Boy Buddha found on Australian beach

EssaNews.com, Jan. 11, 2024; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Shark Bay’s natural wonders that turn one snap happy | So Perth

The baby boy Buddha (actually Bodhisattva) being ceremonially bathed on Vesak

Boy Buddha on Bimaran

What is a baby boy Buddha? It should not be confused with the Buddha Boy (Ram Bahadur Bomjon) now steeped in the quagmire of controversy. It is a figurine, usually ceramic and golden, of Prince Siddhartha Gautama just after he was born, raising his finger, speaking a declaration of his impending great enlightenment and final rebirth, and taking seven steps as the earth quakes, surrounded by devas and his mother's female attendants. It is used in a popular bathing ceremony usually performed during Mahayana Buddha Day and Theravada Vesak celebrations.

Buddha from the beach, two friends find $100K Ming Dynasty artifact in Australia

The statuette is worth a fortune. Images source: © YouTube ABA 10:47 AM EST, Jan. 11, 2024

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Shark Bay’s Monkey Mia Reserve dolphins

[Buy a metal detector, and hit the beach. There's no telling what treasures abound.] In 2018, Leon Dechamps and Shayne Thomson visited Shark Bay's coast in Australia.

Equipped with a metal detector, they serendipitously discovered a small Buddha figure, oblivious to the fact that they had unearthed a genuine treasure.

Vesak (Buddha Jayanti) is Buddhist Xmas

• [WHAT IS IT? The figurine represents the baby Bodhisattva, Prince Siddhartha before he became the Buddha Gautama, celebrating his birth in Lumbini garden as his mother, Maya Devi (iconically represented as a salabhanjika), gave birth standing up holding the branch of a sal tree, and it was twin sal trees the Buddha chose to lie down between when he passed into final nirvana, a statue commonly used in bathing ceremonies, commemorating how when he was born, the sky devas rained down to rinse him off, a ritual that is performed every Vesak, the thrice blessed day of his birth, great awakening, and reclining into final nirvana. Although it might be tempting to think Theravada Buddhism is just trying to be efficient by lumping all three events into one celebration day, the ancient texts say these three occurrences took place on the same month (Vaisakha) under the full moon.]
• Mahayana Buddhism does not recognize Buddhism, instead dividing the three events of the Buddha's life into three events (birth, awakening, passing): Buddha Day, Bodhi Day, and Parinirvana Day.
• The Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA) with British Thai Theravada Abbot Ajahn Brahm
• Monkey Mia dolphins (not only sharks) | Australia's Coral Coast (australiascoralcoast.com)

Beachside fortune

The red and white sand beaches of the coast Shark Bay, Western Australia | Roadtrippers

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I wish I were on a beach all alone meditating.

Following five years and numerous expert analyses, it was determined that the Buddha figure hailing from the beach of the Indian Ocean has its origins in China from the Ming Dynasty period.

The petite Buddha statue made from bronze dates most likely back to the 15th century. A specialist in Asian art validated that the item could fetch a price of up to $100,000.

"I was astounded when I discovered it was from the Ming Dynasty. This makes it the oldest Chinese artifact in Australian history," Dechamps stated on the Antiques Roadshow program.

Baby Buddha (Bodhisattva) being bathed

• Around the Buddhist world (such as Maui, Hawaii, USA) the community celebrates Vesak Day. Vesak celebrates the birthday, enlightenment day, and final nirvana day of the Buddha (Shakyamuni), all three events having happened on the full moon of the ancient Indian month of Vaisakha. In addition to guided sitting meditation and Dharma talks, there is usually a bathing ceremony of the baby Buddha and a joyful vegetarian meal. In the Chinese Mahayana Buddhist tradition, April 8 of each year is "Buddha Day," which celebrates the birth of Gautama Buddha.

Western Australia Marine Park is full of sharks

Upon discovering the figure, the friends endeavored to uncover how it ended up on the beach. Various services and institutions were consulted, including the Maritime Museum of Western Australia, the ambassador in China, antique dealers, art historians, various Chinese associations, and independent archaeologists.

The statue likely arrived in Australia in the 15th century during Admiral Zheng He's global voyages, which included the Indian Ocean basin.

Another theory posits that it was brought to Australia by Chinese traders in the 19th century. Similar statues were fairly popular and were crafted to commemorate the Buddha's birthdays [Vesak].

Great white sharks of Australia love the Bay

According to Australian law, the statue belongs to the finders. The figure is flawed, missing several elements, which were possibly deliberately removed and replaced with a more prestigious material such as ivory.

No other Chinese or Ming Dynasty-related items were discovered on the beach. However, Dechamps and Thompson are hopeful that they will find the missing portions of the Buddha statue in the future [and will likely spend $100,001 or die doing so because something else must be on that beach after six centuries]. More

• Australian beaches littered with cocaine; concerned police call for vigilant residents [to keep the sharks away from this human treasure]