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Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:06 am
by Hanzze
from the bookTeaching Dhamma by Pictures
Explanation of a Siamese Traditional Buddhist Manuscript
by Ven. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Published by
Sathirakoses-Nagaparadi Foundation & Ministry of Education, Thailand
On the occassion of the Centenary Celebration of the Bith of the Ven. Buddhadasa Bhikku
(27 May 1906 - 27 May 2006)


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Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

The use of pictures as a method for explaining the Dhamma (Buddhist Teachings) has been popular in Siam since the Sukhothai or early Ayuthia period. The manner of representation has undergone, of course, various changes throught the years so that the pictures illustrate period art as well as Dhamma. Though there is still disagreement in fixing the date of some illustrations, the examples presented here are of the Bangkok period (about 100 years old). Three illustrated manuscripts of this period on Dhamma have been found in the town of Chaiya (Surathani Province) and the volume presented here is the largest of them. Upon examination, it was found that all three manuscripts have the same theme for their illustrations.

The illustrated manuscript reproduced here was, in the original, a traditional Thai manuscript called Samut Khoi which is a long roll of paper folded concertian-wise into leaves and then written on both sides. In this form, the illustration was presented first, followed by a few lines of explanation on a particular aspect of Dhamma such as Meditation and so forth. Cambodian script was used in those days for all religious work thought the language is Siamese.

The pigments used were produced locally, most of them derived from native trees. The sequence of the illustrations has been rearranged here, for a more lucid presentation.


Note: The book was reprinted for free distribution from „The Corporate Body of the Buddha Education Foundation“ and is under http://www.budaedu.org avaliable.


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A german version is avaliable on dhamma-vinaya.de - if not available on this forum please try here: santinanda.de
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1. THE SIX ELEMENTS

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This is an illustration of the six Elements. Four human figures paying respect to the king represent the Four Great Elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. (Or of Solidity, Cohesion, Temperature and Mobility, which are the marks of all matter.) The fifth element, Space, surrounds the others. The king is a representation of the sixth element, Vinnanadhatu, the Consciousness-element. The king (or the mind) is shown as superior to and in control of the other four (Earth, Water, Fire, Air) elements which represent corporeality. Space should be regarded as beyond, and distinct from, the mind (nama) and body (rupa) elements, althought some schools of thought regard space as an aspect of mind. According to this latter approach, only two elements are present - mind and body. However, there are also the three elements of rupadhatu, arupadhatu, and nirodhadhatu. Rupadhatu is the element that has form and is composed of corporeal matter. Arupadhatu is formless and abstract, while nirodhadhatu is the cessation of nama (mind) and rupa (body) and is experienced as voidness. The space element should be regarded as nirodhadhatu, and not as rupa or nama. (The last three dhatus or elements, of form, formlessness and cessation, are not abstract ideas but relate to certain experiences won through the practice of calming, concentrating and enriching the mind with wisdom. In the same way, the first four great elements may also be experienced trough mindfulness of the body.)


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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:38 am
by Hanzze
2. MIND AND BODY

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Here the symbolism is also illustrate body and mind. Body is represented by the earth-ware vessels (carried by the man on the left) while mind is shown as the whimsical, swift and restless monkey. (The same symbolism of the monkey representing mind is found in the Lord Buddha‘s discourses (Sutta) as well as in the illustrated Wheel of Wandering-on as seen in Tibetan temples). The monkeys prove themselves adept at avoiding capture and the hunters have difficulty in spearing and shooting these agile creatures. The meaning is that the monkey (mind) is difficult to control. The body, however, is mere earth-ware, and cannot move by itself; it is easily broken and fragile. The combination of these two make up a human being.

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:53 pm
by Hanzze
3. MIND - CONTROL

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In this picture, the trees having cavities represent bodies and the snakes depicted here live within these cavities, or, metaphorically, the mind lives in the body. Hence, the snake, a dangerous and poisonous creature representing the mind, should be trained and controlled. One means of control calls for restrain (symbolised by the weapons in the illustration), while at other times one must be indulgent, using kindness as means to ultimate control. In short, both edges of the cut crystal must be used in taming the mind. The symbolism of the mind and the snake should not be taken lightly, both are potentially dangerous (leading one into pain an death. The snake's poison is carving (tanha) which in searching for pleasures and continued existence, is sure to kill one many times unless one takes firm steps to apply the antidote of Dhamma). The two corpses and three minks are a reminder that the mind is governed and subdued and death overcome through meditation.

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:35 am
by Hanzze
4. THE WAY TO ESCAPE FROM THE FIVE AGGREGATES

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There is a story here which one should know before studying the picture. A man who is fleeing from five thieves reaches a river where he discovers a floating corpse; he jumpes onto if and crosses the river. Here instead of thieves, five birds have been drawn in the right hand corner and these also represent the five heaps (khandha) or aggregates: material quality (rupa), feeling (vedana), memory (sanna), volition (sankhara) and consciousness (vinnanna). All of these are characterized by grasping (upadana) and are complete analysis of one’s self.

The rotting corpse, used to cross the river, is none other than one’s loathsome and disagreeable body. (One should not suppose that the body in Buddhist Teaching is to be despised, nor are the consequences of doing so (self-torture) ever found in Buddhist Teachings. However, the true nature of the body has to be seen with insight - as it really is and not as one wishes it might be since everyone knows, when they think about it, that it is naturally subject to old age, disease and death.) The corpse however, is still useful in reaching the further shore of Nibbana. The monks, and the laypeople holding lotus blossoms are those who have realized the truth and recognized the danger of the five heaps which constitute a “person” and are no longer attached to them.

subsidiary: Khandha Sutta

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 6:35 am
by Hanzze
5. WISDOM SPRUNG OUR OF "THE MUD"

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This picture is another symbol of mind and body, or nama and rupa. The body here, is represented as mud beneath the water while the mind is the lotus that springs from the mud. Unlike the loethsomeness of the body, the lotus is fragrant and our. The turbulence of the waters and the fish therein are all the worldly desires which agitate the mind. The man emerging from the lotus is holding a disc and a sword which symbolize the wisdom that cuts off and removes all defilements (kilesa). Defilement here, is represented by the boy approaching the enlightened man who, triumphant, pays no attention. The man in the right-hand corner holding the lotus-fruit has practised meditation and has found the way out of the darkness, having seen for himself the Fruit of Dhamma.

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 7:43 am
by Hanzze
6. THE THREE KINDS OF CRAVING

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In this illustration, an elephant symbolizing all beings, is drawing water from the three ponds of carving, namely: carving for sensual pleasure, for existence and for non-existence. The drinking of ponds represents our indulgence in the three carvings.

subsidiary: Craving - tanha

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:39 am
by Hanzze
7. DEPENDENT ORIGINATION

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7. DEPENDENT ORIGINATION

Here, all beings (the elephant) having consumed the three ponds of craving are consumed by craving, as the elephant is itself gulped down by a small green frog, a symbol of craving (since ordinary frogs can inflate themselves while this one has managed to gorge itself with all the cravings!) The sequence of events illustrates the teaching of Dependent Arising (Paticca-samuppada). The water in the ponds is regarded as sensory contact (phassa) which gives rise to the three feelings (vedana), which in turn leads to craving (tanha). Craving gives rise to grasping (upadana) which leads to existence (bhava) and consequently causes birth (jati).


subsidiary: Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 11:39 am
by Annapurna
Thanks, Hanzze!

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 12:02 pm
by Hanzze
8. DEPENDENT ORIGINATION (CONTINUED)

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The frog of craving (tanha) is now devoured by a snake (upadana or grasping) which in turn is eaten by a bird (bhava or mental becoming) while the bird perched on the reeds (which are fragile and hollow, being without heartwood as our bodies and without an abiding soul) symbolizes birth (jati). The roots of the reeds are being gnawed by four mice representing birth, old age, sickness and death, which events mark the passing of our lives.


subsidiary: Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 12:40 pm
by Hanzze
9. DEPENDENT ORIGINATION (CONTINUED)

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The symbols here are like those of the last picture: the bird having eaten the snake, the snake the frog, the frog the elephant, and the elephant having drained the three ponds of water. This picture, although by a different artist is used here to show a similar thought.


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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:59 pm
by gavesako
Interesting image... What is the monk sleeping on -- the Unconscious (anusaya)? But there are kusala dhammas (lotus flowers) surrounding him. Above: It could be a devata bringing relics for him. And yes, he is holding a manuscript (the Dhamma which protects him from the accumulated "anusaya" below, I guess -- Jungian interpretation).

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:04 pm
by Hanzze
_/\_

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:32 am
by Hanzze
10. IGNORANCE

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This is a representation of ignorance (avijja)* and the method of overcoming it. The man in the middle of the picture straddles a demon, wielding a disc in one hand and a sword in the other. The demon is symbolic of ignorance, while the weapons represent wisdom and signify the victory of wisdom over ignorance. Both corners of the picture show different kinds of ignorance. In the right hand corner, the man feeding a cock indicates his attachment to his possessions and the fact he has become a slave to them.

In the left-hand corner, the man holding a snake and a fishing basket symolizes ignorance by mistaking the snake for a fish. Here a man is mistaking evil for good, or suffering for happiness.



* (Avijja is not well translated as ignorance since this means not knowing at all. But avijja means not knowing properly or completely, knowing mistakenly.)

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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:16 pm
by Hanzze
11. IGNORANCE AND ITS RESULTS

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This picture is divided into two sections, the lower half continuing the theme of ignorance. The lower left-hand picture of a man feeding his chickens shows he has now become servile to his own possessions due to their abundant increase. The right hand corner illustrates the unfruitful practice of fire-worship. (A brahminical practice still used in India as a rite for propitiating the gods. Formerly, also in Siam, brahminical rites and vows (silabbata-paramasa)which is an aspect of ignorance).

The top half of the picture depicts the result of ignorance: a man caught in the wheel of continuous rebirth. The sequence of a man being bitten by a dog, drowning, and confronting a lion, teaches that once caught in the wheel of life, the captive neither realizes the significance, nor the cause of his plight; unsatisfactory experience (dukkha) has become a common part of his life.

Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:50 pm
by Hanzze
12. IGNORING THE TRUTH

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Here, the boy facing the lion does not fear it because he is not aware of the real danger. The lion represents the defilements of greed, anger, ignorance and lust as well as birth, old age, sickness and death. The young man is incapable of appreciating the danger confronting him because in his ignorance he still clings to the overt sensory perceptions of form, sound, taste, smell, and touch which are the bases for unsatisfactory experience. In contact to this state of ignorance, the figure above does realize life’s perils. Having comprehended these elementary causes, he points them out to the young man who still persists in ignoring the truth.

pursuing here the Avijja Sutta: Ignorance