DEITY CARD, PHOTO, SAMANTABHADRA, TIBETAN BUDDHISM

"Preserving the Sacred Arts is always part of the preservation of Dharma"
                   ~ Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche ~

Samantabhadra (also known as Vajradhara and Viśvabhadra (the different names signify different attributes and essence-qualities), Wylie: Kun-tu bzang-po, Mgl: Qamugha Sain, Chn: 普賢菩薩 Pinyin: Pŭxián púsà Wade-Giles: P'u hsien p'u sa, Jp: Fugen bosatsu, Viet: Phổ Hiền Bồ Tát) is the Lord of the Truth in Buddhism, who represents the practice and meditation of all Buddhas. Together with Shakyamuni and fellow disciple Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity. He is the patron of the Lotus Sutra and, according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, made the ten great vows which are the basis of a bodhisattva. Samantabhadra is most commonly described as a bodhisattva himself, although some esoteric traditions regard him as a primordial Buddha (see, for example, the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra).

Literally 'He whose bounty is omnipresent', he represents the Buddhist ideals of Law and Compassion. Alongside Manjusri, he is one of the three acolytes of Shakyamuni. In Japan this bodhisattva is often worshipped by the Tendai and Shingon sects, and as the protector of the Lotus Sutra by the Nichiren sect.

Samantabhadra is looked upon in certain Tantric Buddhist sects as the Primordial Buddha, awakened since the very beginning. Certain of the Yogacara sects claim that Samantabhadra, instead of Vairocana, is the founder of the Yoga system, and look upon him as a divinity of religious ecstasy. Those who practise ecstatic meditation in Japanese esoteric schools regard him as a special divinity central to their practise.

Iconography

Unlike his more popular counterpart Manjusri, Samantabhadra is only rarely depicted alone and is usually found in a trinity on the right side of Shakyamuni, mounted on a white elephant. In those traditions that accept the Avatamsaka Sutra as its root instruction, Samantabhadra and Manjusri flank Vairocana Buddha, the central Buddha of this particular sutra.

Known as Pǔxián in Chinese, he is sometimes shown in Chinese art with feminine characteristics, riding an elephant with six pairs of tusks while carrying a lotus leaf parasol, bearing similar dress and features to some feminine depictions of Kuan Yin. It is in this guise that Samantabhadra is revered as the patron bodhisattva of the monasteries associated with Mount Emei in western China.

Among those esoteric traditions that treat Samantabhadra as the Primordial Buddha, he is always represented naked, with a dark blue body, in union with his consort Samantabhadri.