THE CITY OF NIBBĀNA IN THAI PICTURE BOOKS OF THE THREE WORLDS

ABSTRACT Throughout its long history, Buddhist meditation has been a lasting source of happiness, and its ultimate goal has been the imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion and delusion have been finally extinguished. This state is called in Pali nibbāna, the place of perfect peace and happiness. In his classical book on Thai painting, Jean Boisselier confidently states: ‘Artists are of course unable to depict any aspect of nibbāna, since that world is by nature without form’. This article will show that more than two centuries ago Thai artists did just that which Boisselier proclaimed to be impossible. Thai artists drawing the cosmos in Picture Books of the Three Worlds (สมุดภาพไตรภูมิุ [Samutphāptraiphūm]) did indeed depict nibbāna. Some drew an ‘empty space’, but among the older manuscripts most drew a complex ‘City of Nibbāna’. It will be determined what this elaborate City of Nibbāna stands for. Finally, the question is raised whether or not the City of Nibbāna is part of a type of Buddhism that was suppressed in early modern times.