DAVID CLIVE PRICE
The stupas of the ascending terraces of the huge Buddhist monument at Borodobur, Java, Indonesia (760-830 AD). As the mist gradually burns off the surrounding jungle, the fertile Kedu plain appears, a patchwork of verdant rice fields and coconut groves rising towards the majestic mountains to the north and west. The great stupa at the centre of the upper terrace embraces a new dawn as sunlight pervades the morning mist. 6
BUDDHISM The Fabric of Life in Asia The Buddha’s presence irradiates daily life in Asia like the many rays of wisdom that are sometimes depicted like a starburst round His head. 7
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The Spread of
BUDDHISM A few months after His death, the major portion of what came to be called the tripitaka, the ‘three baskets’ of the Law was orally agreed at an informal meeting of monks that came to be known as the First Buddhist Council.
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T
he magnificent Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet was begun in 1645 and took 46 years to complete. It was intended as a symbol of the authority of the great Fifth Dalai Lama, the first Tibetan to combine the offices of supreme religious and political leader.
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Although he lives in exile, the current Dalai Lama continues to stir deep emotions within the Tibetan people, many of whom travel days or even weeks to attend his teachings; such as this one in Bodhgaya, Uttar Pradesh, India, where the Dalai Lama gave his ‘Peace of Heart’ initiation, the Kalachakra, in 2004.
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In China, as in every Buddhist country in Asia, elder monks are revered by the laity for the wisdom of their teachings and their long life of dedicated austerity and meditation. 62
The Monastery and
THE LAITY
At the very heart of Buddha’s teaching lies a code of morality and conduct rooted in the austerities of monastic life.
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Galvihara, or Rock Monastery (12th century), is the most celebrated site in Polonnarua, Sri Lanka. Because of the solid consistency of the rock, the finely carved images of the site have remained in a state of almost perfect preservation. This Reclining Buddha is one of the masterpieces of Sri Lankan Buddhist sculpture. 130
BUDDHIST Heritage Sites in Asia The life and death of the Buddha and the subsequent spread of Buddhism is identified across Asia by an extraordinary wealth of sculpture, painting and architecture.
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he Bamiyan valley, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, features the ancient caves of the Kushan Dynasty. As early as 400 AD the valley was a centre of both commerce and Buddhism. The two great sculptures of the Buddha carved from the living rock date from this period. The Western Turk Saffarids captured Bamiyan in 871, 142
and were followed in 1221 by the Mongol invader Genghis Khan. His armies destroyed the town and exterminated its inhabitants. Since that time the valley has never regained its former glory. Al-qaeda supporters of the Taleban regime destroyed the main sculpture in February 2001.
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Buddhist Heritage Sites in Asia
T
he unforgettable smile of the impressive granite images of King Jayavaram VII, the instigator of the Bayon, is one of the most memorable images travellers take with them from Angkor, Cambodia. The image is said to also represent the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The entire complex breaths architectural majesty, allied to artistic strength and refinement.
Under the emperors of the Khmer kingdom, which in those days stretched from the ill-defined borders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam into Thailand, Buddhism and Hinduism were venerated side by side for more than 1,000 years. The magnificent Angkor temple complex, built by the Khmer emperors between the ninth and twelfth centuries AD, was mysteriously abandoned and then
A trio of monks
rediscovered by the French explorer Henri Mouhot
approaches the main portal into the Bayon, through the east gate. Identification of a pediment in 1925 revealed Bayon to be a Buddhist temple. This finding moved its presumed date of construction ahead some 300 years to the late 12th century, nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat.
in 1860. It mixes a great deal of Hindu and Buddhist architecture and imagery. The monuments at Angkor recall the sophistication, spiritual beauty and grandeur of one of Southeast Asia’s greatest civilisations. The Khmer emperors also built the Bayon, a temple complex in Angkor representing the cosmic mountain Meru, centre of the Hindu and Buddhist universe. Two hundred finely carved stone faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara look out in all directions from the temple’s towers. They are reputedly carved in the image of the great Khmer god-king Jayavarman VII.
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Buddhist Heritage Sites in Asia
T
he Daibutsu, the large Buddha at Kamakura, north of Tokyo, Japan (cast in 1252 AD) is a representation of Buddha Amitaba, ‘Lord of the Western Pure Land’, worshipped by the majority of Japanese Buddhists. The third eye on the Buddha’s forehead represents a jewel, intoning ‘I am the light of the world’.
The story of Buddhism in Japan can be traced to the decree by the Prince regent Shotoku, issued in (593 AD), that a form of the faith be instituted in his country. Bringing with it something of the developed civilisation of China and readily adapting to Shintoism, the native cult of the spirits of nature, Buddhism took firm root by the seventh century. Dates for Tori Busshi, the sculptor of the earliest Buddhist images at Horyuji temple in Nara, show that Buddhism was already established there by (603 AD). The superb triad of Buddha with Yakushi (the Buddha of Healing) and Sakyamuni (a bodhisattva dedicated
These three monkeys, a
to Prince Shotoku) can still be seen in Horyuji today. Nara was the capital of Japan
Japanese National Treasure, form part of the carvings on the lintels of the sacred stables at Nikko, Japan. Their postures of not hearing, speaking or seeing evil is derived from the ‘three major principles’ of the Tendai sect.
from (710 AD to 787 AD), and while this period was relatively brief compared to that of Kyoto’s pre-eminence, Nara’s era is important due to the political and cultural interaction between Japan, China and Korea. This found expression in the building of some of Nara’s most exquisite temples, Chinese in character, such as Todai-ji, which contains the largest Buddha in the country. The second largest Buddha statue in Japan, and arguably the most
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he Kamakura Big Buddha (Daibutsu), is the second largest Buddha in Japan. As such it has formed part of the fabric of daily life and devotion in Japan since the 13th century.
Portrayed by generations of artists and artisans and working centuries and cultures apart, the face nevertheless remains unmistakable. The serenity of that countenance, the articulation of those hands and of that posture in repose could not signify any but Buddha, the “Awakened One�, whose name derives from the Sanskrit root budh, meaning to know, to become aware. Buddhism is the fabric of life in Asia, and no memorials tower higher than the monuments to Buddha spread across Asia. The serene form and aspect of these gentle giants represents the attainment of all we seek to be. We stand in awe of their massive passivity,and we wonder at the hands that fashioned wood, stone and metal into such sublime grace. Pursuing their daily existence beneath that gaze, those who dwell in the heartland of Buddhist Asia feel they draw their spiritual livelihood from a deeper source.