Buddhist Art
Everyone has heard the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words," and although the origins of the proverb maybe obscure, Buddhist artists have always understood its truth. Throughout the long history of Buddhism, art has always first and foremost been used to tell a story, to deliver a message. For this reason, Buddhist art has played a major role in the spread of Buddhism, specially, before literacy was common. Today too when people have little time and not much inclination to read, Buddhist art is as important as ever.
Wherever you travel along the tourist trail in Asia you find Buddhist monuments, monasteries and temples overflowing with examples of Buddhist art. From Afghanistan to Japan, the images and murals that decorate Buddhist sites all have stories to tell. Sometimes the stories are of the former lives of the Buddha when the Bodhisattva was born in the form of different people and animals and sometimes the stories are of the events of the life of the Buddha Shakyamuni. At still other times, they may be of the lives of other holy men, of the heavens or the hells or of the pure lands. But whatever they are, you can be sure the pictures have something worthwhile to tell you about the Buddha and His teaching.
I am reminded of this again as I sit here at my computer in my temporary accommodations in northern Thailand. Not long before I left Singapore, an old and dear friend gave me a small sculpture - a sort of going away present I guess. The carving is about the only thing on my shrine at the moment. Everything else is in packing boxes or in transit, but it’s enough!
It is a sculpture showing the Buddha surrounded by the first five disciples. Before the Enlightenment, when the Bodhisattva had renounced life in the palace and had cut off his hare and become a homeless wonderer, his father the king had made one last attempt to persuade him to change his mind. He sent two trusted counselors accompanied by their retinue to find the Bodhisattva and bring him back. The counselors found the Bodhisattva but failed to convince him to give up his quest. When they returned to Kapilavastu, five of their retinue decided to join the Bodhisattva.
For six years the five stayed with the Bodhisattva. Together they lived at Uruvilva beside the banks of the Niranjana river and practised penance. There, the Bodhisattva fasted until his body was reduced to skin and bone, and he could hardly stand or walk. He became so week that one day while bathing in the river, he fainted and nearly drowned. This episode leads him to think that penance was not the way to discover the truth about existence, because it only sapped the strength of the body and the mind.
He remembered his experience of meditation as a child when sitting under the Rose Apple tree during the ploughing ceremony, and he decided to try another way to achieve Enlightenment. Then, the maiden, Sujata, offered him a bowl of milk and rice which he accepted. When his five companions saw him eat the food, they became disgusted with him, and exclaiming, "the ascetic Gautama has reverted to a life of luxury!" they left him. But after he had eaten, the Bodhisattva went on to attain Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.
After His Enlightenment, when the Buddha was ready to teach the Dharma, He wondered who might be most able to understand the teaching. He thought of the five companions with whom He had shared the long years of the quest. The Buddha knew that they were staying in the Deer Park near Varanasi, and it was there that he directed His steps.
When the five saw the Buddha coming, they resolved not to offer Him any signs of respect, because they still believed that He had given up the quest to find the truth. But as the Buddha came near, they found they could not resist his charisma and spontaneously they received Him with honour. The Buddha told them of His attainment of Enlightenment. Then the Buddha taught them the Dharma.
It is the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma at the Deer Park near Varanasi that is shown in the sculpture in front of me. The Buddha is telling the five about the MIddle Way that avoids the extremes of penance and luxury. He is teaching them the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause, the truth of the end of suffering and the truth of the noble eight-fold path. As they listen to the Buddha, they see the truth about existence and attain freedom. What a wonderful story this little example of Buddhist art has to tell!