This is perhaps the most incredible mug in the collection. First, you'll notice that it has no handle, as it is from China and is made for tea. Second, of course you'll see that it is covered with colorful Chinese characters on dark background which wraps nearly entirely around the mug.
The letters are Buddhist scripture, a Chinese translation of a verse from the Avatamsaka Sutra in two parts. More precisely: The first part is excerpted from a praise in the Avatamsaka Sutra in the second chapter, 如來現相品 The Chapter on the Manifested Marks of the Tathagatha."The Buddha's [dharma-]body pervades the Dharma Realms (universe), universally appearing before all living beings; it accords with their conditions and emotions without limit, and perpetually resides in this Throne of Enlightenment (Bodhi)" The second part is an unrelated but fairly well-known quote from the Treatise on the Great Wisdom. 天上天下無如佛，十方世界亦無比；世間所有我盡見，一切無有如佛者 "Above and below the heavens there is no one like the Buddha, he is also incomparable throughout the ten directions; of all that I have ever seen in the world, there is nothing at all like the Buddha." **
Along with those beautiful words, is the magic mug effects. When hot liquid is added to the mug, the dark background clears to reveal a portrait of Buddha with two attending monks. The 'colors' of the letters are actually the colors of the painting behind them. I am unsure of the history of this mug, but can only guess that it was a retail purchase for followers of Buddha for daily tea and meditations/prayer produced sometime around the 1980's to 90's from the type of ink used.
This mug is, unfortunately, in sad shape. Some of the dark thermo-ink has chipped off, and there appears to be a slow leak (which I discovered when creating the photos above.) The magic ink still works near perfectly, however, making this a special mug in the collection.
DESIGN: Full, 3 Sided Wrap Around Design
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Retail
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** Special Thanks to Reddit Translator kungming2 for the beautiful translations! I have owned this mug for many years and have never found anyone who could translate it so accurately and so quickly.
