In our travels in Southeast Asia, seeing beautiful, serene statues of Buddha was a daily occurrence … and we never tired of it. Each sculpture was a work of art.
For the Faithful, Buddha’s different postures are symbolic
and have distinct religious meanings. For instance, long earlobes are associated with wisdom, because people with large ears can listen well.
The position of Buddhas’s hands, called “mudras,” is also significant. There are literally hundreds of them, each with a precise meaning. The common pose with the legs crossed, the left hand in the lap, and the right hand pointing to the ground with the palm facing inward toward the Buddha, is the “Calling the Earth to Witness,” which represents the moment of enlightenment.
A standing or sitting Buddha with both palms facing forward is the Teaching Buddha.
Both hands resting face up in the lap, with ankles tucked is the Meditation Buddha, signifying inner wisdom, emotional balance, and clarity.
This statue is the Alms Collecting Buddha, which signifies compassion and caring for all beings.
The Buddha in a reclining pose has reached enlightenment, lost all his desires, and is preparing to leave this world, to enter into Nirvana.
Buddhism is a tradition rich in symbolism, and every symbol has a meaning. And as a traveler unfamiliar with the religion, it helps to understand some of the inspirations that worshippers feel when they pray to a beautiful statue of Buddha.
Happy Trails,
James
I just slipped outside to look again at my garden Buddha. He is a meditation Buddha – both hands resting in his lap, palms facing upwards. Every morning I place a flower in his lap. He sits close to the front door – welcoming all into our home. Beautiful and informative photographs. V.
Thanks V. I’ve always loved having a statue of Buddha in my garden (even before I knew what the gestures meant). It’s also really nice to have a small fountain to complete the space.
I think the fountain is a splendid idea. That could be my summer project this year. V.
Wonderful pics, thank you. 🙂 Look forward to seeing more.
Thanks Marilyn, for the comment and for dropping by the blog. One of the interesting things about Buddhism is their placement of statues just about anywhere. It makes for wonderful photo ops and some fun surprises.
Thank you Marilyn. Southeast Asia is a beautiful place to take photos. You just can’t take a bad picture! ~Terri
Thank you for sharing James and Terri . . . I knew that the various positions had meaning (I just didn’t know the various interpretations). Great pictures too!
Thanks Steve. I’m sure that you’ll make a sweep through SE Asia, and hopefully, this post will help identify what the Buddhas are saying.
Thanks so much Steve. Are you still in NZ or have you moved on to OZ? ~Terri
In NZ, but leave for OZ today.
What an enlightening post! Thanks for sharing all these meanings. I’d love to learn more.
Thanks Kelly. For me, one of the fun things about blogging is the motivation to learn more about the places I travel. In my research for this post, I also found how complicated the interpretation of Buddhist statues can be (I should have expected this). As it turns out, it varies from country to country, and sect to sect. Now that I know this, I can be a bit more observant in future travels.
Thank you so much for the interpretations!
Thanks Amy. When we were in SE Asia, we took tons of pics of statues of Buddha. After this post, I plan on going through them and trying to determine what “mudra” they are.
Appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us.
Wonderful photos and great commentary. My Buddha is “Calling the Earth to Witness”.
This particular pose wasn’t common in our travels, but for Buddhists it’s a very big deal. This photo was taken in a fabulous temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Thanks for the comment. I envy your RV lifestyle.
And I envy your international travels. We are planning to do some ourselves next year. I’m sure I will be perusing your blog to get some ideas. 🙂
I’ve begun the day by learning some things. Thanks, James and Terri!
Thanks Tom. Starting the day with new information is a good thing. When you get to SE Asia, this info will be valuable.
Thank you for the post. I will share on my blog if ok with you. I needed a bit of ‘Buddha’ in my life right now.
Hi Valerie, That would be wonderful. Thanks a bunch. ~Terri
Thank you. I needed a bit of ‘Buddha’ in my life right now.
Hi Dezy, Thanks so much for the shout out.~Terri
Thank you for that post – I was actually wondering about all the different gestures and postures I spotted. Now I feel a bit better “prepared” for my next wat visits 🙂
Thanks for the comment and for dropping by the blog. This post covers most of the basic postures, but I’m still trying to sort out the one that has hands with fingers forming circles at the chest. We saw this in Sri Lanka. Let me know if you find an answer.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Finding yours was timely indeed! Tomorrow I will be visiting Wat Po, and will see that beautiful reclining Buddha. It will be more meaningful to me thanks to your explanation.
Thanks Shelley, for the comment and for dropping by the blog. Wat Po is very cool, and you’ll love it. In addition to the reclining Buddha, the other buildings and grounds are interesting as well. Enjoy!
Thanks for dropping by my blog. I’ll be popping back to see where you guys get to next. Happy travels.
Thanks for the comment and for dropping by the blog. If Buddha were around today, he would definitely be into low carbon cars.
What incredible pictures! Feel more serene just from looking at them…
Yeah, a statue of Buddha in a quiet garden, with a small fountain providing white noise. It’s hard not to chill-out
Nice post, and like the photos from Dambulla. I was just there last week!
Thanks Greg, for the comment and for dropping by the blog. I just loved the Dambulla Caves. The Bhuddas were incredible, but also, the day I visited there were tons of families there, and it was great people-watching.