Udumbara (Buddhism)

In Buddhism, the flower and fruit of the "Ficus racemosa" tree are referred to as the udumbara (Sanskrit: उडुम्बर).cite book
last = McCullough
first = Helen Craig
authorlink =
coauthors = Murasaki Shikibu
title = Genji and Heike: Selections from The Tale of Genji and The Tale of the Heike
publisher = Stanford University Press
date = 1994
location =
pages = 94
isbn =0804722587] The udumbara is also used to refer to the blue lotus ("Nila udumbara") flower.

The udumbara flower of the "Ficus racemosa" tree appears in chapters 2 and 27 of the 3rd century Lotus Sutra, an important Mahayana Buddhist text. In Buddhist mythology, the flower was said to bloom only once every 3,000 years. This mythology can be explained by the structure of the udumbara flower, which is enclosed within a fig-like fruit. Because the flower was difficult to see, a legend developed to explain the absence (and supposed rarity) of the visual flower. The symbolic nature of the udumbara is used in the Lotus Sutra to compare the unique occurrence of its bloom with the uncommon appearance of the Buddha and its doctrine in the world:

As the Buddhas of the three periods of time
In such a manner spoke the Dharma,
So do I likewise now expound
The undiscriminated Dharma.
All Buddhas come into the world
But rarely, and are hard to meet;
And when they appear in the world,
It’s hard for them to speak the Dharma.
Throughtout countless ages, too,
It’s difficult to hear this Dharma.
And those who can hear this Dharma--
Such people too, are rare,
Like the udumbara flower,
In which all take delight,
Which the gods and humans prize,
For it blooms but once in a long, long time.
So one who hears this Dharma, gives joyful praise,
With even just a single word,
Has thereby made offerings,
To all the Buddhas of the three periods of time.
Such people are extremely rare.
Rarer than the udumbara flower.
All of you should have no doubts,
For I am the Dharma King;
I declare to the assembly:
I use only the path of One Vehicle,
To teach and transform Bodhisattvas.
There are no Sound Hearer Disciples.
Shariputra, all of you,
the Sound Hearers and Bodhisattvas,
Should know that this wondrous Dharma
Is the secret essence of all Buddhas.cite web
title = Chapter Two: Expedient Devices
work = Lotus Sutra
publisher = Buddhist Text Translation Society
date =
url = http://www.buddhistdoor.com/oldweb/resources/sutras/lotus/sources/lotus2.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-02-28]

Thich Nhat Hanh places the flower in the context of enlightenment:

To see a fully awakened person, a Buddha, is so rare that it is like seeing an udumbara flower. In the Tu Hieu Monastery in Hue, there is a scroll which says: "The udumbara flower, although fallen from the stem, is still fragrant." Just as the fragrance of the udumbara flower cannot be destroyed, our capacity for enlightenment is always present. The Buddha taught that everyone is a Buddha, everyone is an udumbara flower.cite book
last = Hanh
first = Thich Nhat
authorlink = Thich Nhat Hanh
coauthors =
title = Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living
publisher = Parallax Press
date = 1990
location =
pages = 28
isbn = 093807721X]

Udonge

The Japanese word "udonge" (優曇華) was used by Dōgen Zenji to refer to the flower of the udumbara tree in chapter 68 of the "Shōbōgenzō" ("Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma‎"). Dōgen places the context of the udonge flower in the Flower Sermon given by Gautama Buddha on Vulture Peak. The undonge flower may be symbolic of mind to mind transmission between the teacher and the student, in this case, Śākyamuni Buddha and Mahākāśyapa. [cite web
last = Healsmith
first = Mark
title = Flowers of the Dharma
work = Speaking Personally
publisher = nembutsu.info: Journal of Shin Buddhism
date = 2005-06-29
url = http://www.nembutsu.info/personal/healsmith_flowers.htm
accessdate = 2008-07-14]

Udonge is also used to refer to the eggs of the lacewing insect. The eggs are laid in a pattern similar to a flower, and its shape is used for divination in Asian fortune telling.cite book
last = Hadamitzky
first = Wolfgang
authorlink =
coauthors = Mark Spahn
title = The Kanji Dictionary
publisher = Tuttle Publishing
date = 1996
location =
pages = 783
isbn = 0804820589]

References