Gemini Thinking
The illustration conceptualizes the verses from Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra, focusing on the vow of protection and the psychological consequences of creating harm. The painting centers on an 'expounder of the Dharma,' a monk reading a scroll, who is flanked by supportive figures representing the Mother-of-Devils and the rakṣasī demons (though fewer than ten, representing the group). In the lower section, three figures represent those who 'trouble' the teacher; they are shown in varying states of mental and physical anguish, their heads symbolically 'split' (indicated by stress lines), paralleling the bare, broken branches of the arjaka-tree on the far left. The natural, cohesive landscape represents living in harmony, as Śākyamuni Buddha looks down with compassion from the upper realm.
Translation:
双子座 (Signature): Gemini
ジェミニ (Hanko Seal): Gemini
Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].
The ten rakṣasī demons and Mother-of-Devils sing these verses in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra. They are among the many gods and other supernatural beings who vow to protect all those who keep and practice the Buddha Dharma. These verses help us to understand the nature of those who create harm in the world and to develop a heart of compassion towards them. The nature of delusion is that it sets up a world separate from the world we all share. It puts a barrier between us and the world out of fear that this world will harm us. The Buddha’s teachings show us how to develop the courage to live in harmony with this world, rather than splitting ourselves from it, and splitting ourselves in it.
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