The Art of Buddhism
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The Art of Buddh i s m A TEACHER’S GUI D E Freer Gall ery of Art and Art hur M. S ack l er Gall ery P ROJ E CT DIR E CTO R TEA CH ER CO N S U LTA NTS Carson Herrington Trudi Arnold Fairfax High School, Virginia F IRST WRI TE R Patrick Caughy Krista Forsgren Fulton Elementary School, Maryland S E CO ND WR ITE R Toni Conklin Elizabeth Benskin Bancroft Elementary School, Washington, D.C. Anne Garbarino P ROJ E CT AS S I STA NT Hutchinson Elementary School, Virginia Kristina Stephens Jacqueline Grace Brightwood Elementary School, Washington, D.C. E D ITO R Nancy Eickel Viola Leak Meyer Elementary School, Washington, D.C. D E S I G NE RS Sharon Madison Virginia Ibarra Langley High School, Virginia Patricia Inglis Victoria Walchak Barnard Elementary School, Washington, D.C. IL LU STR ATO R Vivienne Cho Special thanks go to curators James T. Ulak, MA PS Ann Yonemura, Debra Diamond, and Jan Stuart Gene Thorpe for their advice and assistance and to the thirty members of the FSG Teacher Consultants Group, who supported their colleagues (above) through- out the production of this publication. © 2001 Smithsonian Institution All rights reserved Front and back covers: Details of four scenes from the life of the Buddha. Gandhara (present-day Pakistan) 2d century B.C.E. Stone. Purchase, F1949.9aÐd. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Table of Co nt e nt s 5 INTRO D U CTI O N 6 OV E RV I EW OF B UD D HI SM 1 2 THE BIRTH OF BUD D HI SM I N IN D I A 1 6 Objects of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Art 2 4 B UD D HI SM IN C HI N A : A PROCESS OF TR A N S FO R MAT I O N 3 0 Objects of Chinese Buddhist Art 3 6 JA PA NESE B UD D HI SM : S E L E CTIVE ADA PTATI O N 4 0 Objects of Japanese Buddhist Art 46 B UD D HI SM TO DAY: I NTE RV IEWS A ND DISCUSSION QU E STIONS FOR HIGH SCH OOL LEV E L 5 3 VOCA B U L A RY LESS ON PLA N S 56 Lesson Plan 1—Elementary School Level India ¥ Life of the Buddha 6 6 Lesson Plan 2—High School Level (with extension activities for all levels) India ¥ Siddhartha Gautama as the Buddha and as a Literary Character 7 5 Lesson Plan 3—Middle School Level China ¥ Buddhist Symbols in Art 8 1 Lesson Plan 4—Elementary School Level Japan ¥ Temple Guardians and Other Heroes We Trust R E S O URCE S 8 6 Buddhist Festivals (with suggested activities for Elementary and Middle School levels) 8 8 Books and Magazines on Buddhism 9 1 Films and Videos about Buddhism 97 Websites on Buddhism 9 9 Local and National Buddhist Temples and Education Centers 1 0 2 Embassies and Consulates 1 0 5 National Educational Resources Introduction Thank you for turning to the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the national museum of Asian art, as a resource for teaching about Asia. One of our missions is to help teachers find innovative ways to include the study of Asia in their curriculum. Many national, state, and local educational organizations now recom- mend or require the study of Asia as part of every student’s education. A team of teachers from the Washington, D.C., area helped us design this packet. We hope that teachers of all grade levels and disciplines will benefit from these materials. We have identified grade level appropriateness in the table of contents for some lessons and activities. We hope, however, that you will look over the entire packet to determine for yourself what might be useful to you and your students. Also, please note that all words in the vocabulary list (pages 53–55) are in bold the first time they appear in any section. While the arts of Buddhism have an enduring tradition throughout Asia, we have chosen to focus on the cultures of three countries in which our museum collections are particularly strong: India, China, and Japan. Please use our outstanding collection as a springboard for lessons, activities, and classroom discussion. If you teach in the Washing- ton, D.C., area, we invite you to bring your students to the galleries and see the objects discussed here. I N T R O D U C T I O N 5 O ve rv i ew of Buddh i s m Buddhism began about 2,500 years ago, when Meditation young prince Siddhartha Gautama tried to Meditation—the practice of quieting the mind and understand the causes of suffering in the world. focusing on the present moment—is one step on Siddhartha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, about the Eightfold Path of Buddhism (see page 9). The five hundred years before Jesus of Nazareth, the goal of meditation is to detach oneself from founder of Christianity, and twelve hundred thoughts of daily life and observe them without years before Muhammad, the founder of Islam. judgment or emotion. In this way, one can recognize He lived for eighty years sometime between 563 that endless thoughts and speculations about the and 400 B.C.E. past and future are just thoughts, not reality, and Until he was twenty-nine years old, the need not disturb the mind. One is then free to expe- prince lived a life of luxury in his palace within rience the true reality of the present moment. sight of the Himalayan mountains. Then, on One can pract i c e meditation in a var iety of ways, depending on individual prefe re n c e and the ty pe of several trips he made outside his palace, he saw Bu d d hism foll o wed . Some methods include cou nt i n g for the first time people who suffered. Among and monitor ing the bre at h ,c h a nting a specia l wor d or them was an old man, a sick man, someone ph r ase (mantra ) , or using a visual or audio foc a l point, who had recently died, and a wandering monk. such as the flame of a candle or the sound of a bell. Following this sudden awakening to the suffer- Me d i t a tion usually ta kes place seated in a quiet ing in the world, Siddhartha decided to leave his sp a c e. family and the safety of his palace to seek out the The Buddha achieved enlightenment after an causes of suffering. He spent many years medi- intense period of prolonged meditation. To recall tating, praying, and fasting. One day he became this important event in the life of the Buddha, he is aware that people suffer when they want to hold often depicted in a seated position with his hands in ont o material things. He rea l i z ed that we should the symbolic gesture of meditation, the Dhyana mudra (see mudras on page 10). not become attache d to pos s e s s i o ns beca u s e nothing is perma n en t : eventu a l ly everything dies or becomes worn out. If we think anything wil l last forever, we are bound to suf f er. The mo- me nt Sid d h a r tha recogni z ed the cause of suf f erin g , he attained enl i gh t enm en t , or the grea t awa k eni n g . From that point on, Sid d h a r tha was known as the Bud d h a , the “enl i gh t ene d one . ” He spent the rest of his life tea ching in Ind i a . As the teachings of the Buddha spread from India to other parts of Asia, two major schools of Buddhism developed: Theravada, the “teaching of Elders,” and Mahayana, the “greater vehicle.”Theravada extended in a southeastern direction and can be found today in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia. In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha is considered a great teacher, and each individual is responsible for his or her own journey 6 THE ART OF BU D D HI S M The Spread of Buddhism O V E RV I E W O F B U D D HI S M 7 towa r ds enl i gh t enm en t . Mah a yan a , on the other hand, travele d from India in a north e a s t erly direction to China, Korea, and Japan. This tradition not only recognizes the Buddha as a godlike figure but also involves devotion to other enlightened being called bodhisattvas. All schools of Buddhism believe that every living beings experiences repeated lives on earth and has the opportunity to improve its next birth by performing good deeds in a current life. They also teach that after death, a being can be reborn into another form, such as an animal or insect, and will continue to be reborn until enlightenment is achieved. Enlightenment brings the ultimate goal of nirvana, the final death, that marks release from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. Buddhists believe that by following the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path, freedom from the endless cycle of rebirth is possible. The central teachings of Buddhism include: The Middle Way In life, you must reject the extremes of either wanting everything or giving up everything and seek the balance of the Middle Way.