Shen Yun Coverage

Buddhist scripture says Udumbara blossoms every 3,000 Years

Sandria (far right) was particularly taken with Shen Yun's Udumbara's Bloom dance.

Welcome to the Sound Of Hope Radio network, This is Catherine Hennessy and in this program we will be covering the Divine Performing Arts in Chicago’s Civic Opera House on December the 28th final matinee at 2PM.

The Divine Performing Arts have, as of the 31st of December, completed tours in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Georgia’s Atlanta, Texas’s Houston, North Carolina’s Duhram, Pansylvania’s Philadelphia, Ohio’s Cincinnati, Michigan’s Detroit, Illinois’s Chicago, and California’s San Diego.

Attending the Chicago final matinee performance was Sandria. Sandria is a student for Sociology study at University of Illinois in Chicago. Sandria liked the Udumbara flower of Buddhist lore blossoms.

Sandria was delighted to share her thoughts and experiences with SOH reporter.

We’ll now listen to her feelings and insights about the show.

The Udumbara’s Bloom, the most acclaimed dance set by the audience, is said in Buddhist scriptures that its unfolding is to herald the coming of a great sage or enlightened being. True to the legend’s origins, these bejeweled dancers take inspiration from the Buddhist Dunhuang caves of Western China as well as Indian dance in a sumptuous display of reverent beauty.

The legendary Udumbara flower of Buddhist lore blossoms but once every three thousand years. Rich and spiritual, the Buddhist flower blossoming are at many countries now in the world. Most Udumbara flowers are seen in Korea besides being seen in the United States.

The earliest Udumbara found in Korea was in July 1997 on a golden brass Tathagata (Buddha) sculpture in a Buddhist temple in Kyungki-Do. There were 24 Udumbara measuring 0.1 inch found on the chest of a Tathagata (Buddha) sculpture. According to the chronicles in Buddhist scriptures, by 1997, it’s been 3024 lunar years since Buddhism first emerged.

In May 2005, Udumbara was found in a thousand year-old temple, Sumi Zen Temple, located in Gyeongju City, Korea. Kim, a Zen Master, from the temple said he didn’t know what they were when he first found them. He tried to wipe them off but they stayed. He observed them and realized they were plants with blossoms, stems and roots.

On June 8, 2007, west of Seoul, 22 Udumbara only 0.2 inches in a cluster blossomed were found on a name plate in a garden located on the roof of a district court next to the director’s office. The same day, about a dozen Udumbara blossomed on a window in a university in Noryangjin-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul and 48 Udumbara were found west of Kwangju City, Korea.

According to the Buddhist scriptures, Udumbara is an imaginary flower that only blossoms every 3000 years when the King of Falun comes to the human world. According to the Fahua Text, a scripture that explains the Fahua Sutra, Udumbara appears every three thousand years. Huilin Yinyi, a collection of Buddhist sutras, claims this heavenly flower is a sign of rare preciousness and a miracle.

Tickets can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.com and for more information please visit
www.divineperformingarts.com

Thank you for joining us for this special coverage of the Divine Performing Arts; I’m Catherine Hennessy for the Sound Of Hope Radio Network.