Buddhism, one of the world’s great religions, originated in northern India about 2,500 years ago. It spread into other parts of Asia, where it changed and adapted to indigenous traditions. In the section on Buddhism in World Religions, Malcolm David Eckel writes:
“Although it almost died out as a living religion in the land of its origin, Buddhism has had a profound impact on religious life and cultural development outside of India, from Afghanistan in the west to China, Korea, and Japan in the east, and through southeast Asia from Myanmar (Burma) as far as the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.”
Malcolm David Eckel also writes:
“In the course of their migrations, Buddhist practices and teachings have shown a remarkable flexibility and capacity for adaptation to meet the needs of new host cultures and traditions.”
In many areas it became the dominant religion. In China, it is considered one of the Three Great Teachings (Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism).
In the United States today, there are many people, including both Christians and atheists, who vehemently refuse to consider Buddhism a religion. In her book Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, Karen Armstrong writes:
“Buddhism is certainly not a religion as this word has been understood in the West since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But our modern Western conception of ‘religion’ is idiosyncratic and eccentric.”
In his book God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World—And Why Their Differences Matter, Stephen Prothero writes:
“There is some question about whether Buddhism is a religion, but as with Confucianism this question reveals more about our own assumptions about religion than it does about Buddhism.”
The problem that some people have with defining Buddhism as a religion is that it is not focused on the worship of gods. In his book Religions, Philip Wilkinson writes:
“In its most basic form, Buddhism, whether Theravada or Mahayana, has no gods, because the Buddha explained that believing in and following the dhamma (his teaching), rather than worship, would lead to enlightenment. The Buddha himself is seen as an enlightened teacher, but not as a deity.”
Malcolm David Eckel writes:
“The Buddha was not considered to be God or a supernatural being, but a man who had found the answer to the deepest dilemmas of human life and had made that answer available to others. For millions of Asians and for many Europeans and Americans, Buddhism conveys a sense of the sacred and a sense of social and cultural cohesion without reliance on the concept of a creator God.”
Some people feel that Buddhism is an example of an atheistic religion. In his entry on Buddhism in The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, Finngeir Hiorth writes:
“But Buddhism does not postulate an almighty God who created everything. In this way, Buddhism may remind one of modern atheism. But taken as a whole, Buddhism is quite remote from most forms of modern atheism.”
Finngeir Hiorth concludes:
“Buddhism as a whole is hardly more atheistic than the theistic religions.”
In the Buddhist world there are many icons, including representations of the Buddha and other enlightened teachers. However, these icons are not worshipped, but are simply used as symbols of Buddhist teachings.
As Buddhism diffused across Asia, local Buddhist practice incorporated many of the elements of the aboriginal religions and thus gods are often encountered in Buddhist iconography.
Preaching Buddha Seated on a Lotus Throne
This icon in the Portland Art Museum from historical Gandhāra (present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) dates to the 2nd/3rd century (Kushan dynasty). According to the display:
“The historical region of Gandhāra lies at the crossroads of many great civilizations. It lies at easternmost end of the Hellenic states established in Asia in the wake of Alexander the Great; northwest of classical India; and astride great east-west trade routes that connected ancient Persia and China. Its inhabitants were Greek, Roman, Iranian, Indian, and many Central Asian nomadic tribes. In the second century CE, this region gave birth to a culturally hybrid form of Buddhist art, drawing on sources as diverse as its populations.”
Meditating Bodhisattva
This icon in the Portland Art Museum is from the Longmen Cave Complex and dates to about the 520s CE (Northern Wei dynasty). According to the display:
“The image of a bodhisattva seated with crossed ankles, with his hand to his cheek as though in deep thought, is thought to allude to the moment when Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, dreamt of his future enlightenment. This small relief originally adorned a rock-cut cave at Longmen in north-central China.”
Head of a Buddha
This icon in the Portland Art Museum is from the Xiangtangshan Cave Complex in Hebei Province and dates to 560 CE (Northern Qi dynasty). The head is carved from limestone. According to the display:
“According to Buddhist tradition, when the young prince Sakymanui resolved to seek a spiritual awakening, he discarded his courtly garments and cut off his long hair. Some say his hair never grew back, but more often it is said that his hair grew in as tiny, snail-shaped curls. He had a bump on his head as a sign of his exceptional intelligence, and his earlobes were long due to the huge earrings he had worn as a prince. All of those features can be seen in this superbly carved head.”
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)
This Chinese icon in the Portland Art Museum dates to the 13th/14th century (Yuan or Ming dynasty). It is wood with traces of pigment. Avalokiteshvara is one of the most widely worshipped deities in the Buddhist cultures across Asia. According to the display:
“His appearance is modeled on that of the historical Buddha as a young Indian prince: his long hair is piled in a topknot, and he wears jewelry as well as a skirt-like garment and shawl.”
A bodhisattva or “Buddha-to-be” is a person who has renounced enlightenment in order to help others to achieve nirvana.
Bodhisattva
This figure in the Portland Art Museum is from China’s Hebei province and dates to 550-557 CE (Northern Qi dynasty). According to the display:
“This figure dates from the third quarter of the sixth century, a time when Chinese Buddhist sculpture was evolving toward greater realism. The body begins to emerge from what had previously been an erect columnar form, and low relief carving delineates musculature, garments, and jewelry. Polychrome painting, now completely worn away, enhanced the lifelike effect.”
Jikokuten
This Japanese figure in the Portland Art Museum of one of the Four Guardian Kings dates to the late 12th or early 13th century (Kamakura period). According to the display:
“Standing upright upon a pair of squirming demons, this armored figure is one of the four guardian kings charged with protecting the Buddhist faith against evil spirits emanating from the four corners of the earth. He would have originally been placed in a corner of a temple altar, with an image of the Buddha at the center.”
Shishi (Lion)
This Japanese wooden figure in the Portland Art Museum dates to the 11th/12th century CE. Guardian figures such as this once flanked the entrance to a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine in Japan. This figure was carved from a single block of wood.
Kadampa Votice Stupa
This 12th century bronze piece in the Portland Art Museum is from Tibet. According to the display:
“This votive stupa is a type of reliquary used in the Kadampa School of Tibetan Buddhism. The hollow, domed based and its superstructure recall ancient Indian burial mounds topped with umbrellas, which marked the high status of the deceased. Like Christian relics, Buddhist relics evolved from items associated with the founder of the religion. Over time, Buddhist relics came to include not only the ashes, fragments of clothing and belongings of revered monks but also sacred texts or gems sanctified by special rituals.”
Buddha Sitting Cross-Legged
This icon is in the National Museum of Scotland. According to the display:
“Guatama Buddha was a Hindu prince (c500 BC) who renounced the world to become a wandering ascetic. His search and eventual achievement of enlightenment became the basis of the Buddhist religion.”
Buddha Seated in Meditation
This icon in the National Museum of Scotland shows Buddha seated in a pose known as “earth witness.” According to the display:
“The Buddha’s left hand is in his lap, palm up, and his right hand reaches to touch the earth. It represents the moment when his six-year search for a perfect state of understanding and tranquility ended and he asked the earth goddess as his witness.”
Amida Buddha
This icon in the National Museum of Scotland shows Amida Buddha, who embodies the ideals of wisdom, compassion, and enlightenment. Buddhism reached Japan through Korea in the sixth century CE. Pure Land Buddhism arose in China in the seventh century CE and is centered on the Buddha known as Amitabha (Sanskrit) or Amida (Japanese). In his book Religions, Philip Wilkinson writes:
“Amitabha is said to be the ruler of a kind of heaven known as the Pure Land, where he sits on a lotus, glowing with golden light.”
The followers of Pure Land Buddhism believe that they can avoid the cycle of death and rebirth and go directly to the Pure Land.
Japanese Temple Lantern
For centuries both warriors and wealthy commoners donated lanterns, such as the one displayed in the National Museum of Scotland, to Buddhist temples.
Buddha Amida
The image of Buddha Amida is displayed in the National Museum of Scotland. Pure Land Buddhism developed in Japan in the twelfth century and is one of the largest schools of Buddhism in Japan today. According to the display:
“The statue shows Amida seated on a lotus pedestal in an attitude of meditation known as dhyana mudra with the hands resting in the lap, palms facing upward and the tips of the thumbs touching the index fingers. On the halo behind him are the 25 guardians chosen to protect all true believers.”
Bodhisattva Weituo
This icon displayed in the National Museum of Scotland is of Bodhisattva Weituo, a protector figure in Chinese Buddhism. According to the display:
“His role is to preserve Buddhist teachings and protect Buddhist monasteries.”
The display also reports:
“The tradition of Buddhism in China believes in universal enlightenment. It recognizes many spiritual beings, among them bodhisattvas, or beings that have compassionately chosen to remain on earth, guiding others toward enlightenment.”