Buddha’s Universal Awakening
My seventh solo painting exhibition entitled 'Faces of Buddha' has
been recently accomplished at National Art Council, Babarmahal, Kathmandu.
Divided into two themes - 'Faces of Buddha' and 'Reincarnation of Buddha', the portraits and the paintings fascinated myriads of visitors including
art connoisseurs with an unprecedented enthusiasm since the day of its
inauguration graced by Right Honorable Mr. Khil Raj Regmi, the Chairman of
Council of Ministers.
Faces of Buddha
Buddha has a variety of faces in different parts of the world such as Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. To my astonishment, I have seen the crafting of the same Buddha in diverse faces in these countries. For example, Cambodian Buddha is depicted with relatively flat nose- reflecting the common faces of his followers there, and the Chinese Buddha- the God of happiness, good-luck and fortune worshipped in Vietnam (and in other parts of the world by Chinese Buddhists) – is reflected with a round face and a big belly.
No
craftsmen knew exactly how Buddha exactly looked like. Hence his image is a
resultant of the accuracy with which his followers understood Buddha’s real
look, the accuracy with which they explained it to the craftsmen and the
accuracy with which the craftsmen portrayed the image with their own skill,
experience and imagination. In this
process, Buddha’s faces have been localized distinctly in different parts of
the world. In this context, one noticeable feature in many faces of Buddha is
his crown, probably to reflect the fact that he was once a handsome crown
prince or to symbolize of his attainment of enlightenment and Nirvana.
In most
of my portraits of Buddha, he has been painted with the dazzling crown on his
head, in mighty silence, in serene-peaceful-moonlit heavenly appearance, in
radiant meditation, in a form of magical aura - radiant star, in a form of sparkling wisdom &
illumination- approaching Nirvana, in perennial meditation position, in deep
contemplation, in a pose of supreme sacrifice, in a form of Heavenly
resolution- closing his eyes and, in some paintings, in the form of half-opened
eyes. Some of my paintings depict
Buddha in the form of an innocent child - Baby Buddha, Little Buddha, filled
with innocent charm, sacred smile and divine whisper.
The realization of ‘Everest- tenderness’ in Buddha motivated me to paint the female
face of Buddha as a delicate, affectionate and motherly woman. In one of my portraits,
Buddha has been depicted in red and romantic background as a ‘Prince in Love’
to reflect the fact that he was once a crown Prince, very deep in love with
Mayadevi, his mother, Yashodhara, his wife, and Rahul, his
child. The faces of the
stone-carved Cambodian Buddha have weathered all over the centuries, and in
some cases, tree roots have passed through them. I have painted them as they
are, and entitled them as ‘Meditation in the Forest’ and ‘In Harmony with
Nature’.
In some of my portraits, Hinduism
and Shivaism are fused with Buddhism, and Lord Buddha’s face has been painted
in union with the Hindu Gods such as the ‘Four-Faced’ Bramha, the ‘Nilakantha’
Shiva and the ‘Svayam Bhagavan’ Krishna, intending to deliver the message that certain elements of
Buddhism exist even in Hinduism.
Buddhism
is a religion only to the extent that it is characterized by devotional
practices and rituals to Buddha. However, it neither involves belief in a creator
God nor seeks to define itself by reference to a religious belief. In addition,
Buddhism has been described as a philosophy, a way of life, a code of ethics,
and science of mind. In sharp contrast to other religions, even an
ordinary person can, in the course of life, can attain ‘Enlightenment’ and
become Buddha himself or herself.
Reincarnation of Buddha
 |
| Sandhya Regmi |
The reincarnation
series of paintings have depicted the fact that elements of Buddha exist in
ordinary people, and that everybody is capable of marching towards the path of
Enlightenment and transforming herself/himself into Buddha. We must understand
that the elements of Buddha exist in each individual. It is just a matter of
degree. Given that Buddha is a union of a particular state of mind and of
action, each individual is capable of adjusting the extent of Buddha in
him/her. What all the monks portrayed in the series of ‘Reincarnation of
Buddha’ have in common is that they all have the origin in Nepal, the place
where Siddhartha Gautam Buddha was born. Each of them has taken a different
route, but all tracks merge into one at the point of attaining the enlightenment
('gyana').
Each
Buddha is an enlightened teacher as Siddhartha Gautam who shared his insights
to help people overcome sufferings ('dukkha'), to eliminate ignorance ('agyana') and finally to put an end to all the sufferings
and ultimately to attain the sublime state of 'Nirvaņa' ('mokshya'), a state of
extreme peace and happiness that a person achieves after giving up all personal
desires, materialism and worldly affairs.
These
days all over the world, campaigns are going on to highlight the fact that
Buddha was born in Nepal. So as to enhance this very fact, I have emphasized
through the portraits that Buddha was not only born in Nepal, but also being
reincarnated in this country in different forms irrespective of gender and
religion. This is the beginning of a really big and broad mission with a
nationalistic touch and its radiations should continuously spread far and wide
to safeguard the purity of humanity. It is hoped that my paintings associated
with it will tempt the entire world to crave for such wonderful, multiple
reincarnations, ultimately leading to a supreme sense of universal relief from
the ever-expanding anxiety and suffering.
By
Sandhya Regmi
(The author is an artist, an engineer and a
literary writer.)
 |
0 comments
Write Down Your Responses
Thanks for Your comment.