SHAKYAMUNU BUDDHA

SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA

Buddha Shakyamuni was born Siddhartha, the only son of King Suddhodhana. At his birth it was prophesied that he would either become a great king or the Buddha of this age. His father, determined that his son follow in his footsteps and prolong the dynasty, believed that the only way he could prevent his son from renouncing the world was to confine him to the palace, thus shielding him from understanding the suffering of worldly life.

One day, on an excursion out of the palace, Prince Siddhartha encountered four people: a sick man, an old man, a dead man, and a renouncing. At this moment he realized the transient nature of worldly joy and that suffering inevitably follows whatever appears as pleasure. This realization took hold of him and he came to see the pleasures of palace life as meaningless. Believing renunciation to be the only path to lasting peace, he abandoned his life as a prince.

For six years he practiced the teachings he learned from various scholars and adepts and engaged in austerities. In the sixth year, he focused his mind in meditation on the dependent nature of reality. On one full moon night he attained full enlightenment and became a Buddha. For the rest of his days, the Buddha taught the path that leads to enlightenment, the path that in our own time has come to be known as Buddhism.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, also often referred to as Shakyamuni was a spiritual teacher upon whose lessons the foundations for Buddhism were formed. He is regarded as the Supreme Buddha and is the first enlightened individual to be visualized. Despite some confusion from those who do not follow Buddhism, it is important to note that the Buddha was not considered to be a God. He was rather a mere human, like the rest of us, who was able to develop an extraordinary perception about existence. This perception helped him to rid his mind of the things that cause us all a level of suffering; craving, hatred, and delusion. This, in turn, helped him to attain levels of true peace and contentment – and remain free from the suffering of sentient beings.

Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of the Buddhist religion. He lived and taught in India in the sixth century B.C.E., a time of burgeoning religious and philosophical thought from Greece to China. Born as the crown prince of the great Shakya Kingdom, the young Siddhartha Gautama was groomed to be a king in accordance with the wishes of his royal father. However, when he was about 29 years old, he learned of the deep suffering experienced in life by people. He left his palace life, gave up his fine garments and jewelry in order to find the causes of this suffering and the means to overcome it. After about six years of study, self-deprivation, and deep meditation he finally realized his goal. He had become an enlightened one (a Buddha). After this, he is said to have walked to a deer park in Sarnath (Benares) on the outskirts of Varanasi in India. Here he gave his first sermon, an event which is called the turning of the wheel of Buddhist law (Dharmacakra). The wheel as a metaphor for Buddha’s teaching will become a prevalent symbol in Buddhist art.

ABOUT SMOKED ANTIQUE FINISHING
This Shakyamuni Buddha has undergone a finishing process called smoke antique finishing. It is a technique commonly used on thangka paintings, where the artwork is exposed to incense smoke for an extended period of time. This process aims to give the painting an exquisite and aged appearance, resembling an antique patina. By imitating the effect of a thangka that has been exposed to incense for many years, this technique adds a sense of history and reverence to the artwork.