in rainbow colors & linked by rainbows. Durva grass, heading into the Mahamudra, issues forth from the two end mountains. Cintamani are wish-granting jewels & additionally represent wisdom.  When depicted in sets of 3, they signify the body, speech & mind of Buddha such as the practitioner may possess.  Cintamani are also referred to as the “Thinking Jewel” & symbolize the importance of teaching as well as the enlightened mind. The rainbow is eternity’s expression of momentary delight. This is auspicious & takes on a supernatural meaning: the demise & rebirth of a great teacher.  Rainbows materialize & dissolve into nothingness, & in Tibetan tradition, the “Body of Light” or the “Rainbow Body” refers to a great master who has attained Mahamudra & no longer perceives the world as a conceptual concrete dimension.  Rather, he now permeates space as mist, also known as the ultimate form of reality. The self now permeates space with luminescence transparency, with nothing solid or any sharp lines of separation. Durva grass symbolizes long life.  Because grass is highly resilient, it is believed to be immortal.  Therefore, it proclaims the end of samsara, the successive death & rebirth of all beings.  It usually takes a long time to overcome samsara, & a longer lifespan will allow greater progress in moving towards enlightenment within a given cycle. The billowing waves are Mahamudra, the union of compassion & wisdom- the ultimate realization of one’s true nature; they are represented as the transformation of our vices into the 4 powers of regret, vow, reliance & remedy, so that the practitioner will realize purification & enlightenment.

The sides again have the Cintamani, this time flanked by elephant tusks & again surrounded by Mahamudra & durva grass; however, the usual flames are augmented by Kusha grass. Elephant tusks represent the entire elephant, particularly the Precious Elephant, one of Chakravartin's seven possessions.  The Precious Elephant is a symbol of the strength of the mind in Buddhism.  Exhibiting noble gentleness, the Precious Elephant serves as a symbol of the calm majesty possessed by one who is on the right path.  Specifically, it embodies the boundless powers of the Buddha, which are miraculous aspiration, effort, intention, & analysis. Kusha grass grows to a height of two feet & is used to purify defilements.  Those wishing purification sleep in a field or patch of kusha grass for ritual purification.  Placed under a pillow at night before initiation, Kusha grass is believed to produce clear dreams; it is also used to enhance the clarity of visualization & meditation.  Kusha is the grass of choice for the manufacture of sacred meditation mats.

The front edge of the lid has a Tibetanized rendition of Sanskrit. It begins with the Tibetan symbol of greatest respectful greeting & continues in Romanized Tibetan with the mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM ~ OM HA HUM. The first 6 syllables are the famous mantra of Avalokiteshvara, which is sometimes explained as ”The jewel in the heart of the Lotus.” The first OM refers to Buddha’s body, speech & mind, as in possessing this oneself; the MA of MANI is a jewel or treasure, (wisdom/thinking). The NI of the MANI is the altruistic mind. PADMI is the lotus flower, the nature of reality of Buddha’s wisdom. HUM is the determination & resolution to acquire and retain these qualities. The second part of the script, after a spacer, OM HA HUM, is the head, throat & heart & speaks to the Channel-Wheel system.