Buddhist Community Views on Objects in the Collection

From April to September 2006, seven advisory groups were held with members of different faith community groups. The aims of these were to consult with the communities that the V&A collections were relevant to and see what reactions they had about the V&A collections. The participants were asked to select from groups of pictures of V&A objects and prioritise what items struck them most. These could be for personal reasons or how important they were from a cultural or faith point of , artistically or whether they still had relevance to their lives today.

A Buddhist in Manikiala

'I chose this stupa for more personal reasons because when I was in India on pilgrimage I saw some similar brick to house the relics of the . Nowadays they don't look very much like stupas, you have to be told they are stupas. They look more like mole hills because, over time, I think the villagers took the stones away to build their own houses. They have a strangely peaceful impression on me and the mind goes into a kind of emptiness which is what these stupas are about really, to come to this place of contained emptiness.' Sister Cittapala ( Amaraviti Monastry)

Majestic Calm of The Great Buddha

'We don't have many old big Buddha statues left and so I think it is very important. When they see Buddha statues it brings peacefulness in their minds.' Lelung (Tibetan Monk)

'I chose the Great Buddha at in Japan and I found it particularly moving to look at this image. Awesome is a feeling I get looking at it, power and calm combined seems to emanate from this picture. It makes me feel humble, reverent. There is incredible power in this image for me but the kind of power that will never cause any harm.' Paula Chittay

The Bosatsu Kannon in Birmingham Fah Yueh

'Probably like many others here I have meditated in front of [Buddha statues] so many times the has a clear calming effect of bringing me to peace.' Dennis Evans 'We called this Bodisattvah Avalokitesvara. Most Buddhists will pray to or worship this Bodiisattvah and it looks very calm to us.' Ven Chueh Yann Shih ( Fo Guang Shan Temple)

'It is a very traditional Buddhist interior and design for current Buddhist people also it is has traditional musical instruments and lots of offerings for a Buddha and that is very important for a Buddhist place.' Catherine Yang

Peasant Praying Before Images of The God of Light

'I was struck by the contrast of light and shadow, symbolising something like the unenlightened mind longing for light.' Sister Cittapala

'Yes, the image of the God of light; but it looks to me not only a god, it should be a Buddha or it is a Buddhist God. The boy is humble and pays his respects to the God of Lights and so forth by kneeling down, holding his palm and so on, one after the other one, paying his respects. He might repent himself by praying to the God of light, this is how I look at this picture.' Ven Chueh Yann Shih

Monk on a Train

'The monk on a train looks so natural. He sits there relaxing on the train, off duty, "Thank God I'm off duty" and because of a certain trick of the light it looks as if he is smoking a cigarette. Well I didn't know if it was a trick of the light or if he was smoking a fag and I just couldn't help laughing, "Oh I'll just take ten minutes, I'm off duty here! Have a ciggie!" To me that was just so lovely. Do you think it is a cigarette?' Paula Chittay

Tibetan Refugee Boys

'I chose this picture of two Tibetan refugee boys because I've always felt, since I was an adult, that we have a duty as adults to protect children. I remember as a child during the Second World War, I as evacuated on three different occasions and each time I was properly looked after and cherished, to use an old fashioned word. I find this picture both beautiful in the way that children can be beautiful and also sad, the two for me are side by side.' Dennis Evans 'The older one is around ten years and when I was ten I was also in Nepal like that, so I was also moving around like this and it reminds me of when I was like that, the time I wanted to be a monk.' Lelung Tulku

Model of Mahabodi Temple

'I chose the sculptural model of the Mahabodi Temple because the shape is quite distinct and recognisable, it stamps itself on your mind. There is an emotional connection.' Grant Osnam

Figure of Buddha Sakyamuni

'I chose Buddha Sakyamuni because of the colour, the light, the smile and the warmth that emanates and for me it gives a glimpse of what is often not shown in my experience and that is the feminine side of . I found this figure really refreshing.' Denis Evans

Buddha Figure Nagapattinam

'The Nagapattinam gilt bronze Buddha figure reminds me of an event called 'On the Footsteps of the Giants Festival' which was held in the Birmingham Museum in May of this year [2006] and several groups of Buddhist organisations celebrated Buddha's birthday in front of the biggest gilt bronze standing Buddha.

'It was a very moving moment because all of the audience shared in the Buddha's birthday and chanting in different languages and, in the meantime, there was a musical fair called '' produced by the Fo Guang Temple who was invited and performed inside the museum.

'And according to the feedback from the museum they said that it was the first time that people in the Midlands had been told the story of the Buddha so it was very meaningful and a very nice event. The gilt bronze standing Buddha [in Birmingham Museum] was similar to this.' Catherine Yang

Plaque with Eight Scenes From the Life of The Buddha

'It tells the whole story of the life of the Buddha from the time he was born, renounced himself cultivations and finally he attains enlightenment and of course after that preachings and he enters into . This is very good teaching aid if you have these pictures you can teach people about the life of Buddha. Everything is in there. It reminds me of what comes first.' Venerable Chueh Yann Shih

'And what's amazing about it is it is really small, it is like you could put it in your pocket. Everything is there, it is very detailed.' John Clarke

'So you could take it around and teach other people with it.' Paula Chittay

Tangka Depicting 'The Wheel of Life'

'The Wheel of Life is a very familiar picture in Buddhism. I feel I have been living with it for a long time, part of the fabric of me but I suppose I am rather fond of this old teaching picture showing some of the fundamental teaching of the Buddha. You start with this as a beginner and it stays with you, you come back to it again and again, reflect on its symbolic meaning and gradually see things more and more clearly. It is a symbolic teaching picture device and is very important in Buddhism. It is Tibetan so the picture might be Tibetan but the teaching is straight from the Buddhists mouths.' Paula Chittay

'This section here, the widest section, shows the different realms the human, heavenly and so on, and what really struck me in this teaching is that the Buddha goes to the different realms with different attributes to help the beings in those realms and to the human realm he comes with alms as if the strongest remedy for human beings is generosity and sometimes when I am not quite sure about the value of being an alms mendicant, as nuns and monks we depend on alms and that is not something that British people really appreciate but it always brings me back to the basic teaching that's what needed to go beyond our attachment.' Sister Cittapala

'It tells us that Buddhism's line is not a straight line from beginning to the end, just like a clock there is no beginning and no end.' Ven Chuen Yann Shih

Standing Figure of the Buddha

'I have chosen the standing figure of the Buddha, the Burmese one, and I have seen it before in your collection. It speaks to me, it is very hard to put into words.’

'When I look at the face and the gesture, it indicates something which is an essential part of me having become a Buddhist or even a nun. The face looks as if he is seeing the truth - he doesn't really look out but he sees something which isn't outside and isn't inside but he sees the truth and it is so that this truth is so strong that you can't turn away from it which is an experience that I definitely had in that sense it is speaks to me. Also the gesture of the hand lying on the heart is something to do with it. Then what I found quite amazing is the heart area, when you look at in terms of sculpture, it is a very quiet area, there is not much happening there, it is very serene and quiet but when you look at the folding of the robes they are really moving and expressive, light and dark curved lines. In a way it leads the audience to quiet parts.’ 'The Buddha embraces us all somehow. But still we can find stillness in movement, it is beautiful.' Sister Cittapala

Bodhisattva Padmapani

'When I come to the V&A I always find myself looking at this figure, I don't know if it is because it is large or because of the aesthetic side of things. For me it has this particular posture with the weight on the one leg - the tribhanga and the twist in the body. It reminds me of Western, Florentine kind of art. You get that same twisting in the body and so for me it has that odd link between Western aesthetics and Eastern aesthetics. I suppose because I do draw, you have to learn to identify all the different things and it is like a dress-me-up kit, where you draw the body and then add on the ornaments and the clothes and it is quite laborious but you develop a mental checklist.

'Also there was a Mongolian sculptor called Zanabazar, and he tended to do very soft bodies with intricate ornaments and his work I find is a good fast communicator. Sometimes in Tibetan paintings where the figures are flat, the sensuality you find in Indian art is missing but I think in this Nepali piece and in Zanabazar's work you have a sensuous quality that you have in Indian art but in Tibetan art is pushed back a little bit.' Grant Osman