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Art of Asia
Course: Art of Asia > Unit 1
Lesson 2: Buddhist art and culture, an introduction- Introduction to Buddhism
- How to recognize the Buddha
- How to recognize a bodhisattva
- The main branches of Buddhism
- Zen Buddhism
- The stupa
- The stupa
- Buddhist Monasteries
- Bodhisattvas, an introduction
- The Historical Buddha
- The Buddha Shakyamuni
- Images of Enlightenment: Aniconic vs. Iconic Depictions of the Buddha in India
- Jatakas: the many lives of Buddha as Bodhisattva
- Conception of the Buddha-to-be in Queen Maya’s dream
- Bodh Gaya: center of the Buddhist world
- Varanasi: sacred city
- How to identify a Buddha
- Development of the Buddha image
- Four Buddhas at the American Museum of Natural History
- The Buddha triumphing over Mara
- The Buddha triumphing over Mara
- Maitreya
- Bodhisattva Maitreya
- Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara: Guanyin
- Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
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Four Buddhas at the American Museum of Natural History
The Buddha's smile represents his journey from luxury to enlightenment. He encountered a corpse, a sick man, a holy man, and an old man, leading to his realization of life's suffering. This suffering, he discovered, comes from desire, which can be overcome through right acts and thoughts. The Buddha's image, often depicted with elongated ears and sitting on a lotus flower, serves as a symbol of transcending pain and achieving goodness. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- I'm not sure I understand what a lakshana is, since there is no arrow pointing to one of them. 2:04(5 votes)
- I think the lakshanas are the two things with arrows pointing to them, the urna and the ushnisha. Those two things are the "symbols of enlightenment" referred to by the term lakshanas. Also, the Buddha is sitting on a lotus flower, another symbol.(22 votes)
- This is possibly over materialistic in a discussion of images of the Buddha, but is it possible that the image from Thailand is slim and clad in a light garment (where clad at all) because Thailand is a rather hot place, and the one from Pakistan is in a heavy robe because up there in the mountains, it gets cold!(5 votes)
- This could be accurate since the Drs. we're discussing how the Buddha images reflect where they were created.(4 votes)
- At, the map shows the expansion of or area influenced by Buddhism. It overlaps with the Silk Road pretty well. Could Dr Kendall or Dr Scott expand on the interaction between the faith of Buddhism and the economic interactions between the different cultures? 5:10(6 votes)
- ATthey show the statue of the female bodhisatva. I can't get over how enormous that statue is. Does anyone know when it was carved? I think it must be modern and must have been carved in place, based on the size. 6:26(5 votes)
- Atthe ushnisha seems to be sitting on or attached to flower pedals. Is this a representation of a lotus as well? 2:20(4 votes)
- Why did this video say there were 4 buddhas? Are they one in all?(3 votes)
- The video lesson showed four depictions of the one Buddah. Referring to 4 Buddhas use the word "Buddha" not to indicate the one and only Buddha, but to refer to a particular item which depicts the Buddha. There is not a singular canonical depiction. The Buddha can be drawn or sculpted to fit any cultural context in which the one Buddha is revered.(2 votes)
- Where is the American Museum of Natural History located?(2 votes)
- Buddhism seems so simple and real. I've known a few Buddhists in my life but having known all Theravadas, is it harder for it to be accepted in Western nations because of the solitary nature?(4 votes)
- I quite agree with Pat. I do not shame you, though, because it is human nature to question and discover. I see that Pat also follows his religion well. It is a path of spirituality and it may be practice-based, but the most important thing is that you believe what you believe and let no one change that. Follow your god and try not to question him to much, though some times questioning may be healthy and good for you.(1 vote)
- How do prince Siddhartha's ears mark him as a "particularly special person" according to the narrator at aboutmin? 2:00
Who is the first Buddha seen at the beginning for a few moments?(2 votes)- There are quite a few physical characteristics that a Buddha is said to have, and they are often portrayed in Buddhist artwork.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_characteristics_of_the_Buddha(2 votes)
- Why does different places have an idea for the buddha and what they would where?(2 votes)
- Just like depictions of Jesus (who, like the Buddha, lived before the age of photography) differ with the culture of the artists who drew him, so also was the Buddha featured and clad in different ways depending upon the ways that people who made the pictures and statues viewed as "a model" for perfect humanity.(2 votes)
Video transcript
SPEAKER 1: For me, the special
thing about a Buddha image is often the smile, that
beautiful transcendent smile. And behind the
smile is the story of how the Buddha
got to the smile. SPEAKER 2: He was
seeking transcendence from human suffering. And all part of this
journey from growing up in a life of luxury
and then leaving the walls of his palace. And encountering
four things that changed the course of his life
forever, a corpse, a sick man, the holy man, and an old man. And through that, he realized
that life is full of suffering. SPEAKER 1: He realized that
the beautiful body of a prince was really a receptacle for
pus and urine and excrement. A body would be diseased,
it would grow old. And these things
were in permanent. Where was release? Where was happiness? Where was salvation? And what we see in this statue
is the moment of realization. Suffering comes from desire. Desire can be transcended by
right acts and right thought. We see the smile of
liberation on his lips. We see the hand
pointed to the earth, calling on the earth to
witness his enlightenment. It's useful to remember that
the worshipper would look up. The Buddha is sacred. The statue is placed
high, in relation to us, and smiles down on us. And gives us a
sense that we, too, can overcome pain and
suffering of the world and get into a
transcendent place. SPEAKER 2: We can see that he
grew up in a life of luxury. The elongated
ears, which reveals that he would have worn
really heavy earrings. SPEAKER 1: But the ears being
something else, besides. Yes, the lobes are distended. Yes, the lobes held jewelry. But he also has
ears that mark his as a particularly
special person. SPEAKER 2: We can see
various Lakshanas, which represent Buddha's
enlightenment. The urna, between
his eyes, represent the moment of
spiritual awareness. And the ushnisha, on
the top of the head, the moment of enlightenment. And also, often
we see the Buddha sitting on a lotus flower, a
symbol of getting beyond pain and overcoming obstacles
to achieve goodness. Because the lotus flower lives
in the mud and eventually cleanses itself to
become beautiful. SPEAKER 1: He is often
portrayed in the robes of a monk, somebody who
has left the world, gone to live-- in the Buddha's
story-- in the forest, throughout Asia. Monks often live in
mountain monasteries. They have withdrawn from
the stress and strain of normal every day
social life and the pain that it engenders among us. And this is a Thai statue. And if you look, you
see the life body of a beautiful
southeast Asian prince. You see the grace of the
hands that might even make you think of the way
dancers dance in Thailand. SPEAKER 2: So even though
it's a classic Buddha, it's fairly recent
and not from India. SPEAKER 1: Buddhism is
a traveling religion. Buddhism went north and
Buddhism went south. Northern Buddhism, sometimes
known as Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddhism of the
Greater Vehicle. Theravada Buddhism--
well, Theravadans claim the original form. For Theravadans, enlightenment
is an individual project. Buddhism also went north,
and there enlightenment is a more collective project. Buddhism is a more
collective project. One of my old
professors used to say, Theravadan Buddhism,
that is like getting to nirvana by private car. Mahayana is getting to
nirvana by public bus. SPEAKER 2: [LAUGHING] I
think I'd prefer public bus. SPEAKER 1: We'll see how
different statues reflect the tastes and the
characteristics of people living in all of the different
places where Buddhism traveled. SPEAKER 2: Another
Buddha, totally different, also recognizable as a Buddha. But look at those
elaborate robes and the hair and
the facial features. SPEAKER 1: Yes,
there's a good reason why this statute
looks the way it does. And it's a great example
of how Buddhism traveled. This is a statue from Gandhara. Gandhara in Pakistan,
on the AfPak border, that area that's
so fraught today. And if you look at the statute,
you see the facial hair, the features suggest
something of people who live in that
part of the world. But look at those flowing robes. Those might recall
a Greek statue. The reason for
that, people think, is because this was
the eastern-most extent of Alexander's empire. This was a part of Asia
that had very close ties to the Greco-Roman
world, and a place where styles of
sculpting probably were influenced by
those traditions. SPEAKER 2: This Buddha is
not calling on the earth to witness his enlightenment. It's a whole different mudra,
a whole different posture. SPEAKER 1: And yet he's
still in the lotus pose, he has the long ears, and he
has that meditative expression on his face. SPEAKER 2: So now
moving to Japan, this is an entirely different
representation of the Buddha. To me, it's a bit austere,
almost a bit intimidating. The black robes and
the staff in his hand. Although recognizable because
of the lotus flower that he's standing on. SPEAKER 1: And the long ears. This is a Japanese figure, a
very elegant, very austere one as you've said. But this Jizo, the Bodhisattva. And he's actually a
very benign figure. It's again, this idea of
enlightenment via the big bus. Bodhisattvas help us. We're down here in
the world of pain and there are beings who put
off their own transcendence to be there for us. The most popular
figure of this is Guanyin, a female Bodhisattva
who, in many respects, resembles a mother. Now Jizo is sometimes
identified with Guanyin. He again, swing back
to the masculine side. But Jizo, Jizo is
there in the world of the dead to help
people get through. He's not an underworld judge. He's not a punishing figure. Jizo says, come huddle under
my cloak and I'll help you. SPEAKER 2: But he is associated
with death and the underworld. SPEAKER 1: In a positive sense. Because we've all
got to go there, and we need somebody
on our team. In Japan, he is often
associated with children, a protector of children. You see shrines to
Jizo in neighborhoods. And those are usually
folksy figures. They're a little bit
more approachable than this very austere statue. And he is a protector
of dead children. There will be Jizo shrines
in Japanese temples, and there'll be a lot
of little Jizo figures that represent the
children, themselves. And people will leave
candy and toys for them. They're very, very
poignant places. SPEAKER 2: My goodness,
what a radical change. The fat, happy,
laughing Buddha that we see all around New York City,
all around the world in shops, in the back of taxicabs. SPEAKER 1: And
there's a good reason for that, because this
is a Buddha associated with good fortune, with
fertility, and by extension, wealth. This is the Buddha
that helps you when you're dealing
with this quirky market, maybe makes things
turn out in your favor. This is the Buddha
of the future. There are many Buddhas,
many enlightened beings. Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha
we think of as the Buddha, was actually only one. This particular
Buddha, Maitreya, the Buddha of the
future, is a being who is an apocalyptic figure. He signifies changing times. And as a consequence,
he seems very magical. SPEAKER 2: He's also inspired
by a legend of a monk that lived 1,000 years
ago, Hotei, who traveled around carrying a sack. This Buddha would have also
carried a sack quite often, delivering goods to people. Candy to children,
as the legend holds, rice to adults for their fields. Almost a Santa
Claus-type of figure. SPEAKER 1: And in the historic
existence of the monk, Budai, people probably thought, ah
ha, the Buddha of the future is among us. And so the legend
of the monk gets equated with the idea of
the Buddha of the future. SPEAKER 2: You find people
rubbing the Buddha's belly for prosperity, for
wealth, for happiness. SPEAKER 1: And this
is a wonderful example of how religion becomes
responsive to people's needs. How people take ideas
from different places and transform them and
make them their own, cause them to speak to
themselves, to their own needs, to their moment.