Form Born of Mind: Contemplative Practice in Buddhist Statuary

Description

Author: Lin Gufang
Publisher: Artist Publishing

Content Overview:
Buddhism has so many sacred images because they are rooted in its cosmology of boundless worlds and boundless sentient beings; among them are mirrored the different states of being attained through spiritual cultivation, and they allow those of earnest heart who behold them to feel that 'what others have achieved, so too may I.'
For this very reason, in speaking of the mirroring of states one cites 'appearance arises from the mind,' and in speaking of spiritual cultivation one points to 'using appearance to give rise to mind.' This book takes that as its point of entry, directly expounding the cultivational contemplation within eleven great categories of sacred imagery—Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Kings, Arhats, Devas, Buddha-lands, Manifestations, Sutra Transformations, Patriarchs, Transformation Bodies, and the Chan School—so as to reach all who are karmically connected.
Chan points to the omnipresence of the Dharma, saying, 'One night of falling-blossom rain, and the whole city is fragrant with flowing water.' The Chan school speaks of sacred imagery in the same way: neither falling into appearances nor being de...

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