Tree & Serpent: New Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- Buddhist art largely began in the south. That's the thesis of a show on now through mid-November, 2023 at the Metropolitan Museum in NY. I visited the show recently and will discuss some highlights of the exhibit as well as what they tell us about early Buddhism.
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✅ Video:
Have We Found the Buddha's Bones? Two New York Exhibitions -- • Have We Found the Budd...
✅ Link to the exhibit webpage and a couple of writeups in the NYTimes:
www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions...
www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/ar...
www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/ar...
✅ Relevant essay from the exhibition catalogue:
John Guy, “Early Buddhist Landscape of Southern India.” In John Guy, Tree and Serpent, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023. amzn.to/48yNZcg
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00:00 Intro
01:03 Some nice news for the channel
01:59 The Met exhibit’s focus
03:36 Earliest art: stupas
05:06 Nature deities
08:35 Reasons behind the art
11:07 Aniconism: representing absence
16:00 Cross-cultural influences
17:37 Representing the Buddha figure
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Congratulations, Doug! Bringing understanding to the West of the early Dharma is golden.
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What a brilliant breakthrough for mankind. He " realised " the deathless nature of consciousness. He realised the empty nature of the self . And finally showed us a way out of darkness and suffering. But not many take this challenge as one has to unlearn almost everything we had been told was truth . Thanks for your video.
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I saw this exhibition yesterday! It’s actually the show itself which made me want to learn more about Buddhism so I subscribed to your channel yesterday evening! Life gets wonderful with these precious connections.
Oh that's very cool! Yes it's neat how these things coincide sometimes. 😄
Congrats on the 100k subscribers Doug! Love your work.
Thank you very much!
One thing which intrigues me is the current popularity of Buddha or quasi-Buddha images and sculptures among non-Buddhists; e.g. I have Catholic friends with Buddhas in their house or garden. The empty throne and footprint imagery shown here is very subtle and evocative - though I still love the rather roughly-made bronze/brass Shakyamuni figurine I bought for 15 Nepali rupees (then about 3 pounds sterling) in the late '70s!
Yes I like Buddha figures, interesting to hear your Christian friends enjoy them as well!
I went to this to view, fascinating and compelling. I found the empty throne theme interesting, and the mythological sea creatures and the elemental nature spirits of protection
Congrats on receiving the silver play
Thanks so much, yes it is very interesting!
Well done Doug, congrats on the award!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the link to the exhibit at MET, was wonderful to browse through these objects.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed the video! Yes, the exhibit is wonderful.
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Congrats and thanks! 🐱🙏
My pleasure, glad you are here!
Congrats Doug, you 100% deserve it after years of quality work without compromise for the algorithm! On to 7 billion subs and all sentient creatures 😅!
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Happy to see your YT plaque, you deserve this. I have been following you since early days where you commented on books. I am still following you.
Thank you so much for following!
Congratulations, well deserved! Thanks for the great work you do!🙏
Thank you so much 😀
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!............................"EVERY WISH FULFILLED" E.T.
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Fascinating! Congrats on 100k+ subscribers :)
Thank you so much 😀
Congrats on the 100k subscribers Mr Doug. I wish for you to have a great health❤️🙏
Thank you! You too!
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Doug, I’d love to hear more about the scholars you referenced calling into question the idea of early Buddhism. Thanks! Love your videos
Ah there are a lot of them nowadays. For some names see for example a couple of Alex Wynne's recent papers: www.academia.edu/39253185/Did_the_Buddha_exist , ocbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/awynne2005wzks.pdf
thank you.
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Congratulations for your success.
Thank you so much 😀
Congratulations👏👏👏👏
Thanks!
I went here last month it was great. It was very animistic.
Yes that is a large focus of the exhibit.
@@DougsDharma could you do a video on buddhism and animism? Until I saw this exibit I was under the impression that buddhism had a heavy hindu influence. Some belive from the Bghavatam the Buddha was a incarnation of a aspect of Krishna to trick the atheist.
12:41 Buddhapada (Buddha's footprint) is one of the earliest object of veneration in Buddhism.
The origin can be traced as far back to the Buddha's lifetime, in AN 4.36 Dona Sutta, where Dona the brahmin saw Buddha's footprint, which has extraordinary signs, such as thousand spokes wheel.
It was later reproduced in stones etc, you can read more in wikipedia: Buddha's footprint
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Have been to see it twice and will go again,its a one in a lifetime exhibition.thank you for bringing this to your channel
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes it’s definitely worth a visit or two!
Thank you kindly ,Doug. Your art talk is fascinating….
You are very welcome! 🙏
Congratulations on reaching 100k subscribers! Love your content
Thanks so much!
Congratulations on the 100K Doug! Thank you for all your hard work and devotion, truly.
Thank you too! 😄
Congratulations on the 100k subscribers, Doug. I haven't been here for a while but you channel is always interesting and gives such a comprehensive overview of Buddhism. If you are ever in London, the Victoria and Albert Museum has some fascinating and quite extensive permanent displays of Buddhist art, sculpture and architecture. It takes you from the early aniconic stupa art through to Gandhara innovation and forwards to Chan and Zen examples.
Yes thank you! I've been to the V&A many years ago and enjoyed it very much. Hope to return again someday.
Mr. Doug,LTNS. 🙂 A beautiful video as always. And congratulations on the plaque!
I always find your videos so relaxing as well as informative. Your voice is very soothing. Have you ever considered doing a guided meditation? (If that is something you practice)
So nice of you! I've thought about guided meditations, so far I'm not quite there but maybe eventually. 😊 Usually I practice in silence.
Congratulations on 100k!
Thanks so much!
It's great to have a video on ART! I've seen some examples of Greek art (statues) influencing Northern India and Buddhist art.
Yes, I'll have more to say on that topic soon. The most famous examples of Hellenistic influence are around Gandhāra.
Sir please talk about the ancient Buddhist Universities ----> Nalanda, takshashila, valabhi, pushpagiri, odantapuri, somapura, bikrampur, ratnagiri, jagaddala
Congratulations Doug!
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We should add "pushing the right button" to the eightfold path. Congratulations and thank you for that.
😄😄 Yes, good point!
Congratulations on the CZcams accomplishment!!! We all enjoy your content and hope to see much more of it. Well earned 👍🙏
Thanks so much!!
Thank your for this wonderful video! I live in New York City… will have to check out this exhibit at some point. I consider myself a Theravada practitioner, but your channel has shown just how rich and interesting early Buddhism was. As a result, early Buddhism colours my Theravada practice.
Oh that's very cool! Yes there is a lot of overlap. I'd highly recommend taking a look at the exhibit if you are local to it!
Congrats on the PLAY button!
Thanks!
Thank you Doug for your thoughtful presentation of Early Buddhist teachings from your own secular point of view. I especially appreciate your scholarly references. Congratulations on 100K subscribers!
You're most welcome! Thanks for commenting!
Congratulations on receiving your 100,000 subscriber plaque Doug. Richly deserved for your quality content and dedication to providing interesting content for us all. Alas I won't be able to see this exhibition, so I'm delighted that you've described some of the content for us. One thing is absolutely certain and that's that Indian art is magnificent, be it Buddhist or not, but I can easily see that many of these lovely carvings were to demonstrate Buddhist beliefs and teachings. How extraordinary that a Yakkhini was dug up in Pompeii relatively recently, showing that Buddhism had spread as far west as early as circa C.E. 79! Even if it was taken to Pompeii purely as an objet d'art it does show how ideas and beliefs do cross-pollinate far more easily than we might think! Thanks for sharing this exhibition with us. Only wish I could be there to see for myself!
Yes it's really amazing that it was found in Pompeii, shows the extent of the old trade-routes. I think if you look at the websites in the info box you will get a pretty good idea of what's in the show, the Met does a good job with their web info. And thanks!
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Congratulations on the award Doug, it's well deserved. I hope you go on to even greater success! That's some exhibition. It must be quite profound to see those works in person. I'm wondering what kind of effect they would have had on the artists themselves during the creation,... in some inner way? 🙏🙏
Thank you very much! Yes most likely many of these pieces would have been devotional both for the artist and viewer.
Can I ask you a question Doug? When you say 'south', 'southern' (of the subcontinent perhaps) which area are you referring to, you mean Dravida south.
I think the map there shows a bit of it, this is the Deccan and Western Ghats in particular.
Amravati school of art, from Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh
@@Infiniteemptiness thank you. I did not know that. And also realised that most of Sri Lankan Buddhist art originate from it, a surprise to me where I thought they are related to Northern Indian. Thanks once again to you and Doug who inspire all of us and allowing to comment and share, Metta
Early Magadha Kingdom sponsored Buddhism. But North India lost its Buddhist heritage after 3rd century BCE. A big tragedy have destroyed the records of early Magadha after 321 BCE. And then, only a follower of a Brahamanical religion could become the King in Magadha. Chandraguptha Maurya and Brahamin Chanakya captured Magadha kingdom while Magadha kings were trying to stop Alexander the Great at Punjab. And then, early Buddhism declined in Magadha until Ashoka the Great converted to Buddhism. Indians don't know who tried to stop Alexander and who the Nanda king Porus was because Indians have lost a lot of records of their history after 321 BCE with the raise of Brahamanism in Magadha. Also, later Indian texts have tried to change the history of Nanda kings. They have deleted records about Maha-Padmananda (Porus), and his nephew Ugrasena (the first Nanda king). Brahamin Chanaka or Chandraguptha have tried to remove the history of kings and Buddhist culture in Magadha, and it was a big tragedy to the Indian history. Early Maurya empire could support Jainism and Brahamanism against Buddhism because Brahamins would not like a Buddhist to be a king again. The development of new Brahamanical texts made Hinduism, and introduced a lot of unscientific stories and Gods. There are a lot of thing to fix about the history of India. Thank you a lot. ❤
Congratulations on reaching 100k subscribers. Many youtube channels get lots of eyeballs and subscription very quickly because of sensationalism and shallow treatments of subjects, compared to sensible, balanced, serious and in depth work - due to our human nature. So thank you for your wonderful work and channel, helping us understand in digestible but also non-reductive way. I know it has been a long and slow trudge for this channel but it is getting the more and more interest because it really carries good quality work and I am so glad more and more people are recognizing this.
Thanks a lot! Yes it's a slow road but that's fine, just happy folks are still enjoying the videos. 😊
I had to look at a map. It seems even southern India was part of Ashoka's empire at that time.
Yes, Asoka's empire was pretty big! The artwork in this exhibit postdates Asoka, with the small exception of the relics.
The further we get from sitting in lotus among the general population the more necessary it will be for us to leave icons of Shiva/Buddha sitting in lotus for future generations to remember, in case we forget,
Somehow
The Buddha talks about meditating in all positions: sitting, standing up, walking, and lying down. When it comes to sitting, he simply discusses crossing one's legs.
I understand the tree as representing the bodhi tree, which is important enough to be a feature defined for each Buddha of the five Buddhas previous to Gautama and maitrea in the future. But the Naga as ubiquitous as it is to have equal status is a mystery to me. Why should it have a status like the two senior monks that stand on either side of the Buddha in later iconography?
I will be doing a video on Nagas in a few weeks that will touch on some of that. But basically they were considered important local creatures of worship, like devas.
It is very common here in india to depictsgods with snakes. For eg the hindu god "Shiva" is represented by cobra snakes around his neck. In India there are many groups which derived their origin from mythological figures. For eg many in india say that they are 'Suryavanshi' or the dsecendent of sun, 'Chandravanshi' or descended from moon. In the same way many of indian people belive thay are descendent of nagas . In older times buddhism was quite popular among nagas people and they help in spreading of the buddhism through out india. So i personally think that when we see the image of nagas (cobra)along with buddha, it denoate that this people are either protecting the buddha or are following with him.
According to B.R Ambedkar Dalits ( untouchables) are descendants of indigenous buddhist nagas , who were fierce enemy of vedic aryans .
Interesting ...
Was stupa style used before buddhism ?
It's a good question, my understanding is that it was, but I'd need to do further research to be sure.
Got to get up early to make first post here. Yellow, yellow.
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depictions of the Buddha, in particular the golden statues, contradict the dharma. My favorite buddha statue, very simular to the one on your shelf, fell and the head broke off. My response was, "of course."
As the saying goes, "IF YOU SEE THE BUDDHA, KILL HIM",... "EVERY WISH FULFILLED" E.T.
Well there's no place in the early suttas that express opposition to images of the Buddha. There are one or two later texts that do so, but it seems to have been a disinclination more than a prohibition. For more on this see my video on Buddhism and icons: czcams.com/video/qRqxuxS1qUg/video.html
@@DougsDharma it's more in regards to "non-attachment" and "impermanence," Idols contradict both teachings.
Interesting, when I was India most Buddha relics and statues were transformed into Hindu deities. So sad
Yes I touched on a bit of this in my video on Buddhism's decline in India: czcams.com/video/y8GNgWatUwE/video.html
Snake and Buddhism 🗿
ඕක අපායෙ පෙන්නපං