Insights on the Vairocana Buddha
Questions to focus on:
What does Vairocana mean? What does Buddha of light mean? Who made the statue? What material is he made from? What location is it from? What is Avatamsaka Sutra? What do the hand gestures mean? What is the importance of the hand gestures?
According to the description given of the sculpture from the Royal Ontario Museum, it is from Northern China, and from the 16th to 17th century. This sculpture is from the Ming Dynasty, and the material it is made from is partially gilded bronze. Researching about this sculpture would give great insight on the religion of Buddhism and its beliefs.
A possible thesis statement I will be using: In the Avatamsaka Sutra, the central sutra of the Flower Garland
…show more content…
(Keown 2004, under “Avatamsaka Sutra”).
This dictionary also gives great insight on how the Avatamsaka Sutra is taught, and where it is taught. Hua-yen is one of the primary school of Chinese Buddhism. It is also called Flower Garland School of Buddhism in China. The study Hua-yen focuses on the Avatamsaka Sutra. The philosophy behind this school is considered as “the highest expression of Buddhist thought” in China (Keown 2004, under “Hua-yen”).
Cleary, Thomas. The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Boston: Shambala, 1993.
This novel provides detailed information about the Avatamsaka Sutra, and it would be great to use incorporate information from this novel to help support important facts in the essay I will be writing. From the English translated version of the Avatamsaka Sutra, it describes how cosmos are “embraced in a single thought”; they are of infinite realms that are inside each other (Cleary 1993, 56). The hand gesture that the statue makes indicates his teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Using this book, it gives us an insight of whom and the importance of the Vairocana Buddha.
Keown, Damien. A Dictionary of Buddhism. N.A.: Oxford University Press,
Guanyin (Bodhisattva) (See Fig. 1 in Appendix) is an artefact, with Object Number of 2400, in the Honolulu Museum of Art. The medium, or material, of this sculpture of Guanyin is painted wood, and traces of pigment can still be seen on the sculpture. Its height is approximately 67 inches, or 170.2 centimeters. The origin of this sculpture is China, Northern Song (960-1126) or Tangut Xia (1038-1227). According to the museum, this sculptural art piece was purchased, or acquired, in 1927 from a renowned collection of Matsukata Kojiro, who passed away in 1950.
The Buddha was and is an important figure in several different cultures, and his influence has spread over large areas. Across these different cultures, many forms of art portrayed him in different ways. In Japan, one of the Buddha’s titles stood out as the “Amida Buddha.” The statue that this paper will be detailing portrays “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light” (“Amida”). The statue is located in the Dayton Art Institute’s Japanese Art Gallery 105 with the acquisition number 1935.1. Created in the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period, this statue stands out in the Dayton Art Institute as a prominent Buddha figure. It is made of wood with lacquer and gilt, and it was built to be approximately the size of a normal person.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
It is held that when the would-be Buddha entered his mother's womb, there appeared an "unlimited and glorious radiance, surpassing even the majesty of the devas."5 This light was so powerful that the dark...
"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Altarpiece Dedicated to Buddha Maitreya (Mile) [China] (38.158.1a-n). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
Bibliography: Religious Persons and Traditions Buddhism- Plain and Simple
"You know, my friend, that even as a young man, when we lived with the ascetics in the forest, I came to distrust doctrines and teachers and to turn my back to them. I am still of the same turn of mind, although I have, since that time, had many teachers. A beautiful courtesan was my teacher for a long time, and a rich merchant and a dice player. On one occasion, one of the Buddha’s wandering monks was my teacher. He halted in his pilgrimage to sit beside me when I fell asleep in the forest. I also learned something from him and I am grateful to him, very grateful. But most of all, I have learned from this river and from my predecessor, Vasudeva. He was a simple man; he was not a thinker, but he realized the essential as well as Gotama, he was a holy man, a saint" (141).
"Basics of Buddhism." n.d. The Living Edens: Thailand. Public Broadcasting Service. Website. 6 March 2014. .
A large temple is necessary for a figure that is so large and so important to his Buddhist followers. The image is displayed in the center of the temple so that anyone that enters is looking directly at the image from any direction they enter. This display would be like a puja pandal that would be made for the deity Ganesh or Durga. The display would be treated very carefully and cleaned every day before worship. Kumkum powder would be applied to his forehead as a symbol of the sixth chakra or the third eye that he possesses.
"What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre." What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
Buddhist scholarship involves commentary on the sutras. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a practice of acknowledging one’s teacher and monastic lineage so as to provide legitimacy and authenticity to the teachings. In what follows, I shall give my own commentary of the Heart Sutra, and thus I shall acknowledge the lineage through which this information passed down to me. My knowledge of the Heart Sutra comes from the commentary of the Dali Lama (3-52, 63-147) and the rest comes from commentary from Jamyang Gawai Lodro (151-164). Both of these commentaries are in a volume entitled Essence of the Heart Sutra translated by Geshe Thuptn Jipa. This is also where I read the words of the Sutra itself (59-61).
The Web. The Web. 18 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. " The Buddhist World: Lay Buddhist's Guide to the Monk's Rules. "
Vetter, T. (1988). The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism. New York: E.J. Brill.
History proves that as Buddhism spread throughout the Asian world in the early 1st century, it was occasionally altered to fit the specific needs and beliefs of people it touched. Mahayana Buddhism is one such example of this gradual evolution. It was primarily a movement started and kept alive by monks that slowly gained popularity amongst lay people but was in no way a unified movement. Mahayana Buddhism still adheres to the basic fundamental beliefs presented in the Pali Canons, however, it Sutras often expand upon these basic ideas and traditions in order to answer the questions of a later generation. After closer study of the Mahayana texts the “A Sutra for Long Life” and “The World Universe as a Sutra”, it seems evident that, although Mahayana Buddhism is based on the teachings of the traditional Pali Canon, it places a larger emphasis on philosophical inquires; and ultimately creates a more accessible version of enlightenment, and the Buddhist faith in general, for all.