Buddha Siddhartha (Shakyamuni) 3rd-5th century
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| Fasting Buddha Shakyamuni, 3rd-5th century Kushan period, Pakistan/ancient Gandhara (Metropolitan Museum of Art) |
Buddhism was founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama who later became known to be "the Buddha." Gautama decided to devote his life to researching the act of suffering and in doing so he took it upon himself to leave his lavish life behind and see what it felt to be poverty stricken. Once he experienced both he figured there must be a happy medium of both where life could be lived without the two extremes. He was able to develop ways of meditation to find internal peace and began teaching this form of religion to others. During his six years of seeking enlightenment he pursued ascetic practices which defines a person who dedicates their life to extreme practices of self- denial or self-mortification for religious beliefs. Indulging in these practices caused Gautama to participate in fasting in order to resemble a skeleton. He would endure these extreme practices in order to reach his goal of enlightenment. Basically goes to show how much a man can go through and survive as long as he has internal peace and enough mental concentration to persevere and reach success. After coming to the realization that he wouldn't be able to reach his spiritual goals if he died due to extreme fasting, he took it upon himself to find that leveled middle ground. The image above depicts the body of the Buddha Siddhartha, (also know as Shakyamuni) within his stages of extreme starvation and fasting practices. In this sculpture he is presented sitting crisscross in a mediation form on a layer of grass. Then right beneath him are a group of figures that represent those partaking in his first sermon.
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| Head of the Fasting Siddhartha, 3rd-5th century, Pakistan/ancient Gandhara (Metropolitan Museum of Art) |
https://smarthistory.org/the-historical-buddha/
https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-buddhism/
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that fasting was done to prove that one can endure a lot of pain and such as long as they have internal peace. I'm glad that Buddha found a happy medium and chose not to starve himself to death. Just so the audience can get an even better understanding of Buddhism, next time you could include a few more Buddhist beliefs or practices.
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, it was very fascinating. It's interesting that along the road of self-denial and self-mortification that he chose to give up eating. I find it interesting because usually self-mortification is aligned with appetite for desire, such as luxuries, not basic necessities such as food. I also can't help but wonder why his head was removed from the statue? Looting perhaps?
Interesting post!