Saturday, March 12, 2011

Object # 25 The Reclining Buddha

Several months ago I was driving near my home, through a residential neighborhood, when something large and very white caught my eye. It looked like a very large piece of sculpture and I had to circle the block just to get a better look at it. This was something I had either never noticed before or it was new to the neighborhood.  On my second, much slower drive around the block I could see that it was a statue of a reclining Buddha figure and the little house now had a sign out front identifying it in Vietnamese, I assume, since the only word I could read was "Vietnam." I have not been able to find out anything about what it is, but I assume it is a Buddhist center of some kind.

The statue is quite beautiful and I find myself driving, slowly past it nearly every time I am headed in that direction. It is so incongruous just off a busy street, but looks so peaceful in the shady garden, and there are always fresh flowers sitting nearby. Here is a beautiful black and white photo that shows more detail.


I wish I knew more about it. I did learn that representations of Buddha fall into several classic poses and this, the reclining Buddha, represents the final stage of enlightenment before achieving nirvana.

4 comments:

  1. Wow. The things one discovers in residential neighborhoods.

    Is it by any chance at the address noted in this article? http://cousineaumosslaw.com/PhatQuangTemple.pdf

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  2. How beautiful. What a lovely encounter for you.

    Hope you're feeling better.

    I took the bottom off my machine and cleaned it-thanks for the idea. It really was pretty messy in there.

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  3. How beautiful. The black and white phone sure does give you more detail. Hope you are feeling better. The machine is still dirty but the house is clean.

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  4. My computer shows the B/W photo in color. Am I losing it? Is my eyesight suddenly refusing black and white? Oh dear, I'm starting to think black thoughts about a colorful subject.

    But I too love the statue.

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