The Figure Of The Buddha Essay

Beginning in the 5th century, Buddhism became a very popular form of religion throughout Asia. Because this was such a diverse and widely followed religion, it introduced many different architectural and innovational developments that had influence from Buddhism, but depending on the region, the styles changed. Also, High officials, like Ashoka, whose’ primary influence came from Buddhism, created practices for his people to follow and live by to bring peace to his kingdom. As this religion was gaining popularity throughout Asia, the transformation that it took was very diverse and long term.

Our lives are closely connected with an art. People easily regard an artwork as something that is far from our lives, but it is always around us. Now, I would like to introduce one of Buddhist artworks of Korea. The title is Pensive Bodhisattva. The artist is unknown. However, it was made in mid-7th century during the Three Kingdom Period. The dimension of this artwork is 8 7/8-inch and the medium is gilt bronze. It is located in Gallery 233 among other Korean artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art now.

For example, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in the form of Chintamani-chakra (Image 2) is another sculpture depicting the bodhisattva with the wish granting jewel, but this sculpture only has the same gestures, posture, and objects as the Nyoirin Kannon from the early ninth century (Image 1). It is painted a different color, the deity has a different head decoration, and this sculpture does not feature a mandorla. Although the objects are missing, the hands are placed in the same places and the objects were there when it was originally sculpted. That again shows the significance objects as the some of the essential expressions in Esoteric Buddhist

C111, the left side one, with a headdress, is the main sculpture that I want to discuss in this paper. Being purchased from C. T. Loo , who’s been considers as the leading Chinese artifacts dealer in the twentieth century , the statue, combines a bodhisattva image with a lotus base, is in excellent condition, although

The Kannon Bosatsu, or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, is a carved wood statue of a Bodhisattva figure standing about two and one half to three meters tall. This statue shows a high level of detail on the Bodhisattva 's body, and is carved so smoothly that it could be mistaken for a stone carving. The show of skilled craftsmanship can be seen around the shoulders with the interaction of the cloth with the jewelry the Bodhisattva. The statue is placed on an ornate pedestal to cause the figurine to appear taller, giving it a feeling of authority, which contrasts with its calm, expressionless face. While the figure appears to be standing in a meditative state like the Buddha, the jewelry present all over the body of this figure distinguishes this figure as a Bodhisattva instead of a Buddha. In his book, The Story of Buddhism a Concise guide to Its History and Teachings, Donald S. Lopez Jr. establishes the importance of imagery in Buddhism. One major point he makes concerning the worship of Buddhist figures, is that the disciples of Buddhism not only believe that the figures are a mere representation of Buddha, but that the figures actually become and are animated by Buddha, an argument which seems to hold merit as truth.

This work is a 33-foot-long, 10-panel painting which features an assortment of cartoon -like Buddhist figures. This piece is incredibly detailed and holds a lot of information within its imagery. Arhats are considered to be Buddha’s devotees, so this work relates more to religious themes. The theme of multi-coloured acrylic carries on into this work with rainbow eyes, tongues and more. The title “100 Arhats” states exactly how many arhats are present in this piece – one hundred – believe me, I counted. The Arhats vary in size and type, some being more humanoid than others which appear to be more akin to animalistic creatures, the piece is also accompanied by figures that may not be arhats, and instead are dragon or feline-like creatures. Each figure, however, relates to one another in that all have somewhat gruesome facial expressions, frowning and wrinkled, some even with an array of

“Hellenistic and Roman art may have even influenced the portrayal of the Buddha” (Clark, n.pgs). Initially the Buddha was only represented symbolically, not with a human image. A new Greek influenced anthropomorphic image of the Buddha may have been designed to reflect the human aspects of his life and

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, with more than 5 million believers in the world. Buddhism is a kind of religion and law that contains various traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices. Buddhism from India, between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, and gradually spread to Asia. Although Buddhism originated in India, China has many believers in the dissemination and contribution. Chinese Buddhism began in the Han Dynasty and became the most powerful in the Tang Dynasty. With the development of society, Buddhism in the people also come into contact with the telephone, computer, and other new technologies. However, monks with real power are still practicing their bodies in primitive ways. For an ancient religion, Buddhism has a lot of things that people know and people do not know. Buddhism can help people to better discover the power of the human body. In addition, people need to understand the history of Buddhism and the main ideas to help them learn Buddhism.

Sayre the author says, “The Buddha is the most extensive collection of large-scale sculptures in the world and can be found an hour north of New York City in the lower Hudson Valley at Storm King Art Center (“A World of Art”). Zhang seems to like the traditional aspects of chinses culture, because he re-used an ash material form other artists, to create his own sculpture. The techniques he used to create the sculpture is casting, assemblage, and construction. Without using these three additive techniques of sculpting, the artwork wouldn’t have been fragile, and not overwhelming in size. The subject of the “three Legged-Buddha” is another conflict with the governmental rules and regulations, and it has drawn a lot of attention due to its strong message that it conveys. When I initially examined the art piece for the first time, it looked like a huge dismantled, three legged human figure. I thought it was a symbol for keeping your body in better shape over your mind. The most amazing part of the sculpture is how extremely large it is compared to the electrocution sculpture. After reading and interpreting the sculpture it struck me that it was made for ceremonial gathering, where incense placed and burned from inside of the sculpture, and pours out of the head. I think that the artist was trying to involve the visitors in his sculpture. Since Zhang Huan

The group of objects chosen for this paper comes from the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum. The title of both pieces is called Seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin). Both these pieces which are statues were sculpted in china. The earliest statue was made during the Tang dynasty. While, the later statue was made during the Northern Song dynasty. These statues were chosen because the same deity is depicted and were made in a similar geographic and cultural location. This allows for the comparison of the different styles between the 2 periods. The statue made during the Northern Song dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sitting in a pose called the relaxed pose or easy pose. This statue also depicts the Bodhisattva adorned in lavish silk garments while a jeweled crown sits atop his head. The statue is carved from wood and painted with gesso, pigments, and gilding. The statue made during the Tang Dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva sitting in the easy pose as well. It also depicts the Bodhisattva in flowing robes while wearing a string of jewels.

Buddhism      For over 2000 years Buddhism has existed as an organized religion. By religion we mean that it has a concept of the profane, the sacred, and approaches to the sacred. It has been established in India, China, Japan and other eastern cultures for almost 2000 years and has gained a strong foothold in North America and Europe in the past few centuries. However, one might ask; what fate would Buddhism face had Siddartha Guatama been born in modern times; or more specifically in modern day North America? Would his new found enlightenment be accepted now as it was thousands of years ago?

Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini, Nepal during the 4th to 6th century B.C. He was born to the King Sakya Sudhodana, who ruled at Kapilavastu in Ancient India, and Queen Maya. After seven days of giving birth to Siddhartha his mother died however, a holy man was to have said that one of two great things would come of the newborn; he would grow up to become a great king or military leader or he would be a great spiritual leader. After the passing of his mother, Buddha grew up in a rich household and lived an extravagant life. According to their beliefs, he married at the age of sixteen to a girl named Yasodhara, which they had a child together. During this time, his father had ordered that he were to live a life of isolation in

that of a river. If you've seen a river you'd have seen that "the water continually flowed

Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th century BCE. The historical founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama (c.560-480 BCE) was born in a village called Lumbini into a warrior tribe called the Sakyas (from where he derived the title Sakyamuni, meaning 'Sage of the Sakyas'). According to tradition Gautama's father, Suddhodana was the king of a small principality based on the town of Kapilavastu. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after Gautama's birth. Following the death of Maya, Suddhodana married Maya's sister, Prajapati, by whom Gautama was brought up in great luxury and sheltered from the harshness of the outside world.

The lives and teachings of Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), and Jesus Christ each are similar to one another but each do have their own differences. The difference includes their teachings and beliefs. The similarity consist of each of them being associated with a certain religion and each being worship by a group of individuals associated with the religion. Jesus Christ is a religious leader whose teachings are in the Bible, in which is a central figure for Christians. Buddha is a spiritual leader whose life is the foundation of Buddhist religion. Muhammad is the founder of Islam and is believed to be the proclaimer of the Qur’an and is the foundation of Muslim religion.