Buddha

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

Cumpără de la Buddha · 313 Semnificație

În bibliotecă

Arome

Lemn de santal69 buc.

Cumpără de la Buddha

Bol cântător Om Pulbere Pământ Cinci Buddha 16cm 16 cm · 770 g · Aluminiu India£48.95Membri: +£3.15 înapoi
Tavă Fața lui Buddha neagră gravată 30x15x2.5cm Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Bol cântător Praf Albastru Cinci Buddha Mantra 16 cm 16 cm · 770 g · Aluminiu India£48.95Membri: +£3.15 înapoi
Bol mare din aluminiu pentru cântat - Buddha Arborele Vieții - Culoare cupru (19cm) 19 cm · 1,3 kg India£71.00Membri: +£4.60 înapoi
Set mediu de tăvițe emailate din lemn de mango, Buddha Lemn de mango India£34.95Membri: +£2.05 înapoi
Cutie extra mare din lemn de mango, Buddha Bodi Tree Lemn de mango India£45.95Membri: +£2.75 înapoi
Piramide orgonite mici, 5.5x4.5cm, Buddha chakre, așchii de turmalină neagră 5,5 × 4,5 cm · Rășină de orgonit India£11.95Membri: +£0.75 înapoi
Tavă lungă Fața lui Buddha albă 30x15x2.5cm Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Tavă mână Hamsa, Buddha negru gravat 30x20.5x2.5cm Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Tavă lungă mână Hamsa, Buddha albă 30x20.5x2.5cm Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Cutie rotundă Fața lui Buddha neagră gravată 17.5x7.5cm Lemn de mango India£19.95Membri: +£1.15 înapoi
Cutie rotundă Fața lui Buddha albă 17.5x7.5cm Lemn de mango India£19.95Membri: +£1.15 înapoi
Cutie dreptunghiulară mare Fața lui Buddha neagră gravată 21.5x14x6.3cm Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Cutie dreptunghiulară de depozitare Fața lui Buddha albă Lemn de mango India£15.95Membri: +£0.95 înapoi
Cutie pătrată Fața lui Buddha neagră gravată 17x10x4.2 cm Lemn de mango India£11.95Membri: +£0.70 înapoi
Cutie de depozitare Fața lui Buddha albă 17x10x4.2cm Lemn de mango India£11.95Membri: +£0.70 înapoi
Cutie Pătrată cu Fața Buddha Neagră Gravata 10x10x4.2cm Lemn de mango India£8.99Membri: +£0.45 înapoi

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.

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Întrebări frecvente

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.