The Vajra Of Vajrayana Buddhism

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.

From my observation at the Met, this sculpture is inside a medium glass and space. Also, it is by itself in the glass. It is a three-dimensional sculpture created by modeling and merging hard materials. Next to it there are other deities (Vishnu, Parvati, Ganesh etc.) and sculptors from the Chola Dynasty. The other works near it complements the sculpture as I have stated above they are from the same time period so, they are related to each other some way and

In comparing The Tibetan Mandala and the Navajo Sand painting the sand drawings are from different cultures, yet their purpose is the same. A better understanding and appreciation comes with looking at these works.

In this paper it will discuss the influence of the Buddha and how Buddhism came to America and the impact it had upon its arrival. How the American culture westernized Buddhism in their own way and how it looks today. It will also cover the difference of ethnic Buddhism and convert Buddhism in America. More specifically the objective of this paper is to explain descriptively and analytically and go over the historical time line of

For this experience, I decided to explore Buddhism in order to enhance my involvement with the religion and build a strong understanding. What intrigued me about Buddhism was the social aspect and diversity that it had to offer. In order to explore this religion from a critical and analytical viewpoint, I decided to attend a weekend service offered at San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin. The San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin main temple is located in the Japantown section of Central San Jose. What made this temple stand out amongst the others was its historical standing in the community. It is one of the oldest temples established in the United States. In order to learn more about the history, environment, and community as a whole, I decided to contact the temple’s staffs. After a brief phone call, I was able to schedule a tour. In preparation, I decided to do a brief research on Buddhism to familiarize myself with the religion beforehand. With all preparations and research necessary, I was ready to visit San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin.

Introduced by a mission from Korea in 552 C.E., Buddhism has long been a central theme in Japanese artwork. Since the king of Paekche, a kingdom in the South East of the Korean peninsula, first gave the Japanese emperor a bronze Buddha statue, the Buddhist art forms that were periodically introduced from China and Korea were tempered in the crucible of local custom and usage, to yield a rich tradition of religious art.

“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

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 medium of the artwork is silver with mercury gilding. Mercury is a metal that is a liquid at room temperature. When mercury is combined with either silver or gold, it becomes viscous or thick, according to “Mercury Gilding/Silvering” at Philadelphia Museum of Art, “mercury gilding is the process, when mercury itself is mixed with gold in order to make an amalgam/mixture, which is then applied to the surface of an object.

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.

Borobudur located on the island of Java is a Buddhist temple that has created disagreement among the academic community. There are two schools of thought in which scholars—such as art historians and archeologist—debate about what the real significance and purpose of Borobudur is about. For example, a group of scholars argues that Borobudur is stupa. This contrasts the other scholars who contends that Borobudur is a mandala. Although both groups of scholars adequately analyze Borobudur and provide evidence to support their arguments, the argument that the Buddhist temple is both a mandala and stupa is rational. In this paper, I will present evidence from both sides of the argument, in which Borobudur has ignited copious amounts of controversy for in the scholarly communities. However, at the end, I will argue that I disagree with both schools of thought because Borobudur is actually both a stupa and a mandala.

The Earth’s Skin is like a city immersed and covered with silver and gold, or gold-threaded tapestry, its surface broken by shimmering red swags and black folds. Distance made a difference in understanding this artwork. As you move close we can see that the whole glinting thing is pieced together from countless tiny parts: pieces of colored metal pinched and twisted into strips, squares, circles and rosettes, linked together, like chain mail, with bits of copper wire. The beauty of this artwork is matched by the pleasure of recognizing that its magic is made with discarded bottle tops. The creation of the artwork is mainly done using liquor bottle caps. I got attracted to material that has had

Hindu and Buddhist cultures are both rich in religion and expressing their faith through art. The Buddhist culture was formed by Buddha who went out to discover the causes of pain and suffering. Once Buddha realized what the cause was, he provided a set of four guiding principles know as the “Four Noble Truths” that are exercised in Buddhism (Kleiner, p. 13). The Four Noble truths are “Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, one can overcome and extinguish desire, the way to conquer desire and end suffering is to follow Buddha’s Eightfold Path…” (p. 13). These truths are expressed in the following of Buddhism and commonly carried out through art. Buddhism is practiced throughout Southeast Asia and southern India where

He passed his own visions of the dance to his students. Mudras, or symbolic gestures, were used to captivate spiritual energies which enhanced the inner spiritual values of wisdom and compassion, each mudra is supposed to have special powers in itself. Masks made of clay and cotton were used to portray mighty gods, and formidable spells were chanted while performing. These grandiose performances were used to drive away local wicked heathen deities and evil spirits for the purpose of creation of a purified realm for a monastery to be built upon - the foundations of a new religion. Moreover, it symbolised the struggle between the protectors of the new religion and the guardians of the local Bon-Po religion. Cham thus appeared in Tibet during the period of the triumphant penetration of Buddhism and in a way, was the continuation of the Bon ritual dance but in a more refined Tibetan Buddhist form, which follows the Vajrayana or the Mahayana school of teaching, a form of transcendental esoteric Buddhism created as an amalgamation of Indian Buddhism and indigenous Himalayan Spiritual and tantric practice. After the successful outcome of the initial performance organised by the order of Padma Sambhava, Cham slowly spread to all the significant monasteries of

The first artwork I selected was the “Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue”; the artist of this piece is unknown. I was looking forward to this the most because this piece was used to advertise/promote the Golden Kingdom exhibition at the Getty Museum. The picture of this piece was everywhere; it was on the wall, signs, stairs, maps, and pamphlets. Just by looking at the pictures I saw and not knowing what it was, I thought that this piece was a hair accessory, like a hairpin because of its long handle. However, I was wrong; after finding out what this really is, the Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue is a labret or mostly known as lip plug. This piece was used by higher authorities such as politicians and soldiers as a sign of power and achievements on the battlefield; just like pins and medals given to soldiers and military veterans in today’s modern society. What I like the most about this labret is its design, the tongue sways side by side whenever its wearer moves, it can also be retracted since the serpent’s tongue is a movable piece. It’s not just a stiff, simple labret but a moving, classic piece which gives its wearer a sophisticated and elegant look. This labret is made from gold which reveals that the person who wore this was a person with authority, a ruler who people respected. The face and body of the serpent are highly detailed, the fangs and the eyes look menacing just like a real serpent. One could tell that this labret was made delicately,