The Buddha's smile contains compassion and wisdom, and the statues of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas sing this profound and mysterious rhyme in ancient meaning. This kind of ancient smile, which emanates from the inside out, is full of meaning and thoughtfulness, and has become the tone of Buddha statue art throughout Asia.
Seated Buddha statue of Western Wei 163.5 cm high
Seated Buddha statue of the Northern Wei Dynasty is 92 centimeters tall
Dunhuang Grottoes Cave 259
The intention of "picking flowers and smiling" at the Lingshan Meeting was to hope that Buddhist students would be able to let go of their attachment to various phenomena and grasp the "Zen machine of the moment." The path of meditation goes from the gradual progression of Shenxiu's "body is like a Bodhi tree, and the mind is like a mirror platform; always diligently wipe, do not stir up dust", to Huineng's "Bodhi is not a tree, and the mirror is not a platform; there is nothing in the original, where there is dust", which is also a kind of stage.
Seated Buddha Statue Northern Qi Xiangtangshan Grottoes
Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK
Seated statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in the 5th century 185 cm high
Stone carvings Unearthed from the Sacred Site of Luyeyuan
The statue of Buddha is about 950 centimeters high in gold and bronze about 11th century
In the Prajnaparamita Sutra of an Ananda Stupa Monastery in Bagan, Myanmar, a Buddha "looks at the world with heavenly eyes and smiles." It provides an entry point to understand the wonders of the Buddha's smile. Why did the Buddha, who was watching the world with his heavenly eyes, raise his body and smile? What did the Buddha see? What is the reason for smiling? It is said in the Great Wisdom Treatise that the Buddha saw with his heavenly eyes that sentient beings were bent on seeking happiness, but instead they were suffering more, and the reason why sentient beings had so many sufferings was because of their attachment to the "self-image." The Buddha also saw sentient beings who were afraid of suffering and escaped from suffering, because they did not understand the causes of suffering, but instead did more things that made them more sad and distressed, just like blind people who wanted to find a good way, but after blindly breaking into blindness, they fell into deeper pits. The Buddha, who gazed at all sentient beings with loving eyes, saw all these phenomena and unconsciously had a smile of compassion and tolerance on his face. This is not a laugh of contempt and ridicule, but a warm smile of loving sentient beings like a loving mother.
Buddha statue Northern Wei Gong County No. 1 cave center pillar north niche
The Great Wisdom Treatise also says that the Buddha "laughs because of the great cause", and the so-called great cause refers to the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra that the Buddha is about to proclaim. The Buddha gazed at sentient beings with loving eyes, saw the phenomena of sentient beings, and not only did not have the slightest worry, but was happy to see the hope of the future. The Buddha saw that the seeds of the Dharma were about to be sown in the world of sentient beings, and he also saw that sentient beings would be liberated by hearing the Dharma of Birth and Death and the Dharma of Cause and Effect taught by the Buddha. Although the strong minds of sentient beings may not be able to receive the Buddha's teachings immediately, after the Buddha has softened with light, they can finally attain wisdom. The Buddha, who gazed at sentient beings with loving eyes, saw the future enlightenment of sentient beings, and thus smiled. The Great Wisdom Treatise also mentions the various causes of "all beings laughing", some people laugh with joy, some laugh because they are angry, and the Buddha's reason for smiling is very different from that of all sentient beings. The Buddha, because of "all kinds of accidents, raised his body and smiled." The so-called "difficult things" are difficult and rare. That is, the Buddha laughed because he had accomplished one of the most difficult and rare things in the world, and this difficult thing was to "enlighten sentient beings."
Three statues of buddhas in Eastern Wei Gold Painted Stone Carvings
120.5 cm high, Qingzhou Longxing Temple was excavated
Seated Buddha statue of Northern Qi marble Height 166.7 cm
This difficult thing for ordinary people is naturally not difficult for the Buddha, who has attained enlightenment, but it is only the ignorance and foolishness of sentient beings, and it is difficult to understand the Buddha's truth that "the Dharmas are not born and do not perish, and the vacuum is wordless, nameless, wordless, wordless, wordless, and wordless, and unspoken.", so it has become a "difficult task" for the Buddha to attain enlightenment. It's as difficult as "carrying hay over a fire without setting any of the leaves on your body on fire." Ordinary people are always worried and sad in the face of such a difficult matter, but the Buddha still smiles freely. This smile speaks to the Buddha's will to be fearless of difficulties and wisdom to penetrate ignorance, and it also shows the Buddha's compassion for saving sentient beings. The difference between difficulty and difficulty is in the psychology of sentient beings, not in the eyes of the Buddha. In the eyes of the Buddha, both difficult and difficult are worth rejoicing. For thousands of years, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have gazed at sentient beings with such a kind smile.
The Great Lushena Buddha of the Tang Dynasty is 17.1 meters high
Henan Longmen Grottoes
Nirvana Buddha Dunhuang Zhongtang is 15.8 meters long
The smile on the buddha statue conveys a deep understanding and internalized practice; a faint smile gently projects the buddha's compassion and wisdom. This kind of ancient smile that emanates from the inside out, which is rich and worthy of consideration, finally becomes the tone of Buddha art throughout Asia. From India to China, Japan to Korea, Tibet to Mongolia, to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar... As long as there is a place where Buddhism exists, you can see the ancient smile of the Buddha and bodhisattva. The "Khmer Smile" of Angkor Wat, the Giant Buddha of the Yungang Grottoes, and even the Si Wei Bodhisattva of the Ancient Kingdom of Baekje in South Korea are the best spokespersons of the "Smile of Ancient Meaning". Their smiles recite the unchanging compassion and wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout the ages.
Picture text 丨 Zhongtianzhu Fajing Zen Temple
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