Heian Period Japan 794-1185 CE, Esoteric Buddhism

Taizokai (Womb World Mandala) ink and colors on silk. Heian, 859-880. This is a series of co-centric squares, with the center being a flower with red petals, each petal holding a Buddha on it.

The opposite is the Kongokai (Diamond World Mandala). The upper square of the Diamond Mandala shows the Dainichi Nyorai, an embodiment of the extreme spiritual universe.

Shingon — “true word” or “mantra”. Established by Kukai (poet/monk/scholar/explorer), on Mount Koya. Based on Mahavairocana Sutra. It’s esoteric or “secret” in the sense that its teachings cannot be learned from scriptures - teachings are passed directly from teacher to student. Some concepts: Buddha possessed two aspects, the phenomental body, manifested by specific Buddhas like Shakyamuni, and the absolute or ineffable bodies. They were not separate, but considered different manifestations of the same absolute principle.

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fuckyeshuaxia:

千里 [thousand miles] 姻缘 [destined marriage] 一线 [one thread] 牵 [is led]

The “red string [of fate]” is a concept originating from Chinese mythology (and if you come onto this post wailing about how it’s originally from Japan, you are wrong and need to recognise the fact that just because it’s where you were introduced to the concept doesn’t mean it was originally where it came from, and that this is part of the culture of multiple East Asian countries), wherein the gods tie a red string around the ankles of those who are destined to marry.

The story goes that one day, 月老 (yuè lǎo)，or 月下老人 (yuè xià lǎo rén), the matchmaker god, sat on a cloth sack, reading a book under the moonlight (imagine that). A young, unmarried boy passed by, and, being curious, asked him what he was reading.

月老 told him it was a book of fates, a record of all the marriages that are destined to happen. 

The boy then asked what the purpose of the strands of red silk thread in his cloth sack was. 

月老 told him they were used to tie together the feet of those who were meant to be married, whether or not the two families had a blood feud, or whether they lived on opposite sides of the country. And once the thread was tied, there was absolutely no way to change it.

He also told the boy that his future wife was the daughter of a vegetable stall vendor a few miles north of where they were. He gave the young boy directions to the market. Once he was there, the boy discovered only a old woman holding an ugly two year old girl.  

Being the horrible, superficial brat he was, he didn’t want to marry so ugly a girl, and remembering that the old man had told him there was no way to change who he was tied to, he got a servant to assassinate the girl. The servant, in the dark of night, slashed down towards the girl’s forehead and left without checking that she was dead, unknowingly only wounding the place between the girl’s eyebrows.

Fourteen years later, because of his father’s influence, this boy became an official. The governor of the province liked him very much, and arranged a marriage between this boy and his daughter. His daughter was very beautiful, with the face of a flower and the countenance of the moon (花容月貌), but she always had a flower or an ornament stuck to the space between her eyebrows.

Being curious (ah, continuity), the young man then asked his wife why she always covered that area, and she responded that, in her youth, someone had injured her there, and so she always kept it covered.

Shocked, the young man recounted the story of his murderous assholery, and, realising how fated they were, they fell more in love than ever. I don’t know why, because if my husband told me that when I was two he tried to kill me because he thought I was too ugly to be his wife, I would 休 (divorce) him in two seconds.

Nevertheless, since then, 月老 became known as the god of marriages (and whatever name he might have had in the past, he’s now known as 月下老人, or the old man beneath the moon), and the red string (红线) is a symbol of fate and love.

(Source: )

stefotobystefan:

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China

summerofscience:

The Shwedagon Pagoda of Yangon, Burma, is a Buddhist site of prayer and pilgrimage built in a vague time around the 6th Century - a period in which Buddhism had swept many Asian regions. In grand fashion, the ‘Golden Pagoda’ was augmented in 1484 by a bronze bell - the ‘Great Bell of Dhammazedi’, and allegedly one of the largest bells ever made in history.

In the 17th Century some Portuguese jerkoff, Filipe de Brito, integrated into Syriam within his aptitude as an adventurer, declared Portuguese independence and took the Bell to melt the bronze for cannons. Fortunately, the bell was too heavy to carry across the Yangon River, and it sank - a recapture of the Syriam region also saw de Brito’s impalement as a result of his monumental defilement.

(via fuckyeahsouthasia)

dinosaurier:

“Muhammad preaching” - Unknown Artist

Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad have been debated over much of Islamic history. While it seems the debate goes in cycles of strictly prohibiting the depiction of the Prophet, to allowing it many of the images seem to come from the medieval period of Islamic history. Artists would sometimes depict Muhammad wearing a veil as to cover his face; even others would cover his hands as to not show any skin whatsoever. However, some artists would depict Muhammad’s face.

(via kagemni)

oldworldwandering:

Komuso “Basket” Monks:

A komusō was a Japanese monk during the Edo period. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket (tengai) worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi flute. The Japanese government introduced reforms after the Edo period, abolishing the sect. Komusō means ”priest of nothingness” or “monk of emptiness”.

centuriespast:

Sarasvati

India, 10th-11th century

This sculpture once stood in a niche in a Hindu temple. Sarasvati is the name of a river and of a goddess-a goddess who embodies the power of speech, of music (she is playing the stringed instrument known as the “vina”), and of learning (she holds a manuscript in her lower left hand).

Walters Art Museum

centuriespast:

Protector Deity Mahakala

Tibetan, 15th Century

This fierce protector collects the blood of his enemies in his skull cup and then drinks it. Among his ornaments are a necklace of skulls and a bone apron. This image was probably produced by Nepalese craftsmen, who excelled in the hammered-copper technique, for use in a monastery of the Sakya sect.The Walters Art MuseumJohn and Berthe Ford, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown].Promised gift of John and Berthe Ford

Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 18th century
Hispano-Philippine
Ivory, partly polychromed and gilded, with glass eyes and silver halo