by Samantha Fletcher (UCLA 2016)

UCLA International Institute, November 30, 2016 — The “Ten Worlds Mandala,” a Japanese Buddhist painting, was the subject of a talk by Eric Rath on November 13, 2015, at the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. The mandala illustrates the stages of life from its beginnings through death and, eventually, the afterlife. Rath broke down images of the mandala one by one while elaborating on their culinary imagery.

This imagery is unique at first look, explained Rath, an historian at the University of Kansas. It is easy to overlook the depictions of food, drink, and starvation. Their depiction in the mandala reminds observers of the significance of food items in daily life, while also providing an ideal way of depicting the sins, suffering and even possible redemption of the damned.

Although the mandala traces the role of food as nourishment in early life, it places an even larger emphasis on food in the afterlife. In many images, hell can be compared to an oven, slowly punishing its sinners by cooking them, yet never to death. Images of hungry ghosts and sinners simmering in cauldrons are part of these horrific depictions of hell.

Amidst all the suffering, however, Rath pointed to food as a means of liberation. He singled out the importance of rice cakes as a means to alleviate the suffering of both the living and those in the afterlife. Rice is seen as a major staple of the Japanese diet today, but Rath’s lecture identified rice as a source of contention in Japanese history. Not always accessible to all, he claimed that the rice imagery of the mandala would have peaked an appetite for rice throughout Japan.

Despite Rath’s extensive knowledge and examination of culinary imagery in the mandala, he made no claim to resolve all instances of food offerings in the artwork. Instead, he attempted to decode their meanings based on the broader dialogue of the period, using the mandala as a window onto promising avenues for future research.