Fall 2022 - The Figure

If marks of perfection confirm Buddhahood, earthly traits on
the same figure recount his life’s journey for enlightenment. He
was born Siddhartha Gautama in 6th century BC, regent to a
north Indian kingdom at the foothills of the Himalayans. The
prince enjoyed a life of luxury at the palace, was married, and
wore fine garments and gold jewelry. A Buddha figure always
acknowledges this early life with extended ear lobes, which
were once weighted to the shoulders under heavy earrings (see
page 35).
Such extreme care was taken to shield him from life’s sufferings
that the prince did not encounter sickness, old age,
and death until he was 29 years old. Those “Four Encounters,”
the fourth being a wandering ascetic, launched his quest for
enlightenment, in search of an end to the human predicament
of suffering. Having left the palace in the cover of night,
he removed his jewels and cut off his hair in a symbolic act of
renouncing earthly possessions and familial ties. The remaining
tufts on his shorn head curled neatly in the characteristic
“snail shells” pattern (see page 34). In place of courtly attire,
Siddhartha wore two rectangular cloths wrapped around his
body, typically with one shoulder bare. Buddhist nuns and
monks to this day, as they set intentions to imitate the Buddha,
undergo ritual head shaving, don versions of Buddha’s simple
garment, and renounce personal wealth.
Siddhartha lived the life of a wandering ascetic for six years.
Having exhausted the practice of extreme austerity, he arrived
at the Middle Path, rejecting both sensual indulgences and
debilitating self-denial. He revived his emaciated body with a
bowl of rice pudding, and then sat down to meditate under
a sacred tree in Bodh Gaya. There, he reached a profound
insight: the sufferings of life are caused by egocentric desires,
and the path to salvation consists of shedding those delusions.
By awakening to the true nature of reality, he attained liberation
from the endless cycle of rebirth. He became the “Awakened
One,” the Buddha.
Some of the most dynamic Buddhist sculptures ever created
depict this moment (as seen at left). Under the boughs of the
Bodhi tree, the Buddha sits cross-legged in deep concentration.
He is surrounded by trouble. The demon Mara, standing
with a long bow, first threatens the Buddha with fear, his
grotesque soldiers hurling weapons; then Mara tempts him
with desire, as personified by his alluring daughters. Remaining
immovable, the Buddha extends his right hand to touch the
ground, asking Earth to witness his awakening.
The 6th-century Indian sculptor dramatized the moment
with visual contrasts. The Buddha is composed of pure
shapes. The Diamond Seat (a rectangle) supports the seated
Buddha (a triangle), topped with a halo (a perfect circle). In
contrast, Mara and his cohorts are a mangled mass, all curves
and twisted lumps. The smooth and unadorned Buddha, as
if swelling from a breath within, appears luminous against
the pitted and shadowed frame of figures.
The Buddha is the center of the narrative, yet he exists
beyond the fray, being at once of the moment and timeless.
In fact, when extracted from the scene of the battle,
the Earth-Touching Buddha (below) is one of the most
repeated icons in Buddhism. His immobile pose and blissful
introspection model a state of being: by mastering the mind,
one may defeat the inner demons of fear and desire. The
Buddha figure thus embodies his teaching.
The sculptures from the Xuzhou Collection (pronounced
“shoe-joe”) present extraordinary range and unparalleled
quality. The collector, himself a student of Buddhism, named
the collection in Chinese, meaning “Empty Boat”—a reminder
that the sculptures themselves manifest Buddhist teaching.
Looking beyond the apparent material splendor, viewers are
alerted to the sculptures’ potential to teach and to transform.
37
Height: 20 1/2”
Icon of Enlightenment
Abstracted from the scene of the battle, the Earth-Touching Buddha
remains one of the most iconic images in Buddhism, offering reassurance
in the human struggle against fear and desire.