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A Buddha figure portrays Siddhartha Gautama, the teacher who lived in northern India around the fifth century BCE and whose teaching became Buddhism. Each pose and hand gesture recalls a moment of his life: meditation, teaching, the night of his awakening. For Buddhists the figure is an object of respect and a reminder of the path he showed.

Tradition: Buddhism, from northern India
First figures: around the 1st century CE
Traditional place: raised and clean, never on the floor

Compra en Buda · 313 Significado

En la biblioteca

Aromas

Sándalo69 piezas

Compra en Buda

Arte mural de algodón (70x110cm), Buda y árbol Bodhi Algodón India£10.99Miembros: +£0.60 de vuelta
Colcha individual y tapiz de pared de algodón, Buda con chakras Algodón India 5,0 (1)£18.95Miembros: +£1.15 de vuelta
Tapiz de pared Mandala Buda, colcha de algodón doble Algodón India£32.95Miembros: +£1.95 de vuelta
Cuadro de Buda con flores en azul y dorado, 75x55 cm £39.99Miembros: +£2.50 de vuelta
Cuadro de Buda con flores en plata y oro rosa, 75x55 cm £39.99Miembros: +£2.50 de vuelta
Cuadro de Buda con flores en bronce y azul, 75x55 cm £39.99Miembros: +£2.50 de vuelta
Arte de Pared Chakra Buda Algodón Pintado a Mano Algodón India£14.95Miembros: +£0.85 de vueltaPocas existencias
Arte de Pared Buda, Algodón Algodón India 5,0 (5)£10.99Miembros: +£0.55 de vuelta
Colcha individual y tapiz de pared de algodón, Buda Algodón India 5,0 (1)£18.95Miembros: +£1.15 de vuelta
Colcha de algodón doble para cama, tapiz de pared, Chakra Buda Algodón India£26.95Miembros: +£1.60 de vueltaPocas existencias
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha medio mandala azul 60x80 cm Lona £39.95Miembros: +£2.60 de vuelta
Arte de Pared en Lienzo Mandala de Buda Set de 4 Lona £56.00Miembros: +£3.60 de vuelta
Set de 4 cuadros de cabezas de Buddha, 30x30 cm Lona £34.99Miembros: +£2.50 de vuelta
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha tres cabezas con detalles dorados Lona £48.99Miembros: +£3.15 de vuelta
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha tres cabezas con bambú Lona £43.95Miembros: +£2.85 de vuelta
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha tres cabezas negro Lona £43.95Miembros: +£2.85 de vuelta
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha enmarcado cobre 80x60 cm Lona £40.99Miembros: +£2.60 de vueltaPocas existencias
Cuadro de Buda en lienzo para pared, rostro dorado y flor de loto Lona 5,0 (2)£40.99Miembros: +£2.60 de vuelta
Cuadro de Buddha, brocado cobre 80x60 cm Lona 5,0 (2)£40.99Miembros: +£2.60 de vueltaPocas existencias
Cuadro de lienzo Buddha enmarcado brocado azul Lona 4,8 (5)£40.99Miembros: +£2.60 de vuelta

What the figure means

Buddha means the awakened one. It is the title given to Siddhartha Gautama, who taught in the Ganges plain some two and a half thousand years ago. A figure of him is a reminder of a person and of a path: that attention, kindness and patience can be practised, day by day.

For several centuries early Buddhist art showed him only through signs, such as a footprint, an empty seat or a tree. Figures in human form appeared around the first century CE, in Gandhara and Mathura in the north of the subcontinent.

Postures and hand gestures

A seated Buddha usually meditates. A standing one teaches or walks among people. A reclining Buddha, lying on his right side, shows his final passing, the parinirvana, and in Buddhist art it is a calm image of completion.

The hands, called mudras, tell the rest. Hands resting in the lap, palms up, mean meditation. A right hand reaching down to touch the earth recalls the night of his awakening, when he called the earth as his witness. A raised open palm is the gesture of fearlessness, and fingers joined at the chest mean teaching.

Placing a Buddha at home

Buddhist custom asks for a clean, raised place: a shelf, a low table or a home altar, never the floor and never the bathroom. Many people set the figure facing into the room or towards the door, with a little space around it for a candle, a flower or incense.

Choosing a figure

Choose the gesture you want to come back to: meditation for a reading corner, the earth-touching hand for a desk where decisions are made. The round, laughing figure with a sack is Budai, a monk of Chinese folklore, a different figure from the Buddha himself. Dust with a soft dry cloth.

En la biblioteca

Flor de loto47 piezas

Mandala122 piezas

Om45 piezas

Sándalo69 piezas

Preguntas frecuentes

Is it disrespectful to have a Buddha statue if I am not Buddhist?

Most Buddhist teachers welcome it when the figure is kept with respect: raised, clean, and away from the floor and the bathroom. Avoid using it as a doorstop, a lamp base or a garden joke.

Which way should a Buddha statue face?

Custom varies from country to country. A common choice is facing into the room or towards the main door, at or above eye level when you sit. A clean, calm place matters more than the direction.

What does a reclining Buddha mean?

It shows the Buddha at the end of his life, lying on his right side as he passed into final nirvana. In Buddhist art it is a peaceful image of completion, not a sad one.

Is the laughing Buddha the same as the Buddha?

No. The laughing figure is Budai, a Chinese monk of folklore later linked with Maitreya, the Buddha to come. Siddhartha Gautama is usually shown slender and calm.