BUDDHA STATUE AND THEIR MEANING

All of us have seen different brass buddha statues all our life. Buddha statue with different mudra, different stance, different expression, but what is the significance of all of them? What do they teach us? How are they different? To get answers to all these questions. Stay with us!

FROM WHERE DID STATUE CAME INTO EXISTENCE AND HOW DO THEY AID OUR LIFE

All the statues that we will mention here or the one which you have or seen holds a very significant meaning in spiritual and religious aspects. But you know the surprising aspect behind these statues is that almost all of them came into existence after the demise of Gautam Buddha. Not even a single statue was made when he was alive. Isn’t it surprising! To know more about the Buddha , his stance and their meaning.

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 DIFFERENT STATUE AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

Buddha has given this world a priceless gift of knowledge and path of Dharma. Each and every stance has a distinct meaning and value behind it. Here, We have listed a few popular brass Buddha statue with their meanings and their significance.

• Meditating buddha – This is one of the most common buddha statues which we see in our everyday life. We can identify a meditating buddha by looking at the position of his hands. When lord buddha’s right hand is placed above his left hand in a relaxed manner. This mudra is usually at stomach level or gently placed on his lap. Here in this mudra and in buddhism also the left hand is associated with female wisdom or called as The female left hand — principle of wisdom. As we can see in the picture this brass buddha statue has both his hand in dhyana mudra and his hands are making a little triangle. This gesture can be interpreted into many perspectives and meanings. One of the most valuable messages it conveys is about a mysterious fire which is so pure and powerful that it has the ability to purify, even the most impure and sinful impurities in oneself.

The little triangle symbolises three jewels of buddhism —

FIRST – The Buddha

SECOND – The dharma and THIRD – The sangha.

• The following mudra is very popular in meditating from sadhus and yogi of primaeval time to modern virtual yoga lesson in meditation.
• This picture depicts Tibetan meditating buddha in dhyana mudra. ‘Dhyan’ is a Sanskrit word which translates into concentration.  This posture is a lesson in timeless ancient wisdom which is being passed to us from generation to generation.

• Medicine buddha –  Medicine Buddha statue has a distinct feature, in his left hand he holds a bowl of medicinal herbs. The real name of the medicine buddha is ‘Bhaisajyaguru’. He is known for his twelve vows he took after his enlightenment to help and protect people from the Evil of illness.

Wondering what were these vows well there you go!

• To bring the lost or fallen human back to the path of enlightenment.
• To cloth or cover the people distressed from illness and mosquitoes.
• To help the victims or survivors of a natural disaster.
• By chanting his name one breaks away from the shackles of materialistic desires.
• To save and feed people from starvation and teach them the righteous way of living.
• To relieve the pain and poverty of all the people.
• By the chanting his name one will be free from all the ailments.
• To help physically challenged people lead their way into godhood.

• Sleeping Buddha – As you can see in the picture of the brass Buddha statue, Buddha’s head is on his knee and his eyes are half way close. This stance does not include any mudra but more of a message about what you can obtain from meditation. The serenity and peace of mind that can only be achieved from constant deep meditation. To get in touch with our soul and lead our mind to tranquillity.

• Buddha head – All the above brass buddha statue are being worshipped since the early sixth century,And this buddha head is a modern day blend of buddhism and contemporary art. These buddha head are believed to bring positive energy and good luck. Along with all the benefits of an buddha head, it have a deep spiritual meaning. As we can see in this picture buddha head have distinct parts with specific meaning.

Usnisha-  Usnisha refers to the Crown on the head of brass Buddha statue head this crown is the symbol of knowledge and wisdom of buddha that comes with enlightenment. We can interpret that the real crown of any person is wisdom and knowledge of truth.

The hair-  when gautam buddha was prince he hade long curly hair which he had cut short with his sword to embark his journey in search of truth. In this picture as we can see that his hair is neither shaved as monks have nor long as he had in his former days as a prince. His hair shows his state of mind which is in between earthly desire and enlightenment.

Third eye –  his third eye can be seen in this statue which describes that he has attained divine wisdom. As he has attained the third eye he can see the truth of life which is love, kindness and compassion.

Eyes –  His eyes show that he can see everything and anything in this universe. His half closed eyes symbolise the truth of knowledge that comes from within an his half open eyes show that he can look past all the material things and delusion.

Lips – His subtle smile teaches us a lesson that despite all the problems and adversity in his life. He has achieved a higher wisdom and understanding of life. And because of all that knowledge he can see through all the delusion of the human mind and materialistic desire.

We got to know that all forms of buddha mudra and statues have a deep and spiritual meaning behind them. Now that we know about it we can decipher their meaning and understand the value they bring into our life.