Why does the Buddha appear androgynous in some depictions?
score:4
It's an artistic style. The impression of androgyny is arising in the mind of the viewer (not necessarily every viewer), and part of its cause is our arbitrary cultural standard of how men and women should look.
Upvote:3
This is a feminine depiction even in Asian culture. I asked some Thai colleagues why some Buddha images look very feminine and I loved the answer. They said Buddhism negates duality. So the Buddha cannot look only male or only female. They must incorporate both. They are both. Isn’t that a wonderful explanation? It is also consistent with Buddhist philosophy.
Upvote:4
A young lady named Kisa Gotami, seeing prince Siddhartha in the street, uttered:
“Nibbuta nuna sa mata - Nibbuta nuna so pita Nib buta nuna sa nari - Yassa’ yam idiso pati.”
It means:
“Peaceful is the mother who has such a son. Peacefull is the father who has such a son. Peaceful is the wife who has such a husband.”
So you can imagine how the artwork should look like.
India's first prime minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru once wrote in his writings, that, while he was in prison, he hung a photograph of the Buddha, and he stated that this particular Samadhi Buddha statue(in Anuradhapura) photograph brought him much happiness and solace when he was in the cell.
You can also study the 32 major and 80 minor physical characteristics of the buddha to get an idea.
More post
- 📝 Is the belief in no rebirth conditioned by craving?
- 📝 What is Right Action for a Buddhist regarding talking about personal success?
- 📝 Scriptural source for the lost son story
- 📝 Can a Buddhist use antibacterial soap?
- 📝 Where in the Pali Canon does it give examples of right livelihood and it's opposite
- 📝 How does Buddhism perceive swearing or vulgarities?
- 📝 What is Dharma-Body of the Buddha?
- 📝 Does Buddhism have a concept of avatars?
- 📝 Justifying the Four Noble Truths without rebirth
- 📝 Dealing with food craving
- 📝 Does viewing consciousness as "real thing" bring suffering?
- 📝 Tibetan word "sur"
- 📝 Minimum common grounds for all sotapanna and all arahant
- 📝 What is circumambulation?
- 📝 If you are/become very sensitive for sounds what could be the reason/cause?
- 📝 Which of the following statements about Nibbana/Nirvana are true?
- 📝 What are the alternative titles of Thayodhamma Sutta, it's reference number, subsections where it appear in?
- 📝 Avalokitesvara real miracles?
- 📝 Merits and Credit Point In Buddhism
- 📝 How to politely pursuade a lay person/Bhante to wear a mask?
- 📝 How is it possible to change habits cultivated over lifetimes
- 📝 Wisdom Devoid of Compassion
- 📝 Opposite of buddhism
- 📝 A few quetions on metta
- 📝 Satipatthana sutta in english AUDIO
- 📝 Is divination for fun acceptable?
- 📝 How does the Dhamma reconcile slavery?
- 📝 Doubt and Criticism
- 📝 How are Buddhists supposed to spread Buddhism?
- 📝 Having trouble meditating long sessions (Physical pain)
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why does the Buddha appear androgynous in some depictions?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha call himself the Tathāgata?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha always answer a question if asked three times?
- 📝 Why did physical representations of the Buddha only start to appear a few centuries after his death?
- 📝 Why do some English-language texts refer to the Buddha as "Lord"?
- 📝 Where does the Buddha talk about investigation of energy (offering him some relief while in physical pain)?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha blame Ananda asking him to remain living forever?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha suffer before he died?
- 📝 Attachment is a poison. Why is attachment to the Buddha and to Buddhist philosophy not a problem?
- 📝 Why the Buddha didn't originally allow ordination of women
- 📝 Why is the Buddha described as trackless?
- 📝 If there is no soul or self, why did the Buddha speak of his past lives?
- 📝 Why do Buddhists believe that the Buddha was enlightened, despite that he claimed it himself?
- 📝 If a Buddhist believes lay life is not ideal for the practice, why does he or she continue?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha touch the earth at his enlightenment?
- 📝 Why does Mara, the Evil One one comes looking for consciousness at death?
- 📝 Does the Buddha like dogs?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha, in the Pali Canon, periodically engage in harsh speech?
- 📝 Does Pure Land Buddhism ever have a Buddha other than Amitābha as the object of devotion?
- 📝 If the Buddha praised Samatha, why is it losing importance?
- 📝 Why Buddha didn't want him to be called 'friend' by the monks?
- 📝 Iconography in Buddhism - from the Greeks? And why isn't the Buddha bald?
- 📝 What does the Buddha mean by this quote? "There is no punishment for anger. It is the anger which will punish you."
- 📝 Why does the mind always want to 'do something' and how to cultivate 'non-doing'?
- 📝 Why would the Buddha refrain from instructing?
- 📝 Does Mahayana Buddhism discourage attaining enlightenment under the Gautama Buddha Sasana?
- 📝 Anesthesia, being knocked out, unconsciousness...what does the Buddha have to say about it?
- 📝 There is a text where Buddha says that the Dharma he teaches is not a secret doctrine so why are there sects which maintain secrecy?
- 📝 Where does the Buddha mention a craving for non-existence?
- 📝 In which suttas does The Buddha cover annihilationism (ucchedavāda)?