PureInsight | June 21, 2004
[PureInsight.org] My family and I decided to meet at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. before we left D.C. for our hometown. On my way to the gallery, I called my family's cellular phones repeatedly but I couldn't reach them. Yet the interesting thing was that we were walking right towards each other when I stepped into the gallery. What a coincidence.
There was another interesting coincidence. I discovered that there was a special exhibition at the gallery until August 8, 2004 that "presents 35 extraordinary 6th-century Chinese Buddhist statues that were accidentally unearthed in 1996 by workers leveling a school sports field in Qingzhou, a small city in Shandong Province on China's northeast coast." [1] The name of this special exhibition is "Return of the Buddha." "These limestone statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas project a radiant sense of calm and inner peace. They were apparently ritually interred during the 12th century for reasons that are still unclear. Part of an enormous cache of about 400 objects buried in a two-meter deep, 60 square meter pit on the site of the long-destroyed Longxing (Dragon Rise) Temple, these sculptures were mostly broken-some even repaired before their interment. The burial may have been a respectful way to retire obsolescent images, but could also have related to waves of Buddhist persecution." [1]
These Buddha statues were generally carved against mandorlas (Fa boat) or Mysterious Passes, and were often decorated at the top by flying deities or heavenly beings. "The figures typically stood on lotus flower pedestals surrounded by swirling dragons, many wearing jeweled collars." [1] They are exactly like what Teacher has mentioned in the Fa lectures.
I have also noticed that there is something different about these Buddha statues. Most of the Buddha statues I have seen since I was little wear solemn facial expressions, but all of these Buddha statues at the exhibition are smiling. While I was thinking about this question, my mother-in-law asked loudly, "Why are these Buddha statues smiling? I dare say they are almost grinning."
When I entered the gallery and saw the name of the exhibition was "Return of the Buddha," I thought, "These Buddha statues have finally been unearthed and returned to the human realm." When I finished touring the exhibition, I had a different interpretation: They are now returning to their "true original home" so all of them are smiling.
Reference:
[1] Return of the Buddha: The Qingzhou Discoveries at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/5/31/27400.html
