The top of the painting represents the final destination of the traveler, Sukhavati (the Land of Bliss), where the Buddha Amida sits with two bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta. Once here, the traveler is assured of effortless progress on the Buddhist path and eventually complete release from suffering, due to Amida's power.

For more details on how to contemplate and meet Amida in Sukhavati, see the Taima Mandala. For another reference to Amida in Sukhavati as the means to escape the sufferings of this world, see the top left corner of the wheel of existence.

On the far shore of the two rivers and white path stands Amida with two bodhisattvas, calling to the traveler and welcoming him. Through Amida's encouragement, the traveler generates the confidence to progress.

See a related scene of Amida welcoming a new birth in Sukhavati in the Taima Mandala.

The two rivers, one of fire, one of water, represent the twin poisons of attraction and aversion. These psychological factors tend to guide one's actions and distract from the difficult path to awakening.

For more on these poisons, see the very center of the wheel of existence.

The two rivers, one of fire, one of water, represent the twin poisons of attraction and aversion. These psychological factors tend to guide one's actions and distract from the difficult path to awakening.

For more on these poisons, see the very center of the wheel of existence.

On the near shore of the two rivers, the Buddha Shakyamuni stands encouraging the traveler to cross the white path to Amida's land. Shakyamuni was the historical Buddha of our world, and while he has since passed from it, his teaching remain to encourage practitioners forward.

For another depiction of Shakyamuni helping humans in this world, see a detail of the human realm in the wheel of existence.

An inches-wide white path offers the traveler a singular but difficult route past the dangers of the two rivers and for escape from the beasts and bandits of the near shore. This path represents a pure aspiration to rebirth in Sukhavati, the best means to salvation.

The dangerous beasts and bandits on the near shore represent factors like the sense organs, the types of consciousness, and the elements of self-identity that root sentient beings to the endless cycle of birth and suffering in our world. The need to escape from them is powerful and immediate.

For another reference to the dangers posed by sense faculties and consciousness, see the outer rim of the wheel of existence.

The dangerous beasts and bandits on the near shore represent factors like the sense organs, the types of consciousness, and the elements of self-identity that root sentient beings to the endless cycle of birth and suffering in our world. The need to escape from them is powerful and immediate.

For another reference to the dangers posed by sense faculties and consciousness, see the outer rim of the wheel of existence.

Sukhavati, the Land of Bliss, famously contains birds whose song teaches the Dharma, the lessons of Buddhism. Because all beings born in Sukhavati are guaranteed enlightenment, these birds are not actually sentient beings, but rather mere apparitions generated by Amida's power. This is in direct contrast to the animals represented in the wheel of existence.

Among other scenes on the near shore at the bottom of the painting is a depiction of two musicians in a building.