Photographs by Bhaven, with a poem by Abhinava
These red flowers are called Manjushage, or red spider lilies. The name is traditionally associated with the Sanskrit mañjūṣaka and the Pali mañjūsaka / mañjussaka. In Buddhist tradition, mañjūṣaka refers to a heavenly flower said to have fallen from the sky to celebrate the Buddha’s teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The name is therefore understood to mean ‘heavenly flower’.
As the red spider lilies bloom around the time of the autumn equinox, they are also known in Japan as Higanbana. Higan is a Buddhist observance held around the spring and autumn equinoxes, a time to honour our ancestors and express gratitude for our roots. The word higan literally means ‘the other shore’, in contrast to ‘this shore’, the world in which we live. The name Higanbana thus carries a distinctly Buddhist association.
I took the photographs in a place called Kinchakuda, a rare location in Japan where such vast fields of Manjushage bloom all at the same time. It’s about a two-hour journey from central Tokyo. Abhinava and I returned to this place for the first time in three years.
I close my eyes
and look within —
filled with a quiet light.
Quiet — it is
empty…
Quiet — it is
an infinite universe…
The wind blows through.
The trees dance.
The leaves sing.
The little birds begin to chirp.
The earth swells —
filled with joy.
The earth swells —
and awakens.
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