Perfected ones smile like this….
The Ajanta caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. What a visual treat! My eyes are filled with the lingering images of the beautiful Buddhist sculptures and frescoes. Sifting through the hundreds of photographs taken during the trip, I find myself mesmerised and completely charmed by the beatific faces engraved in stone.
The faces of each of the many, many stone figures look so similar and yet so different. The facial expressions are tranquil, and radiant, All-knowing and meaningful!
Carved hundreds of years ago, it feels like the ancient civilisations seem to have left behind their thought and feelings etched in stone!
A recently held Art fair had on display about 4000 works of art. The exhibitors were art galleries showcasing the works of contemporary established artists, as well as, individual art creators. Depictions of Buddha in large and small formats were in abundance. Rather obvious, that Buddha’s calm and meditative imagery is quite sought after. Every artist would have put in a lot of effort into creating the art works and they were so beautiful! And yet,the ancient stone sculptures & paintings made by monks, have a unique charm that are not easy to recreate.
This was a year ago.
At the time of the visit to the Ajanta caves last year [January 2015], I had no knowledge or understanding about the life of Gautama Buddha. The little I knew about Buddha’s life and Buddhism as a way of life, was sketchy. It still is.
Recently, I chanced upon ‘Siddhartha’ by Hermann Hesse published in 1922. A novella that was a quick read. The version that I read, was a later publication containing interpretive notes and critical excerpts by acclaimed authors and thinkers, as well. Is this story factually correct or has the author drawn from the context, names and characters to explore the concepts of Buddhism and get a better understanding of the philosophy for himself? This question seems to have been the source of many discussions and doubts over the years. Especially since the author won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Simon & Schuster paperbacks [the publisher] though, has put up a disclaimer, stating it a work of fiction. So, fiction it must be.
What resonated with me, were the descriptions of Buddha, more specifically the facial expressions. He has described so well, that which I seemed to sense but could not express, when I was spell bound at the Ajanta caves.
I am reproducing some beautifully worded descriptions below:
* Siddhartha becomes fascinated with the Buddha’s serenity: His calm face was neither happy nor sad, it seemed to smile quietly and inwardly. With his hidden smile, the Buddha strolled on quietly, calmly, and not unlike a healthy child. He wore his robe and placed his feet much like all the other monks did, according to the exact rule. But his face and gait, his gaze lowered quietly, his motionless hands hanging bespoke peace, expressed perfection — they did not search, or imitate — as they breathed softly with a calm that did not wither, with a light that did not fade and with a peace that was intangible.
* “You know how to talk wisely my friend. Be wary of too much wisdom!” The Buddha turned away, and his glance and half smile remained forever etched in Siddhartha’s memory. ‘I have never before seen a person glance and smile, sit and walk that way’ He thought. ‘Truly, only a person who has succeeded in reaching his innermost part of his self would glance and walk that way.’
* And Govinda saw the smile of this mask, the smile of unity of the flowing forms, the smile of coexistence in the thousand births and deaths, the smile of Siddhartha was exactly the same type of smile as the quiet delicate, impenetrable, wise, sometimes-benevolent, sometimes-mocking, thousand fold smile of Gotama, the Buddha, as he himself had looked upon it with reverence a hundred times. Govinda knew that perfected ones smiled like this.
The stone sculptures of Buddha at the Ajanta caves at Aurangabad, Maharashtra India, made by monks and followers of Buddhism so many hundreds of years ago, seem to have captured the essence of the teachings of Gautama Buddha.
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Thank You for reading this piece.If you liked it, please recommend it. That would be awesome.
This was first published on my blog: http://shobitha.blogspot.in/. I always use my own pictures with my writing.
I am Shobitha Hariharan living in Mumbai India. I’ve recently opted out of the corporate rat race, to do everything I’ve always wanted to do. I create art work, write down my thoughts and tend to my small garden. Fortunate, aren’t I! You can know more about me on:
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