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

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Cumpără de la Buddha

Sculptură cap Buddha pe suport, cupru albastru Beton £24.99Membri: +£1.60 înapoi
Statuetă cap Buddha pe suport, cupru verde Beton £24.99Membri: +£1.60 înapoi
Suport de conuri de tămâie din lemn, bol Buddha gravat Conuri · Lemn de mango India£12.95Membri: +£0.75 înapoi
Arzător de ulei și ceară topită, Buddha din lemn de mango Ceară parfumată · Lemn de mango India 5.0 (1)£17.99Membri: +£1.05 înapoi
Tapiserie mandala Buddha pentru perete, cuvertură dublă din bumbac Bumbac India£32.95Membri: +£1.95 înapoi
Bețișoare parfumate Buddha Bliss, Banjara India£2.08
Bețișoare parfumate Banjara Buddha Binecuvântare India£2.08
Bețe de tămâie pentru meditație Banjara Buddha India 5.0 (1)£2.08
Bețișoare de tămâie Banjara Buddha al Înțelepciunii India£2.08
Suport pentru tămâie din piatră săpun, Hamsa cu gravură Buddha Bețișoare · Steatit India£8.99Membri: +£0.45 înapoi
Clopoțel Vânt Buddha din Alamă Design Chakra Alamă India£13.95Membri: +£0.85 înapoi
Clopoțel Vânt Buddha, 5 Clopoțele din Alamă, Lucrat Manual Alamă India£13.95Membri: +£0.80 înapoi
Suport pentru Bețișoare de Tămâie, Turn Buddha cu 7 Chakre Bețișoare · Aluminiu India£11.95Membri: +£0.70 înapoi
Suport pentru Bețișoare de Tămâie Buddha Roșu 10 cm Bețișoare · Aluminiu India 3.0 (1)£13.95Membri: +£0.85 înapoi
Suport pentru Bețișoare de Tămâie Buddha Verde 10 cm Bețișoare · Aluminiu India£13.95Membri: +£0.85 înapoi
Arzător de ulei Buddha decupat alb Ulei și apă · Ceramică China 4.6 (8)£8.99Membri: +£0.45 înapoi
Pictură Buddha Floare Albastră și Aurie 75x55 cm £39.99Membri: +£2.50 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.