Buddha and his Disciples

Buddha and his Disciples

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This is a painting that was done by an unknown Thai artist in 1998. The painting features Siddhartha, in the middle, after reaching enlightenment in the deer park in Sarnath, India. He is shown teaching five monks, who are located in the foreground of the painting. Viewers know this is Siddhartha, also known as Buddha Gautama, by the marking on his head and his elongated ear lobes. The light around his head represents that he has reached enlightenment and has also reached nirvana. He is seated under a bodhi tree, which is a very important tree in Buddhism because of this very part in Siddhartha’s life. It is viewed as a special tree in many areas where Buddhism is practiced and is known as the tree which Siddhartha had reached enlightenment under. He is seated on a lotus flower which is also very important in Buddhism because it represents fortune, purification and the process of enlightenment. The story behind this painting is that Siddhartha or Buddha Gautama, has finally reached enlightenment after many days of meditation. After he had reached nirvana, he then taught five of his old friends, the monks, who lost their faith in him after Siddhartha stopped the practice of extreme asceticism by drinking a bowl of milk. He taught them what is known as the first sermon in the deer park in which he is located in the painting. From then on, Buddha Gautama continued to teach others which then lead to the four noble truths. There are many important aspects within the paintings itself, including the lotus flower he is sitting on and the halo of light surrounding his head that show the importance of this moment in Siddhartha's life. This image was obtained on Wikimedia Commons and all rights go to the user Sacca~commonswiki.

Jess Davis

Sacca~Commonswiki. Buddha Teaching the Group of Five. Digital image. Wikicommons. N.p., 25 May 2006. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buddha_teaching_the_group_of_five.jpg

Buddhism: REL 222, Arts of Asia: Art 276

Dec. 9th-Dec. 10th, 2015

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Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

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Paint on Canvus

English

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