Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri

 The two figures of this "paubha" represent the father and mother of all Buddhas. It is based on the artist's imagination of the existence within the human consciousness of Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri. The prominence of the soft colors, white and sky blue, conveys a level of high bliss achieved from the tantric unison of male and female form. Both the deities represent the primordial or Adi Buddha (here, 'Buddha' is understood in the cosmic meaning rather than the historical figures who have attained Buddhahood). Samantabhadra is blue in complexion, depicting the empty essences of our mind, while Samantabhadri is white signifying the awakened mind. Their unity is a merging of the emtiness or sunyata with the clear light or prabhaswar. They reside on a lotus flower a white disk, called the 'lunar disc'. Normally, the lunar discs are not decorated, but here it's sides are highlighted by small thread-like patterns. Compared to the profusion of elements in some of the other paubha in this exhibition, this painting's deliberate simplicity and plain-ness attenuated by the tiny crown that Samantabhadra wears.