Transcendental Buddhas, personification of the abstract aspects of Buddhahood, are each endowed with a different color in their sadhanas - Akshobhya - Blue bodied, is one aspect.
Specifically it is believed that by meditating on the individual colors, which contain their respective essences, the following metamorphosis can be achieved: Blue transforms anger into mirror like wisdom.
In a spectacular visualization, the Tibetan tradition states that the syllable hum (part of Om Mani Padme Hum), although blue in color, radiates five different colors. The dot (drop) on the crescent should be blue, the crescent is white, the head is yellow, the syllable 'ha' is red and the vowel 'u' is of green color.
Blue
Eternity, truth, devotion, faith, purity, chastity, peace, spiritual and intellectual life, these are some of the associations that appear in many different cultures and express a general feeling that blue is the coolest, most detached and least "material" of all hues. The Virgin Mary and Christ are often shown wearing blue, and it is the attribute of many sky gods including Amun in Egypt, the Sumerian Great Mother, the Greek Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans), the Hindu Indra, Vishnu and his blue-skinned incarnation, Krishna.
Specifically it is believed that by meditating on the individual colors, which contain their respective essences, the following metamorphosis can be achieved: Blue transforms anger into mirror like wisdom.
In a spectacular visualization, the Tibetan tradition states that the syllable hum (part of Om Mani Padme Hum), although blue in color, radiates five different colors. The dot (drop) on the crescent should be blue, the crescent is white, the head is yellow, the syllable 'ha' is red and the vowel 'u' is of green color.
Blue
Eternity, truth, devotion, faith, purity, chastity, peace, spiritual and intellectual life, these are some of the associations that appear in many different cultures and express a general feeling that blue is the coolest, most detached and least "material" of all hues. The Virgin Mary and Christ are often shown wearing blue, and it is the attribute of many sky gods including Amun in Egypt, the Sumerian Great Mother, the Greek Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans), the Hindu Indra, Vishnu and his blue-skinned incarnation, Krishna.
In Buddhism both light (sky blue) and dark aspects of this mysterious color are important. The significance of the light shade is reflected in the supremacy of the semi-precious stone turquoise in the daily spiritual and religious life of the devout Buddhist, who holds various beliefs about this stone. In general terms turquoise is a symbol of the blue of the sea and the sky. Infinity in the sky speaks of the limitless heights of ascension. The stone is opaque as the earth, yet it lifts the spirit high, laying bare to us the wisdom of both the earth and the sky.
When worn in a ring, it is believed to assure a safe journey; worn in the ear it prevents reincarnation as a donkey.
Turquoise has also been held as a sacred stone by ancient cultures other than the Tibetan. It was sacred in Egypt along with malachite and lapis lazuli. It was also sacred to the Persian culture, where it symbolized purity. American Indians believe it to be a protector and guardian of the body and soul. Gypsies wear this stone in their navels, believing it to be good for everything. Nothing illustrates more the spectacular influence of the darker blue on Buddhist aesthetics than the 'Blue Buddha', also known as the Buddha of Medicine or Healing.
The most distinctive feature of this Medicine Buddha is his color, the deep blue of lapis lazuli. This precious stone has been greatly prized by Asian and European cultures for more than six thousand years and, until relatively recently, its ornamental value was on a par with, or even exceeded, that of the diamond. An aura of mystery surrounds this gemstone, perhaps because of its principal mines are located in the remote Badakshan region of northeast Afghanistan, an all-but-inaccessible area located behind the Hindu Kush. One commentator has written, "the finest specimens of lapis, intensely blue with speckled waves and swirls of shining gold-colored pyrite, resemble the night aglow with myriads of stars."
E.H. Schafer summarizes the Buddhist interest in lapis lazuli:
"The Chinese were not alone among the Far Eastern peoples in their admiration for the blue mineral. The Tibetans valued it above all others, even ahead of gold, and those highlanders saw in it the image of the azure sky, and said that the hair of their goddess had its color. Both men and women wore it on their heads."
Indeed to this day, statues prepared in Tibet and the Himalayn kingdom of Nepal have their hair painted blue.
Traditionally this beautiful stone was used to symbolize that which is pure or rare. It is said to have a curative or strengthening effect on those who wear it, and its natural smoothness allows it to be polished to a high degree of reflectivity. Specifically in alternative medicine, because of it being associated with a certain 'coolness', it is used when inflammation is present, or when any internal bleeding or nervous condition exists. For all these reasons, plus the fact that deep blue light has a demonstrable healing effect on those who use it in visualization practices, lapis is the color of the principal Medicine Buddha, making this stone an important one in Buddhist mysticism.
Indeed the Lapis Healing Master is one of the most honored figures in the Buddhist pantheon. In one of the main sutras (canonical texts) concerning the Medicine Buddha, Shakyamuni tells his close disciple and attendant Ananda:
I beseech you, Blessed Medicine Guru,
Whose sky-colored, holy body of lapis lazuli
Signifies omniscient wisdom and compassion
As vast as limitless space,
Please grant me your blessings.
