File:Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism (1916) (14595209738).jpg

Identifier: buddhagospelofbu01coom (find matches)
Title: Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, 1877-1947
Subjects: Buddha and Buddhism
Publisher: New York, G. P. Putnam's sons
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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as departure from his home,1 Kanthakasback is bare, and we see only the horse, with the figuresof Channa, and of the attendant Devas who lift up hisfeet so that the sound of his tread may not be heard, andwho bear the parasol of dominion at his side. TheBuddha, however, may be symbolized in various ways,as by the Wisdom Tree, the Umbrella of Dominion, or,most typically, by conventionally represented Footprints.It will be seen that the absence of the Buddha figure fromthe world of living men—where yet remain the traces ofhis ministry-—is a true artistic rendering of the Mastersguarded silence respecting the after-death state of thosewho have attained Nibbana— the Perfect One is releasedfrom this, that his being should be gauged by the measureof the corporeal world, he is released from name andform. In the omission of the Buddha figure, then, thisEarly Buddhist art is truly Buddhist, but in nearly all 1 Depicted on the central horizontal beam of the east Sanchi gate (Plate O). 326
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Plate Y 326 STANDING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA Anuradhapura (2nd~3rd century a.d.) The Buddhist Primitives else it is an art about Buddhism, rather than Buddhistart. The Buddhist Primitives We have explained above under the heading * Beginningsof the Mahay-ana, in what manner the Buddha cameto be regarded as a personal god, and how the EarlyBuddhist intellectual discipline is gradually modified bythe growth of a spirit of devotion which finds expressionin worship and the creation of a cult. This may to alarge extent reflect the growing influence of the lay com-munity, and it is paralleled by similar tendencies in thedevelopment of other contemporary phases of belief.With what passionate abandon even the symbols of the% Feet of the Lord were adored will appear in theillustration (Plate Q) from the sculptures of Amaravatl,a Buddhist shrine in southern India, lavishly decoratedwith carvings in low relief, mostly of the second centurya.d. Feeling such as this could not but demand anobject of wo

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