Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of religious symbols
Religious symbols importance essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of religious symbols
From the past until now, there have been myriad transformations and renderings of the Buddha’s image. There are different functions of an image of the Buddha. While it evokes certain emotions to some, it can just be a beautiful representation to others. However, the most important function or role of an image of the Buddha is to serve as evidence. Its purpose is to mark a certain time period in history, to signify a religion, but it never exists to define a religion. An image is a visual aid to offer a glimpse to the viewers of what the religion may be about. It enforces questions and provokes thoughts, bringing forth curiosity to explore different cultures that believed in the particular religion. The Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) from Japan during the 12th century is an example. Made out of wood, it can be identified as a preview of what the audience might be learning in the future. An image of the Buddha is not as celestial and dynamic as the Buddha himself. In his essay, “The Story of Buddhism”, Lopez points out the importance of Buddha Images. In this particular section, he examines the various ways in which one can view the Buddha through images. Lopez first discusses the importance of the image of the Buddha, describing Buddhism as “the religion of images” (Lopez, …show more content…
One of the most evident concepts behind this essay was Lopez’s firm belief in the power of the Buddha’s image. Yes, he did mention that there are various ways to look at the Buddha but his presentation of support on the image, as the religion was most convincing. As soon as the analysis progressed, there was an immediate call for attention on how compelling and impressive an image can be as opposed to being in the physical existence of the Buddha. For me, Lopez’s thoughts on the images were a bit exaggerated with dramatic adoration that resulted from what may have been an emotional study of the
The statue that will be the focus of this paper portrays the figure “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light.” Like many other statues of the Buddha, this Amida Buddha was portrayed to be deep in meditation, sitting cross-legged. A viewer could observe that the Amida Buddha is making a hand gesture while in deep meditation. These gestures, also known as “mudras,” are symbolic in the Buddhist religion, and they are used to convey certain ideas (O’Riley 70). In this case, the Amida Buddha is making the mudra of appeasement (“Amida”). More physical observations could be made by pointing out the “balanced form, divine features, and flowing drapery” (“Amida”) of the Amida Buddha. Those qualities represent the nature of the Buddha, revealing him as “transcendent, graceful, and compassionate” (“Amida”). Features common to other Buddha sculptures show up on this Amida Buddha, like the elongated earlobes, the mole on his forehead, and patterned hair. At first glance, the Am...
The Buddha in the Attic is written to represent the unheard experiences of many different women that married their husband through a picture. They were known during the early 1920s as the pictures brides ranging in different ages, but naive to the world outside of America. Though the picture bride system was basically the same as their fathers selling their sister to the geisha house, these women viewed being bought to be a wife by a Japanese male in America as an opportunity for freedom and hope for a better life (Otsuka, 2011, p.5) For some of these women, the choice to marry the man in the picture wasn’t an option and chose to die while on the boat instead of marry a stranger, while others accepted their fates with grace. The book continues
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
The lotus flowers surround Buddha and he also is sitting on a giant one. They are symbols that the Buddha is awakened almost as a sign of rebirth. The lotus flowers meaning in Buddhism means rising above everything and achieve enlightenment. There are lotus flowers that are not yet open representing that not all are yet enlightened and the lotuses that are fully bloomed representing full-enlightenment and self-awareness. Buddha sits in front of the Bodhi tree which literally means awakening or enlightenment. Behind the tree is a full moon and in Buddhism has a great significance. The Buddha was born on a full moon day and his enlightenment was also during a full moon. The Buddha also has earth touching mudra. Mudra is the religious hand gestures and earth touching is “calling the earth to witness”. These concepts go back to the Four Noble Truths. They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. The fist noble truth is represented by the temptresses and the flaming arrows sent from Mara. After the temptresses did not seduce Buddha Mara sent flaming arrows from all directions towards the Buddha representing that all of life’s sufferings. This artwork shows the second noble truth by Buddha avoiding the temptresses that Mara sent and in this way Buddha avoided having cravings or desires. By not submitting to those desires and cravings Buddha realized that this is the ending all suffering is to remove all desire, ill will and ignorance therefore completing the third noble truth. The fourth noble truth is represented by the weight of the Buddha in the artwork showing Buddha not overweight and not starving but in the middle showing him living The Middle Path. When artists get to work responding and expressing, whether or not also to urge a point,
This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory.
Malcolm Brown’s photo from 1963 demonstrates enlightenment through altruistic behaviour. Steve-MCcurry’s 2004 photo explores gender roles and minimalistic roles in Buddhism and the commitment to its practice. The photo published in 2011 by anonymous source is an excellent example of the bodhisattva discipline, and demonstrates the importance of reincarnation in Buddhist culture. In comparing these three photos one can see similarities such as (insert text here). Although these photos share these similarities, there are different messages attributed to each photo such as (insert text here). Without the dedicated study of these Buddhist monks, the tasks occurring in each photo would not occur without their commitment to Buddhism. This commitment has driven these monks beyond laymen’s terms, and their advancement physically and spiritually has led to them being able to perform tasks such as those depicted in these three
Thích Nh’at Hanh is a world renowned Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, religious figure and accomplished writer. Living Buddha, Living Christ is only one of his many famous publications. Thích Nh’at Hanh, is famous for his insights into spiritual heritage and mindfulness in the present moment. Many Americans are seeking religious understanding and personal spirituality, even if they do not practice in the traditional manner. Throughout this book Nh’at Hang encourages readers to find meaning, understanding, mindfulness, and peace in the teachings of Buddha and Christ. His main focus is to open meaningful dialogue between different traditions, cultures, and religious groups around the world, for the betterment
Analysis of Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen The book Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen, caught my attention and became more interesting to me than I thought. I have always heard of the religion Buddhism, but I never knew what it was all about. I never thought that Buddhism was as huge as it is. I knew that it existed in other countries, but I never knew what exact countries. Many of the views in this book surprised me and the book taught me a lot about morals and better ways to live your life.
Hindu and Buddhist cultures are both rich in religion and expressing their faith through art. The Buddhist culture was formed by Buddha who went out to discover the causes of pain and suffering. Once Buddha realized what the cause was, he provided a set of four guiding principles know as the “Four Noble Truths” that are exercised in Buddhism (Kleiner, p. 13). The Four Noble truths are “Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, one can overcome and extinguish desire, the way to conquer desire and end suffering is to follow Buddha’s Eightfold Path…” (p. 13). These truths are expressed in the following of Buddhism and commonly carried out through art. Buddhism is practiced throughout Southeast Asia and southern India where there is a strong presence of Buddhist artwork. This includes art in the form of statues, temples, paintings, and architecture. The two dominant forms or art are the stupas and the chaitya halls that often house the stupas.
Buddhism began in the 500’s B.C.E. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism began by only 1 person. Buddhism’s path began when an Indian Prince named Siddhartha was born. Prince Siddhartha’s father (the king) was afraid that Siddhartha might become a Buddha if he sees the horror of the world, instead, his father wanted him to be the ruler of the universe. The king provided Siddhartha anything he wanted, his life was so simple. When Siddhartha turned 16 he got married. When Siddhartha turned 29 years old, he got a son. The king decided to let him roam freely outside the palace. The prince took 4 trips outside the palace. The first trip, the prince saw an aging man. On the second trip, he saw a sick man. On the third trip, he saw a dying man. On last and final
Q2 There are many people considerable standing in western societies who are either Buddhists or who are sympathetic towards Buddhism. A statue of buddha with his hands rested gently in his lap and his compassionate smile reminds us of how to generate peace and love within ourselves. When we bow we express our gratitude to the Buddha for what his teachings have given us. This is the nature of Buddhist worship and how wonderful he is(source2).This shows that he brings love and joy to the world. And to know what his statue means. That’s amazing!!! This information is reliable because
Ondaatje’s characterization of Palipana conveys his personal opinions towards truth, where all his claims on the discovery and translations of historical subtexts had “no real evidence” and “they were a fiction”. Ondaatje heavily influences Palipana’s point of view with postmodernist principles, which contradicts Anil’s positivist mindset. The integration of both perceptions construct a dichotomous effect to reveal the empirical and experiential viewpoints to present the complexity of truth. During the exposition of Ananda, Palipana states “without the eyes there is not just blindness, there is nothing. There is no existence” which acts as a symbol for the the relativist truth. Ondaatje symbolizes the eyes of the Buddha to reflect on Palipana’s perception of truth. The correspondence of the eyes and truth contribute the exposition of Palipana’s relativist perspectives. The composer undermines the provable truth by the establishment of Palipana’s post colonialist perspective, in which he neglects the empirical
Throughout history, technological development has increased society’s need to observe one’s self within both media, and a real life setting. Nam June Paik’s “TV Buddha”, pictured below, (1974) is an example of how technology garners the attention of an individual to their self, facilitated through many forms of media, in this scenario, television. This work translates the artists intended reaction into the audience’s incidental reaction, as well as the way in which the artwork transmits its message. Contextually, the work was created in a time where new and emerging technologies were beginning, and the installation depicts a statue of Buddha, set before a camera that is designed to project his own image onto a TV screen in front of it. This gives the impression that he is silently contemplating his own image, as it infinitely appears on the TV screen, due to the presence of the camera (The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/422/Nam%20June%20Paik). In a cultural aspect, the Buddha is revered as a being who “embodies flawless purity and selflessness” (Bogoda, R, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bogoda/bl139.html), a direct
Strong, John. The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. Print.
The shift from the ‘Aniconic’ to the ‘Iconic’ depiction of the Buddha in Early Indian art