Dynamic forms

Published : Oct 19, 2012 00:00 IST

THE BUDDHA, 5TH CENTURY C.E., SARNATH, UTTAR PRADESH (Collection: National Museum, New Delhi). The Buddha personifies the bodhi, the potential of enlightenment within us. The inward look of the Buddha directs us towards the peace that can be found within.-THE BUDDHA, 5TH CENTURY C.E., SARNATH, UTTAR PRADESH (Collection: National Museum, New Delhi). The Buddha personifies the bodhi, the potential of enlightenment within us. The inward look of the Buddha directs us towards the peace that can be found within.

THE BUDDHA, 5TH CENTURY C.E., SARNATH, UTTAR PRADESH (Collection: National Museum, New Delhi). The Buddha personifies the bodhi, the potential of enlightenment within us. The inward look of the Buddha directs us towards the peace that can be found within.-THE BUDDHA, 5TH CENTURY C.E., SARNATH, UTTAR PRADESH (Collection: National Museum, New Delhi). The Buddha personifies the bodhi, the potential of enlightenment within us. The inward look of the Buddha directs us towards the peace that can be found within.

The Buddhist art of the 5th century C.E. onwards is filled with beauty and grace, which provide an elevating experience.

THE purpose of the earliest Buddhist art was to take us far from the images of the material world around us. By the 5th century C.E., we see a change in the artistic representations. Now, beauty and grace are used to transport us, to elevate us through the joy of the aesthetic experience. Perfected beings, full of sublime compassion, are painted and sculpted. They look within and guide us towards an inner journey.

The Buddhas message was one of self-discipline. He pointed out that there was pain in our lives, and that the cause of this pain was our desires. Therefore, in order to escape the pain, we had to do away with our desires. We would then leave behind the illusions of the material world and attain Buddhahood.

In the first millennium C.E., in vast Buddhist establishments in eastern India and in Kashmir, many intellectuals worked on the creation of a logical path that would lead us towards the attainment of this knowledge. The styles of art which were born in vast universities such as Nalanda and that in Kashmir are different from the simple and compassionate art of ancient Buddhism. Here, the focus has shifted to the dynamic intellect, which analyses the philosophic propositions in order to create an irrefutable path towards the truth that is sought.

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