Buddhist art
In Zen, a herdboy’s search for his lost oxen has served as a parable for a practitioner’s pursuit of enlightenment since this Buddhist sect’s early history in China. In the eleventh century, the Song-dynasty Zen master Guoan Shiyuan (active ca. 1150) codified the parable into ten verses (gāthā), recorded and illustrated in this handscroll…
A short video of a Nepalese sacred-art master and his journey of patience and time. (around 6 minutes)
A remarkable collection of religious items from diverse lands was discovered during archaeological excavations on the Swedish island of Helgö. Undoubtedly the most extraordinary find discovered during the excavations at Helgö was a small, bronze Buddha…
Paintings from a series of thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) by Katsushika Hokusai. © Art Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street), New York, NY 10028, USA
Shakyamuni Descending from the Mountain.15th century, Japan.© Metropolitan Museum of Art Shakyamuni renounced the world and went into the mountains to become an ascetic when he was twenty-nine years old. Unable to reach enlightenment even after six years of rigorous… Read More ›
Small Buddha on show at Agatha Christie’s old house near Totnes, Devon.
The origin of Buddha statues of this style is the figure of Prince Siddhartha in contemplation pondering the four phases of life (birth, old age, sickness, and death). Established first in India, the Pensive Bodhisattva was made in countless numbers in China but not till it came to Korea…
The intimate scale, informality of the figures’ poses, and landscape setting link the painting to Chan-style depictions of Shakyamuni — the human origin of the Buddha — as an ascetic descending from the mountains just prior to achieving Buddhahood…
Buddhism now 