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

certain aspects of the Buddha’s actions (e.g.
    preaching), doctrines (e.g. the Four Noble Truths), or radiance (e.g.
    protective blessing). They may also represent spiritual perfections or
    inward states of soul. In the case of Buddhist worshipers, mudrā smay
    sometimes accompany the recitation of prayers or mantra s.Lovers of
    Hindu dancing ( bharata natyam )will be aware that mudrā sare the very essence of that sacred art.
    The Scriptures of several religions tell us that, over and above sa-
    cred art—and prior to it—, God’s truth is manifested first and foremost
    in the beauty of nature. This amounts to a veritable natural sacrament,
    and it is one to which the Buddhists of Japan—amongst others—are
    particularly sensitive.
    *
    * *
    Let us now come to the three important early schools of Buddhist art:
    Between the 1st and 3rd centuries A.D., Mathurā (in Uttar Pradesh)
    was a center of Buddhist art and culture. It was at Mathurā—and also
    at Gandhāra—that the earliest extant stone statues of the Buddha were
    found. Because of this, art historians have mostly taken the view that,
    before this period, Buddhist art consisted only of symbols, such as a
    wheel, a throne, a tree, etc. However, it is recorded that statues of the
    Buddha were made from his life-time onwards, but being in wood,
    these have not endured. In the art of Mathurā, the human form is ful ,
    rounded, and fluid without being heavy.
    In the fourth century B.C., the north-west Indian province of
    Gandhāra was conquered by Alexander the Great. When, at the begin-
    ning of the Christian era, the inhabitants of Gandhāra became Bud-
    dhists, the artistic legacy of Alexander, coupled with continuing trad-
    ing links with the Greco-Roman world, imposed on the Buddhist art
    of Gandhāra, from the second to the fifth century A.D., a markedly
    Hellenistic stamp—a strange anomaly in the history of Buddhist art.
    The figures in the art of Gandhāra tend to be slender and elegant.
    More important—and more seminal—in the evolution of Bud-
    dhist art was the amazing flowering that took place during the long

    Buddhist Art
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    Buddha seated on a lion throne, Mathurā, India, 2nd century A.D.
    Scene from the life of the Buddha, Gandhāra, late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D.

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    An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism
    Carvings from the Great Stūpa of Sānchī, central India:
    Buddha represented as a stūpa ( left ), as the sacred tree ( center ), and as the Wheel of the Law ( right ) The Great Stūpaof Sānchī, central India

    Buddhist Art
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    Gupta Dynasty (fourth-seventh centuries A.D.) in the North Indian
    kingdom of Māgadha and its considerable territorial extensions. Art of
    the Gupta period is in evidence at Ajantā, Ellorā, Sānchī, and Sārnāth.
    In a way it is a synthesis of the two earlier styles: in it fluidity and el-
    egance are combined. Gupta art had a formative influence on virtual y
    all subsequent developments in both Hindu and Buddhist art in India
    and beyond.
    *
    * *
    In Buddhist architecture, one encounters stūpa s(memorials, tombs, or
    reliquaries) and vihāra s(resting-places or monasteries). The pagodas
    of China, Korea, and Japan were developed from the original Indian
    stūpa s .
    An art form common in Tibet is that of the t’hanka ,a painted
    scroll on cotton or silk. The paintings usual y portray Buddhas and
    Bodhisattvas but may also portray a mandala ,a symbolic “diagram”
    used as a support for meditation.
    The Buddhas save human beings in four ways: (1) by their oral
    teaching, as set out in the twelve categories of Buddhist Scrip-
    tures; (2) by their physical traits of supernatural beauty; (3) by
    their marvelous powers, their properties, and their transforma-
    tion; (4) by their Names, which when uttered by men remove all
    obstacles and assure rebirth in the presence of the Buddha.
    T’ao-ch’o, The Book of Peace and Happiness

    Gilded bronze stūpa , Mongolia, late 17th century
    The Golden Pavilion,