I am choosing to write my looking deeper paper about the history and art of the Buddhist culture. The buddhist era started around the 5th century with the idea spreading from one man, Siddhartha Gautama, the historical “Buddha”. During this time I think there were a lot of artist and meaning full works of art or ideas of art that we have adapted in todays society that we have to thank Buddhism for. Buddhism is a less a religious group and more of a way of life that I feel has a lot of positivity and full understanding of ones self and the people you surround yourself with. Within this paper I will be looking into the Symbols that represent the life style and background of a buddhist, how religion / worship fits into buddhism, and a peek into the art forms that have changed but have impacted and gave life to certain ideas of art today! The Buddhist way of life of peace, loving kindness and wisdom (About Buddhism), which are the same goals that we have and can relate to in this society. The idea and goal of buddhism is to find our happiness, joy and good fortune come to us by living and practicing a peaceful and positive life through changing your state of mind. Within Buddhism there is also their version of prayer, which is more directly defined as meditation. Meditation is the center of the Buddhist way of life. It is their way of being able to understand oneself and find their own identity through self love and knowledge. Through this meditation people are able to find their path to lasting happiness and I believe that at the end of the day that is what every human is looking for and why I relate to this path of life so much.
The dharma wheel{Fig 1}, is one of the most common symbols associated with buddhism, as it represents a full circle of the parts to full accept and dive into a life as a buddhist. This symbol is specifically used to represent the Buddha’s teachings. “The wheel of dharma often has eight spokes to represent the Noble Eightfold Path"(buddhist symbols), each of these paths having their own symbols to represent them. These are the eight symbols in where some are know and associated with buddhism
{Fig 1}
Dharma Wheel
Konark Sun temple
Orissa, India,
c. 1200 CE. to the outside world while others are not. They are;The Lotus Flower, The Umbrella, The Conch Shell, The Fish, The Victory Banner, The Vase, The Endless Knot, and of course the Dharma Wheel, which brings these paths into a full circle of life. Now there are many different variations that represent the teachings of buddhism, but the wheel generally represents the dharma, or Buddha’s teachings.
Another symbol that I think has had an effect on our society in a somewhat different way is the symbol Unalome{fig 2} which is representing the journey to enlightenment. This has become a symbol that is used and created into different versions of tattoos in correlation to their path in life. I personally love this symbol, I love the complex but simplicity of the design yet, it has a much stronger message of un perfectly, perfect your life will be and how it will never truly have a set path or “direction” to follow. In Buddhism it is our paths that helps form our life and the steps we are to take to find, happiness, sadness, excitement,
{ Fig 2}
Unalome
(Buddhist Symbols) uncertainty of what the future does hold. The Unalome symbol is used in a very different way as in getting tattoos as they are not always for the purpose of actually following and believing in Buddhism but wanting to feel and be apart of something that is bigger than themselves. Todays generation wants to be all knowing and they want to learn weather or not they make that part of their knowledge a part of their life they want to have that knowledge in them which sometimes leads to, acts of getting Buddhist tattoos on their bodies.
In learning more in depth about the teachings of Buddha, it was revealed to me that there is a true from of a step by step path to finding and creating lasting happiness. In the steps of following and coming into this path of becoming a buddhist, it has opened my eyes in a way that anyone can and has the ability, to transform his or her mind from its present confused and self-centered state into the blissful mind of a Buddha. One thing that makes the “following” or “religion” of buddhism so attainable and isn’t made to have it be feeling forced upon you is there being the opportunity to make your own decision. It is in history that the Buddha never encouraged or tried to gain worshipers, or creates followers. The Buddha however used many images and symbols to teach his findings which turned into the wheel
{ Fig 3 }
Period: Tang dynasty (618–907)
Date: early 7th century
Culture: China
Medium: Hollow dry lacquer with traces of gilt and polychrome pigment and gilding
Dimensions: H. 38 in. (96.5 cm); W. 27 in. (68.6 cm); D. 22 1/2 in. (57.1 cm)
of dharma, to encourage others to take a step in a path of pure happiness. When Buddhism began to spread and evolve into different traditions, symbols, and ideas it became more of a normal or common “religion” because it was malleable in different ways for each follower. This image of a Buddha{ Fig 3 }, Probably Amitabha, to me is a symbol and piece of art that I think represents the idea of what buddhism is all about. Finding peace within ones-self, while still having a path of guidance leading you to new knowledge and experiences. There is a idea of peace and relaxation in this statue through the way the the face and clothing is carved and shaped with softness. The position of the Buddha’s arms also suggests a gesture of meditation and suggests that he was at peace and was purely happy with his devotion and respect for the buddhist culture. The sculpture was made using the dry-lacquer technique, in which a core (often made of wood) is covered with clay and then wrapped in layers of cloth that have been saturated with lacquer— a tree resin that hardens when exposed to oxygen. As many as seven or eight additional layers of lacquer might then be applied. In the eighth century, this technique spread from China to Japan, where it was used widely in the production of Buddhist sculptures.
In the “religion” of Buddhism, there is the idea that a life of good thoughts, good intentions, and straight living, are all that is needed to be fully immersed in to fulfill the ultimate goal of achieving nirvana, release from earthly existence. Their goal was this as they knew they believed in the cycle of rebirth and believe that each chance they were on earth they were able to reach the goal with every new opportunity! In the first century, the human image of one Buddha came to dominate the artistic scene. The artistic elements from the Hellenistic world were combined with the Buddhist symbolism needed to express Indian Buddhism to create a
{ Fig 4 } Standing Buddha Offering Protection | Period: Gupta period (4th–6th century) Date: late 5th century Culture: India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura) Medium: Red sandstone
unique style. These sculptures were arranged in such a way through heavy classical folds, reminiscent of a Roman toga. These roman looks were soon traded in for the more common look we know today. Unlike the Traditional Sitting Buddha sculptures this sculpture of a standing buddha { Fig 4 } is to represent protection for buddhist who pray to the sculpture. This Buddha more specifically embodies the qualities of inner calm and stillness, the products of supreme wisdom(Dehejia, Vidya). This figure is now missing, but used to have its right hand raised in the characteristic abhaya-mudra, a gesture dispelling fear and imparting reassurance. “As the summation of stylistic development in a period of Buddhist expansion, this representation became the benchmark for the Buddha image throughout Asia”(Dehejia, Vidya).
The final piece of art that I believe has come form the Buddhist Era that has evolved in some way for our society today is the Mandala. The Mandala during the Buddhist time period has and had more of a symmetrical, vivid imagery attached to it, where now a days it is more considered something that is simple yet sometimes very colorful, but focused on line and symmetry. T
{ Fig 5 }
Tibetan Mandala
Location: Sera Monasteryhe way that mandalas were created have a feeling of { Fig 5 }. There is a sense of beauty through color and symmetry in this piece that has been reflected to what we think of today as a mandala. The mandala itself, can be defined in two ways: "externally as a schematic visual representation of the universe or internally as a guide for several psychophysical practices that take place in many Asian traditions, including meditation.” In, conjunction with Buddhism, the mandala is representing the internal guide or path that is taken to find yourself, which is done through that of mediation. These works of art are represented as path to meditation because there is something very calming about having a clean and straight forward path to follow to make something, or your inner mandala be whole. In todays society we more create or think of mandalas looking like
{ Fig 6 } { Fig 6 }. I think we do this as it takes away the chaos of the mandalas from the early renditions of them, as to continue on the path of simplicity. I also feel as though we as a younger generation have created this idea of re-creating art to help us learn and discover more about ourselves and I think this is one of they ways we have done so.
In Conclusion, I choose to focus on the Buddhist lifestyle and the ideas and art that has come from it and the connection they have to todays society. I believe that they idea of being buddhist is something we all unknowingly strive for, pure and utter bliss. With a deeper understanding in the work and the ideas of simplicity that I have learned from this culture, I believe that there is much to be learned and somewhat unheard to realize the opportunities and experiences we can take and learn from that all started with buddhism.