Udumbara: Polyflowers packaged as a fruit

By misreading the Lotus Sutra, Chen De'an 陳德安 (b. 538, d. 597), a Tiantai 天台 patriarch, became the first Buddhist scholar-priest to assign a numerical measure (3,000 years) to the rarity of the blooming of udumbara flower 優曇華, though this figure was probably intended to be rhetorical rather than literal.

Chen was apparently no Chakravartin, and, unsurprisingly, no biologist.

If we assume that the author of the Lotus Sutra was aware that the Udumbaras are actually enclosed within a fruity shell, then perhaps his lament was less about the rarity of the flower itself and more about the difficulty of finding someone sufficiently knowledgeable in botany to recognize that the Udumbara is a hypanthium 内華, and therefore technically distinct from ordinary flowers.

Many years ago, Cyril Parkinson, the first Raffles Professor of History at the University of Malaya, warned us that: the void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel and misrepresentation. And true enough, the pictorial gap left by Lotus Sutra is now (since 1997) filled by the Internet with a gallery of pale insect eggs masquerading as mystical blossoms.

Paper-thin, flower-like egg-shells, punctured by the newly hatched baby lacewings

Images of lacewing eggs are being flipped upside down and misrepresented as Udumbara. Thankfully, we still come across the occasional sensible remark like: 那是草蛉卵，從沒想過佛教修行人竟然不查證就亂唬爛.

Flower-like lacewing egg-cluster

The theory of 3,000 activated microstates was first given by Chen De'an in his The Great Treatise on Samatha and Vipasyana 摩訶止觀・卷五: Each single mind contains the ten states. Each one of these states contains ten microstates, forming one hundred microstates. Each microstates can be actived by 30 kinds of worldly conditions. Thus, a hundred microstates is effectively an ensemble of 3,000 kinds of microstates, each activated by a unique worldly condition. 夫一心具十法界。一法界又具十法界百法界。一界具三十種世間。百法界即具三千種世間。 In this context, the number three appears to serve as a conventional symbol for “many” rather than a precise count, and the concept of 一念三千 finds a fitting analogy in the cluster fig (Ficus racemosa), which is essentially multiple flowers compacted within a single fruit 三千華一果.

In Thai universe, Kedah is known as Saiburi or Syburi ไทรบุรี, or the city of Udumbara. It was annexed by Rama II in 1821 with the assistance of Ligor. During the campaign, the Garuda-Marong coin-amulet was minted by Raja Ligor, Noi Na Nagara (b. 1776, d. 1838) and distributed to the soldiers who took part in the military expedition. In 1842, the king of Kedah was allowed to return to country by Rama III, but the country was politically under the Thai umbrella. However, with the Bangkok Treaty of 1909, Kedah was officially ceded to the British. Interestingly, Kedah was handed back to Thai by Japan during World War II and it was briefly ruled by Thai again between 1943 and 1945. The design features the zodiac avatar of Kedah, the marong, coiling around the fig tree.

The emblem of the Malay state of Setul (Satun สตูล in Thai). The Malay text on top reads: Negeri Setul نڬري ستول, and the one below says: Negeri Kedah نݢري قدح. The rajalanchana is symmetrically decorated by two clusters of Udumbara. This teak wood artwork is featured on door previously guarding the Palace of Setul. The door is now restyled as the entrace to Gallery B of Muzium Negara. The description given by Muzium Negara is: The wall and door of the Palace of Setul. This wall and the door in it belonged to the Palace of Setul before the rule of Ku Din (Baharuddin) bin Ku Meh. It was kept by Haji Wan Chah Ia In from Ban Temalang, Satun, Thailand. The wall is made of teak and carved with leaves and flowers, and the symbols of the Malay State of Setul with mixed Javanese and Malay motifs. The Malay State of Setul was governed by the Malay Sultanate of KEdah from 1843 until 1909, when it was ceded to the Kingdom of Thailand in accordance with the Treaty of Bangkok. The door is more than 120 years old.

1. In The words and phrases of Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經文句 by Chen De'an 陳德安 or Zhiyi 智顗 (his monastic title), Chen remarked:
   
   優曇花者，此言靈瑞，三千年一現，現則金輪王出，表三乘調熟已後方說妙法，授法王記。又隔跨酪、生蘇、熟蘇三味已後，乃說醍醐 . . .
   
   The udumbara flower is spoken of as a sacred omen, appearing only once in 3,000 years. When it appears, it signifies the coming forth of a Chakravartin. This represents that, after beings of the Trivahana have been fully matured and harmonized, the Buddha then expounds the wondrous Dharma and bestows the prophecy of Buddhahood. Likewise, only after passing beyond the three flavors of curds, thin butter oil, and thick butter oil does he then speak of Daigo, the ghee of the greatest flavors.
   
   
   The Chakradharma king 金輪法王 as envisioned by Jinyong 金庸 in his The Return of the Condor Heroes 神鵰俠侶.
   
   
   The green lacewing (Chrysoperla plorabunda) is apparently not Chakravartin, but her eggs are sometimes worshipped as Udumbara by the uninitiated.
   
   
   
2. Both Samadhi 三昧 (समाधि = meditative absorption) and triflavor 三味 can be found in his commentary on Lotus Sutra. The latter was used only in three locations, Chen was apparently aware of the conventional meaning of Samadhi but he introduced a close orthographic cousin of Samadhi in his analogy of the different grades of butter oil.
   
   
3. Udumbara was mentioned in the second chapter of Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經 (Hopenbon 方便品第二), first in prose form and then in pentagatha form.
   
   The Buddha said to Sariputra: Such is the wondrous Dharma, which the Buddhas and Tathagatas speak of only at certain times, like the udumbara flower, appearing but once in a while. Sariputra, you should have faith in what the Buddha says; his words are not false. Sariputra, the Buddhas teach the Dharma according to circumstances, and their intent is difficult to understand. Why is this so? It is because I, through countless expedients, various causes and conditions, metaphors, and words, expound the Dharma. This Dharma cannot be comprehended merely by thought or discrimination; only the Buddhas can truly know it. Why is this so? The World-Honored Buddhas appear in the world only because of one great causal condition. Sariputra, how is it said that the World-Honored Buddhas appear in the world only because of one great causal condition? The Buddhas appear in the world to enable sentient beings to open to the Buddha’s wisdom and attain purity; to demonstrate to sentient beings the Buddha’s knowledge and insight; to help sentient beings awaken to the Buddha’s wisdom; and to lead sentient beings onto the path of the Buddha’s wisdom. Sariputra, this is why the Buddhas appear in the world due to one great causal condition.
   
   佛告舍利弗：如是妙法，諸佛如來時乃說之，如優曇鉢華，時一現耳。舍利弗！汝等當信佛之所說，言不虛妄。舍利弗！諸佛隨宜說法，意趣難解。所以者何？我以無數方便，種種因緣、譬喻言辭，演說諸法。是法非思量分別之所能解，唯有諸佛乃能知之。所以者何？諸佛世尊唯以一大事因緣故出現於世。舍利弗！云何名諸佛世尊唯以一大事因緣故出現於世？諸佛世尊，欲令眾生開佛知見，使得清淨故，出現於世；欲示眾生佛之知見故，出現於世；欲令眾生悟佛知見故，出現於世；欲令眾生入佛知見道故，出現於世。舍利弗！是為諸佛以一大事因緣故出現於世。
   
   
   
   Two clusters of Udumbara (Ficus racemosa).
   
   For example, the udumbara flower, all beings delight in it with love and joy. It is rare even among devas and humans, appearing only from time to time. When one hears the Dharma and rejoices, praising it, even to the extent of speaking a single word, that is considered as having already made offerings to all Buddhas of the three times. Such a person is exceedingly rare, even rarer than the udumbara flower. Do not harbor any doubt, for I am the king of all Dharmas.
   
   譬如優曇花，一切皆愛樂
   天人所希有，時時乃一出
   聞法歡喜讚，乃至發一言
   則為已供養，一切三世佛
   是人甚希有，過於優曇花
   汝等勿有疑，我為諸法王