Lapis Lazuli Light: Blue as the Nectar of Liberation
Held in a private collection and dating to the 14th century, the artwork "Three Medicine Buddha Statues" shows the Medicine Buddha, who receives the title "Lapis Lazuli Light" (བཻཌཱུརྱ་འོད་) due to His pure, untainted blue light filling all three thousand worlds. This lapis lazuli tone, called "indigo blue" (མཐིང་རམས་), is also identified with the clean, colorless lapis lazuli gemstone. Serving as the spotless and curative color of the Medicine Buddha, the blue hue symbolizes a range of medicinal materials and implements.
In the writings of Yutok Yonten Gonpo (1171-1246), blue is linked to healing. Each hue, from light blue (མཐིང་སྐྱ་) to dark blue (མཐིང་ཆེན་), represents a distinct phase of healing. This is reflected in the localized work "Blue opal body color 'Pharmacist Yutuo'", an 18th-century piece from a private collection.
The East Parents of Amida Buddha" is a 14th-century work held at the Museum of Gemi Buddha of the East. The figure, known as the Immobile Tathagata, possesses a blue-black body (མཐིང་ནག་; close to navy blue). Later Mahayana sutras call this complexion "the color of the round mirror" (མེ་ལོང་གི་མདངས་; reflecting all hues). Since the Buddha's mind remains as unmoving as the sky and ocean, blue is seen as the "color of the immutable mind." Locally, this blue-black body is associated with a fatherly navy-blue presence, reminiscent of the churning, surging sea.
This temple follows the lineage of the venerable Atisha Dipankara. In the fourteenth century, the great master Thome Sangpo (ཐོགས་མེད་བཟང་པོ་; 1295-1369) painted the inner courtyard using a blue liquid (མཐིང་ཞུན་) to support meditation on the main deity and spiritual practice. The figure of the Mother appears in blue and white, resembling hazy layers of light above the wide ocean.
In the Eight Mandala Style of the Karma Gadri School, the artistic depiction of Vajrapani Bodhisattva employs blue as its symbolic color. Within the four activities of Buddhism, this hue signifies "destroying karma," embodying the removal of hindrances and malevolent forces.
Among the Sakya lineage's eight Dharma protector images, only three remain in existence today (1-2-7). Vajrakilaya, the consort of Vajravarahi, is depicted in a deep blue or sky blue (མཐིང་ག་) hue. Certain color psychology theories suggest that blue and black are complementary, which leads to the idea that "blue and black together represent the act of destroying karma." This concept appears in "The Lineage of Daoist Enlightenment: The Selfless Buddha Mother and Biluoba," a 16th-century work in the Museum of Rubin.
Vajravarahi is counted among the core protector deities for the Sakya tradition and is connected to the Sakya Khon family lineage. With a vajra and a phurba, she works to eliminate the three obstacles that arise during one's practice.
In Tibetan painting schools, blue and green frequently serve as the backdrop, with green mountains and blue rock faces (སྔོ་བྲག་སྤང་བྲག་) evoking the peaceful landscape of mthing spang yul lung skyid pa, which is endowed with the benefactor's soothing presence. The color blue is described as the parent of deep blue and black tones, radiating brilliance wherever it appears (quoted from the Tibetan painting proverb). According to the verse by Dima Geshe Dangzeng Penzo (1672-?) (དེའུ་དམར་དགེ་བཤེས་བསྟན་འཛིན་ཕུན་ཚོགས་), blue governs the pure sky, a blend of blue and gray commands the celestial expanse, and indigo covers the dome of the heavens. Within this framework, "meat blue" denotes an indigo hue extracted from plants, while "cyan gray" signifies a jade-like cyan. Similarly, deep red, blue, and black—called the colors of wrath—convey an awe-inspiring presence when applied, as noted in Tibetan painting wisdom. In the Karma Gadri tradition specifically, blue embodies three forms of majesty: the wisdom majesty of deities and bodhisattvas, the spiritual majesty of accomplished practitioners, and the fierce majesty of protectors vanquishing enemies. Among all colors, blue stands as the noblest, conveying elegance and solitude.
Within the local tradition, the color blue serves as the garment of the founder Guru Rinpoche's prince, while the blue-black wings represent the ancestral line of the "gtsug tor thod" bird—known as the Garuda in Buddhist contexts. A hidden treasure revealer experiences great joy upon seeing blue, for it signals that he is on the verge of uncovering the profound wisdom concealed within the mountains and forests.
In Tibetan traditional painting, the color blue is typically denoted by the numeral "3" (༣) or the letter "tha" (ཐ་). As for light blue—a shade of turquoise—it is usually signified by the Tibetan words "ngo" (ངོ་) or "sng" (སྔ་). Symbolically, blue represents the fluid wisdom and power flowing within us, as seen in the bright blue droplets of the chakra system, and constitutes an ultimate romance that pervades both our physical body and soul.
Blue lines are unique among all colors in their ability to delineate the structure and layout of a painting with clarity. In Tibetan color theory, blue offers the widest range of gradations—far surpassing yellow, which contains numerous shades—with distinctions such as light blue, second light blue, bottom light blue, and deep light blue. Despite partial damage to the original artwork, scanning has revealed four distinct transitions in blue layers, progressing from the seashore to the sky (Rubin Museum; 2007).
In this masterpiece, the usual constraints of traditional color theory no longer apply, thanks to delicate layering with light cream and pale yellow as the fading tones. Under those conventions, combining "blue-green" is said to produce a "thief" effect, which dulls the gloss, while mixing "light blue and light green" results in "gray soil," stripping away the hue. Yet here, such limitations are completely set aside. Kangdi—a form of indigo made in the Kang region—plays a role in this process. The piece reflects the color of a mind that remains undisturbed. This article is a translation from Sorang Wangqing's blog.
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