Buddha Statues

Hello Subscribers,
New statues and knowledge updates for June 2010.

BUDDHIST-ARTWORK.COM (June eStore)

• CALLIGRAPHY. Three new pieces. These extraordinary works are not copies — they are originals written with a big calligraphic brush. Once sold, they are no longer available.  www.buddhist-artwork.com/html/artist-corner.html
• KUJAKU-MYO-O. The Peacock King. Two new pieces. Kujaku means peacock. Peacocks eat poisonous plants and snakes, which provide the nectar that ensures the peacock’s beauty. Revered from ancient times, Kujaku represents the overcoming of anger, greed, and other “poisons,” and symbolizes the elimination of karmic hindrances. www.buddhist-artwork.com/html/kujaku-myoo.html
• BISHAMONTEN. Two new products. Bishamon is the god of wealth and treasure, and protects the Buddhist law. He is one of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, but he is also worshipped independently of the group of seven. www.buddhist-artwork.com/statues-buddhism/bishamon-statues.html

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A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism

• SHŌKI 鍾馗  – THE DEMON QUELLER
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shoki.shtml
  Added photos and revised text. Shōki’s popularity peaked in Japan during the Edo period (1615-1868), when people began to hang images of  Shōki outside their houses to ward off evil spirits during the Boys’ Day festival (Tango no Sekku 端午の節句, May 5 each year, but now a festival for all children of both sexes) and to adorn the eaves and entrances of their homes with ceramic statues of the deity. Today, Shōki is a minor deity relatively neglected or forgotten by most Japanese, except perhaps in Kyoto city, where residents still adorn the eaves and rooftops of their homes with Shōki’s effigy to ward off evil and illness, and to protect the male heir to the family.
• KANNON BOSATSU.  GOD/GODDESS OF MERCY.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kannon.shtml
  One of the most widely worshipped divinities in Asia and Japan in both ancient and modern times. This page catalogs over 100 forms of Kannon in Japan. It features nearly 130 photos, copious reference notes, spellings in multiple Asian languages, and a handy A-to-Z List of Kannon Forms. The Kannon Notebook is an ongoing project aimed at scholars, art historians, practitioners, and laity alike. Presented on one page for easy printout.
• MUROMACHI ERA STATUARY (1392-1568).
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-buddha-sculptors-muromachi-era-japan.html
  The new and reformed Buddhist sects of the prior Kamakura period consolidated their gains, and Buddhism for the commoner thereafter remained a regular feature of Japan’s religious landscape. Pilgrimages to sacred sites devoted to Kannon Bosatsu, to the Ise Shinto shrines, and to the top of Mt. Fuji also became popular. Buddhist statuary, however, along with the power of the Buddhist monestaries, plummeted.
• KAPPA REVISITED.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kappa.shtml
  Updated with new photos and text. The Kappa are incredibly strong river imps. They attack horses, cattle, and humans, usually dragging their prey into the water, where,
  according to various legends, they feed on their blood, drain their life force, or pull their anuses out through their livers, sucking their entrails, leaving nothing behind except a hollow gourd. Yet, the Kappan can be benevolent — they are supposedly skilled teachers in the art of bone setting and other medical skills.

END.
sincerely and gassho
mark schumacher

The birthday of the Historical Buddha is celebrated in Japan on April 8th in a ceremony called Kanbutsu-e 潅仏会. In commeration of this event, our store is offering a FREE prayer-bead bracelet to all customers who purchase any product valued at $70 or more during April and May. Visit our store for details. https://buddhist-artwork.com/html/buddha-birthday-campaign.html

Shaka Buddha at Birth
Standing, H = 47.5 cm
Bowl C = 89.4 cm
Bronze coated with gold (tokin 鍍金)
Toudaiji Temple 東大寺, Nara Era
Photo: Ogawa Kouzou

Known as Tanjoubutsu 誕生仏 (Buddha at Birth).
According to legend, when born, the infant Buddha
took seven steps forward while pointing his right hand
to the heavens and left hand to earth, saying:
“I alone am honored in heaven and on earth. ”
Similar statues are used each year even today
in the Kanbutsu-e ceremony, held every year
in Japan on April 8, to commemorate Buddha’s birthday

KAPPA 河童
Various Artwork from Japan.

KAPPA = Japanese River Imp or Sprite. Origin = Shintō (with Chinese & Hindu Antecedents). Kappa also called Kawatarō 河太郎, Kawako 河伯, Kawaranbe 河ランベ, Gatarō がたろう, or Enkō 猿猴. One of Many Japanese Suijin 水神 (Water Kami).

Kappa smell like fish and are generally portrayed with the body of a tortoise, ape-like head, scaly limbs, long hair circling the skull, webbed feet and hands, and yellow-green skin. They are often depicted with a tortoise shell attached to their backs. Some say they can change color like the chameleon. They abhor metal objects and loud noises (cannon fire, gunfire, etc.).

The defining characteristic of the Kappa is the hollow cavity atop its head. This saucer-like depression holds a strength-giving fluid. Should you chance upon the quarrelsome Kappa, please remember to bow deeply. If the courteous Kappa bows in return, it will spill its strength-giving water, making it feeble, and forcing it to return to its water kingdom.

About the size of a child aged 6 to 10, the Kappa is nonetheless incredibly strong. It attacks horses, cattle, and humans, usually dragging its prey into the water, where, according to various legends, it feeds on their blood, or drains their life force, or pulls out their livers through their anuses, or sucks out their entrails, leaving nothing behind except a hollow gourd. Stories tell of Kappa pulling little children into the water and drowning them. In many localities, drowning is still referred to as GAPPADOKO ガーッパドコ. As drowning victims were sometimes found with a distended anus (swollen rectal), the Kappa is also sometimes called the shirokodama (anus) vampire. In some tales, the Kappa is associated with theft and raping women. For much more on Japan’s Kappa, please see: Kappa in the A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism.

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