Amitabha Buddha

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Amitabha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. He is the lord of the Western Paradise called Sukhavati, also known as the Land of Bliss or the Pure Land. He is the synthesis of the purity of the maya-body with its appropriate signs in the clarity of mind, which in its essential nature is the same as light. He is the inexpressible luminous essence. He is represented sometimes by himself as a Tathagata. His time of day is sunset, and, as mentioned above, his direction the west. So he is like the setting sun. Setting the sun may suggest the withdrawal of the light consciousness from the world of the senses as it turns within to higher states of meditative concentration. He is the nirmana-kaya, the preparation for the spiritual maturity of his devotees. It is said that before entering Mahaparinirvana, Shakyamuni transmitted to his favorite disciple Shariputra the splendour of Amitabha and his Pure Land Sukhavati. His symbolic syllable is HRIH: H is the sound of breadth, the symbol of all life, R is the sound of fire, I is the intensity of vibration which stands for the highest spiritual activity.

Amitabha is of the nature of conceptualization. Conceptualization proliferates, sparking new ideas, and lording over it is Amitabha. His red colour bears the meaning that compassion is enamored of all of all living beings. The colour of Enamour (raga) is red in the Buddhist tradition. According to the principle of Hatha-yoga, the human personality is adduced into Amitabha’s world by a projection of the conscious principle. In the great splendour of the Pure Land, the devotee can spend aeons in contemplation of Boundless Light preaching the Law.

The practice of the Amitabha sadhana arouses emotional energy, but transmutes mundane passion into Discriminating Wisdom. This is the counterbalance to the Wisdom of Equality of Ratnasambhava, which saw the common factor in all changing appearances. The Wisdom of Amitabha sees the uniqueness, the distinctive characteristics, of every phenomenon. He is very popular in Nepal. The highest devotion is tendered to him at Svayambhu, as he is the Buddha of the present aeon. Bountiful offering are bestowed on him in the western quarter of the Svayambhunath shrine.

Amitabha also has a reflex form – Amitayus. This is depicted here in this statue. The reflex form means certain of the five Dhyani Buddhas can appear in a second form, which demonstrates another aspect of their Wisdom. This second form is sometimes described as the ‘reflex’ of the Buddha. The meaning of Amit is boundless or infinite in Sanskrit and Ayus means life. So Amitayus is the Buddha of infinite life. He is particularly associated with the practices for gaining longevity. We may say that Amitayus is the name given to Amitabha in his character of bestower of longevity.

Amitabha is usually represented holding a pindapatra, Amitayus holds a vase, full of the nectar of immortality. The two figures Infinite Light and Infinite Life clearly represent the same principle viewed from the points of view of space and time, respectively. Indian Buddhism seems to treat Amitabha and Amitayus as the same figure, and it is only in the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet and Japan that one finds them regarded as separate. Even Sadhanamala, has not clearly distinguished them. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition credits the distinctive entity of Amitayus to the Indian teacher Tiphu who revealed it to Ras-chun-grags-pa who diffused his worship in the Land of Snows. In the Japanese tantric denomination of Shingon, Amitayus (Japanese Muryoju) belongs to the Garbhadhatu-mandala and Amitabha (Japanese Amida) to Vajradhatu-mandala. Lokeshchandra, assigned distinction between Amitabha and Amitayus to the seventh century A.D.

The conceptualization of enlightenment as a flash of illumination led to the apotheosis of infinite as Amitabha. An important function of deities is healing and long life. His healing aspect was apotheosized Amitayus. Amitayus Buddha is invoked to cure a person in ill-health, but on death he went to the Paradise of Amitabha, but Amitayus has no specific heaven and he is placed on an abstract plane.

Amitayus Buddha is properly worshipped in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan mainly because of the firm faith of the people in his powers of prolonging life, as the absolute symbols of Infinite (amita) Life (ayus). A sacrament to Amitayus Buddha is celebrated on an auspicious day for life everlasting. Devotees throng to the temple to receive blessings. Every village performs it at least once a year for the life of the community. Many Buddhists commission images of Amitayus Buddha both in sculpture and painting in order to gain merit and assure a long life for themselves or someone else.

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma. His Doctorate thesis being: “Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)”.

How are Nepalese copper statues made?

Nepalese statues and sculptures are best known for their unique small religious figures and ritual paraphernalia for over two thousand years. These are mainly cast in copper alloy. Nepal draws influences from the artistic styles of Buddhism and Hinduism, and therefore the sculptors of the country specialize in making the icons of both these religions. Over the years, Nepalese sculptures evolved into their own distinctive iconography. Some characteristic features of these sculptures that differ from other pieces are exaggerated physical postures, youthful and sensual features, languid eyes, wider faces having serene expressions, and ornate flourishes. The Buddhist deity icons of Nepal have tremendous demand in countries such as China and Tibet for ritual purposes in their temples and monasteries.

Nepalese statues and sculptures have a high copper content and therefore develop a slightly reddish patina on the surface as they age. However, the most unique feature of Nepalese copper statues is their decorative detailing. The pieces are heavily gilded and sometimes inlaid with semi-precious stones. This embellishment protects them from getting tarnished. The traditional lost-wax method for casting Nepalese copper statues remains the most practiced technique in Nepal for many centuries. This process involves many steps and requires skilled artists.

The first step in lost-wax sculpting is to make a wax replica of the desired Buddhist deity to be cast in copper. This replica is created by hand and therefore needs excellent artistic skills otherwise fine features will be lacking.

Once the wax replica is made, it is then coated with a special mixture of clay with a brush. This layer of clay is hardened when left to dry. A small hole is made on the base of the wax mould so that the wax flows away when it is heated.

At this stage, a hollow mould in the shape of the deity is obtained.

This is the time to pour liquid copper into the hollow mould which is then allowed to cool and harden inside a container of cold water. When the liquid metal has hardened, the mould is removed and the statue within is revealed.

The artist works on the details of the statue using various tools. It is then polished to get a shiny and lustrous surface.

Now comes the most important part of Nepalese art which is gold gilding. This is done by the traditional fire gilding method. A mixture of mercury and 18K gold is applied on the surface of the statue and heat is applied using a flame torch. The result is that mercury evaporates along with impurities, leaving a pure 24K gold finish.

The lost-wax method of sculpting is the most preferred technique

for artists to cast a metallic statue having intricate details. Since Nepalese copper sculptures require extraneous effort for giving a majestic look by adding special embellishments, it takes several weeks to complete one masterpiece. A 24K gold gilded copper sculpture retains its brilliant luster for many years and appears as like before. Nepalese sculptures continue to remain one of the finest specimens of the art of the East that have a strong aesthetic appeal that other sculptures cannot match.