An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality Read Online Free PDF

converted to Buddhism and migrated to Ceylon, where he
    took up residence in the Mahāvihāra monastery at Anurādhapura. He
    identified completely with the Theravāda school and wrote important
    commentaries in Pali on the Tipitaka .His main work was “The Way of
    Purity” ( Visuddhi-Magga ).
    Bodhidharma (fifth-sixth centuries A.D.)
    Bodhidharma was the son of a South Indian king. He converted to
    Buddhism, and was the disciple of Prajñādhara, the 27th Indian pa-
    triarch of Dhyāna Buddhism. He eventual y became his successor, the
    28th patriarch. In 520 A.D. he went by ship from India to China. There
    he traveled widely, teaching the Buddhist doctrines. He was received
    in audience by the Emperor Wu-ti of the Liang Dynasty, who was a
    patron of Buddhism. Bodhidharma became the first patriarch of Ch’an
    ( Dhyāna )Buddhism in China. He remained in that country until his
    death.
    Sanskrit Buddhist text in Devanāgarī script
    (calligraphy by Shrī Keshavram Iengar):
    “Of all things springing from a cause,
    the cause has been shown by him ‘Thus-come’;
    and their cessation too the Great Pilgrim has declared.”
    Saddharma-Pundarīka-Sūtra , 27

    23
    (7) Buddhist Art
    It is not the purpose of this book to deal with the immense, variegated,
    and wonderful world of Buddhist art,1 but, in view of its importance,
    passing mention should perhaps be made of three important early
    schools.
    Firstly it must be understood that, like all sacred art, Buddhist art
    is of supernatural origin: it derives from the Buddha himself, and is
    an integral part of the Buddhist sacramental system. It is said in the
    Divyāvadāna that King Rudrāyana (Udāyana) of Kaushāmbī sent
    painters to the Buddha in order to paint an image of him which the
    faithful could venerate in his absence. When the painters failed to cap-
    ture his essential form, the Buddha said that this was due to their spiri-
    tual lassitude. He then ordered that a canvas be brought to him, and he
    projected his similitude upon it.
    According to the seventh century Chinese monk Hsüan-Tsang,
    King Udāyana had an image of the Buddha made in sandalwood dur-
    ing the latter’s life-time and this became the prototype or model for
    innumerable later copies.2
    Buddhism, therefore, like Hinduism and Christianity, is “incarna-
    tionist” and “iconodulic”.3 In this it contrasts with Judaism and Islam,
    which are “non-incarnationist” and “iconoclastic”. According to Bud-
    dhist doctrine, “the Buddhas also teach by means of their superhuman
    beauty”. This explains why the magnificent iconography of Buddhism,
    a veritable “outward sign of inward grace”, plays such an important sac-
    ramental role. An icon ( pratīka )“objectivizes” a transcendent principle
    which, in the worshiper, becomes a “subjective” state. In this way, the
    icon is a vehicle of spiritual realization. The same idea finds expression
    in the Platonic doctrine that “beauty is the splendor of the true”: truth’s
    radiant beauty, made visible in sacred art, has the power to transform
    hearts and save souls.
    1 For an excellent exposition of the spiritual meaning of Buddhist art, see Sacred Art in
    East and West by Titus Burckhardt (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2001).
    2 See Elements of Buddhist Iconography by Ananda Coomaraswamy (Cambridge, MA:
    Harvard University Press, 1935), p. 6.
    3 In Christian theology, a distinction is made between latreia (“worship”—due only to
    God) and dulia (“veneration”—due to saints, relics, and icons). Hence “iconodulia”
    (which is legitimate) and “idolatry” (which is illegitimate).

    24
    An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism
    In statues and paintings, the Buddha is always depicted in a par-
    ticular posture or with a particular gesture of the hands. These bodily
    poses or attitudes are known as mudrā s,and derive from the Hindu
    tradition, having been revealed in the Bharata-Nātya-Shāstra .They
    symbolical y represent