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

Handla från Buddha · 313 Betydelse

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Buddha oljebrännare sittande blå Doftvax · Keramik 5,0 (2)£7.95Medlemmar: +£0.30 tillbaka
Buddha oljebrännare och vaxsmältare svart Doftvax · Keramik 4,9 (13)£5.99Medlemmar: +£0.20 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, halv mandala blå 60x80 cm Canvas £39.95Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha mandala canvas väggkonst set om 4 Canvas £56.00Medlemmar: +£3.60 tillbaka
Buddha huvud väggkonst set om 4, 30x30 cm Canvas £34.99Medlemmar: +£2.50 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, tre huvuden med gulddetalj Canvas £48.99Medlemmar: +£3.15 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, tre huvuden med bambu Canvas £43.95Medlemmar: +£2.85 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst tre huvuden svart Canvas £43.95Medlemmar: +£2.85 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, inramad koppar 80x60 cm Canvas £40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbakaBegränsat lager
Buddha väggkonst på canvas, gyllene ansikte och lotusblomma Canvas 5,0 (2)£40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha målning, koppar brokad 80x60 cm Canvas 5,0 (2)£40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbakaBegränsat lager
Inramad Buddha canvas väggkonst, blå brokad Canvas 4,8 (5)£40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, grå brokad Canvas £40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst, guld brokad 80x60 cm Canvas 4,8 (5)£40.99Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha canvas väggkonst grå sandfinish 80x60 cm Canvas 5,0 (2)£34.99Medlemmar: +£2.25 tillbakaBegränsat lager
Buddha canvas väggkonst grå mandala, 60x80 cm Canvas £39.95Medlemmar: +£2.60 tillbaka
Buddha väggkonst set om 4 grå mandala Canvas £56.00Medlemmar: +£3.60 tillbaka
Buddha huvud canvas väggkonst set om 4 Canvas £42.99Medlemmar: +£2.80 tillbaka
Buddhastaty med Klassisk Mandala 2-delars Set Albasiaträ 5,0 (1)£68.95Medlemmar: +£4.45 tillbaka
Buddha-statysset 2 delar Om-symbol grå svart Albasiaträ 4,0 (1)£77.00Medlemmar: +£4.95 tillbakaBegränsat lager
Buddhastaty med Blomma Mandala 2-delars Set, Blå Albasiaträ £68.95Medlemmar: +£4.45 tillbakaBegränsat lager
Stort Buddha-huvud antik i mässing Mässing 4,0 (1)£32.99Medlemmar: +£2.10 tillbaka

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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Vanliga frågor

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.