The Buddha's mother found in Thai jungle?

The Buddha’s mother, Queen Maya Gotami, in Buddhism (jendhamuni.com)

This bas relief found in Thai jungle may be Queen Maya holding sal tree branch

Thai: Buri Ram mushroom hunter makes enigmatic discovery (nationthailand.com)

Mysterious sculpture found in Thai jungle

The Buddha's biological mother Queen Maya

May 22, 2024: A search for mushrooms in a remote part of Thailand turned wondrous for a group of Theravada Buddhist villagers who stumbled upon a mysterious sculpture believed to be a depiction of the Buddha's mother, Queen Maya.

According to a local media report, the remarkable find occurred last week at the Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in the province of Buriram, Thailand. It came to light by way of a social media post from Pramul Kongkratok, who was one of the mushroom hunters.

• Buddhism in Thailand (ancient Siam)
• The Buddha's birthday in Thailand
• Queen Maya (mother of the Buddha)
• The face looks like Cambodian (Khmer) art
• This location is next to Cambodia
• Like the frescoes of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
• Mother's Day 2024 is at hand

The future Buddha had a rare birth, entering his mother's side and emerging standing up.

Close up of carving, possibly recent

"Went mushroom hunting and found this," he said of the strange sculpture (more of which can be seen here)/

"I've lived here for so long, but just learned we have this around here. It's a blessing."

Kongkratok's photos of the newly discovered and seemingly ancient artwork went viral on social media in Thailand (on the verge of the biggest holiday in Theravada Buddhism known as Vesak ("Buddhist X-mas") -- a day commemorating:

1. the birth of Prince Siddhartha,

   

   Khmer art of Angkor area

2. his great awakening, when he became "the Buddha,"
3. and his passing into final nirvana

• (all of which occurred on the same auspicious full moon day in the ancient Indian month of Vaiśākha).
• [The art of the Khmer (present-day Cambodian) people is very similar to the art of the jungles of the Americas, as are their stone temples and exquisite bas relief art all over the walls of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, and new archeological sites constantly being discovered in the dense jungles of the massive former Buddhist-Hindu empire.]

 

Prince Siddhartha was raised by his adoptive aunt
Queen Pajapati Gotami, after Queen Maya passed.

This prompted the country's Royal Forest Department to dispatch experts to investigate the priceless archeological artifact.

Upon examining the sculpture, which is that of a woman with her arm stretched overhead [just as his mother, depicted as a salabhanjika, is seen in countless pieces of art in Indian as she gives birth to the future-Buddha, while standing, holding on to the branch of a sal tree].

Archeologist Chedha Tingsanchali was able to discern some clues as to the nature of the piece. Noting that the "eyebrows, lips, and other features" differed in their depiction from the artwork of the 6th to 11th century period known as Dvaravati, he posited that "the sculptor was someone who saw ancient art like ancient Indian art and imitated it.

That said, the age of the piece largely remains uncertain beyond it not being particularly ancient and how it wound up in the remote jungle is also a mystery.

Frescoes at Sigiriya (Lion's Rock), Sri Lanka

One potential creator for the sculpture, put forward by villagers in the area, is a Buddhist monk who lived in the general area decades ago.

As for who the piece is meant to depict, the prevailing theory at this time is that the woman is Buddha's mother Sri Maha Maya.

As one might imagine, experts in Thailand are keen to study the newfound artwork further in the hopes of developing definitive answers to the questions surrounding the discovery and ultimately determining what, if any, historical value it might have. More

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Original story

The topless ladies ofSigiriya are also a mystery

(NationThailand.com, May 14, 2024) Thai mushroom hunters in Buri Ram (near the Thai border with Cambodia) may have come upon an engraving of great historical significance. But an art history professor says otherwise. Pramul Kongkratok, a villager who lives near Khao Krachiao Mountain in Buri Ram’s Non Din Daeng district, posted an image on social media recently, which quickly went viral. It showed an ancient engraving of a woman with an arm held above her head. The photo was captioned: “Went mushroom hunting and found this....” More

Maya statue found in the Americas, in the jungles

of Honduras, a marvel of Central America.

• Tim Binnall, Coast to Coast, Mysterious Sculpture Found in Thai Jungle, May 22, 2024; Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

In Search of the Biggest Buddhas (photos)

Amber Dorrian and Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The capstone peak on the Big Buddha's head in Leshan, China (Joegwolf/flickr.com)

The Big Buddha Tian Tan (Fiendbyname/flickr)

Big Buddha, Thailand (Micky75017/flickr)

The largest sitting-Buddha in Southeast Asia, interestingly, is not in Buddhist Bangkok.

Thailand, with a Buddhist population of 95%. Certainly might want that distinction, but where is the statue?

 

The former Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, one sitting (news.nationalgeographic.com)

 

Maitreya Heart Shrine (facebook)

It may be in Afghanistan, as yet uncovered in the archeological remains of an ancient Buddhist land west of India -- which influenced the development of Buddhism in ancient Greece (Greco-Buddhism, see video) before the Dharma traveled to the land protected from barbarians behind its Great Wall.

 

Tian Tan Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong (Vicma Lee/discoverhongkong.com)

  

Relics to stop on Lu Mountain (Anibal Ortiz)

It is not in India (at least not yet). Tibetan Buddhists are working on that near the possible site of the historical Buddha's reclining into final-nirvana, Kusinagar, not far from the border with Nepal.  

  

THE RELICS TOUR, which continues in east suburban Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley city of Rosemead (Lu Mountain Temple).

 

The center of the former Khmer empire in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Angkor (Alexey Stiop/livescience.com)

  

Smiling stone face, Angkor (Photox0906/flickr)

Nor is it in the world's largest Buddhist temple complex -- the fabled Khmer city-state discovered in the dense jungles of Southeast Asia, the amazing world heritage site of Angkor, Cambodia, built around Angkor Wat.

 

Might it be in Bhutan? There, high in the Himalayas of the world's last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, is a magnificent new structure of staggering proportions in Thimphu.

 

Giant Buddha of Thimphu, Bhutan -- expensive tourism gets more expensive (smh.au.com)

 

Biggest sitting is SE Asia? (Andrew Tan 2011)

It is not on Ellis Island, New York, USA, a site renowned the world over for it big statues, thanks to France.

 

Rather it is a foreign Thai temple, Wat Machimmaram, located in Tumpat town, in the state Kelantan, Malaysia.

 

Big Buddha, Lantau Island, Hong Kong (Ak_phuong/flickr)

 

Despite being a Muslim-dominated state, a little known fact is that it is home to 200 or more Buddhist temples, most of them concentrated in this town.

Malaysia has indigenous Buddhists and a sizable Chinese population of at least 30%, many of them Buddhist by tradition.

World's biggest? The massive mountainside Buddha of Leshan, China (H2ooo2h/flickr.com)

Buddhist Pyramids (photos)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly; Steven Barringer (zoisiv71/flickr.com)

Buddhist pyramid, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, Taiwan (Zosoiv71/flickr.com)

  

Close up of steps as in ancient Mexico

A stupa, dagaba, or pagoda is an elaborate reliquary, a Buddhist burial mound, often the center of a temple complex.

Pyramid (thailand-delights.com)

It holds holy relics (that of the Buddha, a great arhat, or a famous teacher). 

 

Its dimensions and proportions are symbolic, geometrically representing the shape of the cosmos or this "world-system" (galaxy?) as a mandala in concentric circles, squares, walls, spaces, and levels.

Thai Buddhist temple (Ska09/flickr)

Although traditional stupas from Afghanistan (formerly on the northwestern frontier of ancient India in a region known as Gandhara) down to Sri Lanka (the teardrop Buddhist island off the southern tip of India) are milky white and breast- or bell- shaped, they are also found on pyramidal bases  as shown here.

Stupa (yasithaishanthaphotography/flickr)

The more elaborate they have become, the more they appear to be pyramids -- likely in function (mysterious energy generation) as well as aesthetics, which must stand out to hovering spacecraft (vimanas) operated by "shining beings" from space (akasha devas), whose emanations are such to light up an entire grove.

 

Pyramidal base with steps -- similar to those the devas helped the Aztecs and Olmecs build in ancient Mexico at Teotihuacan -- Borobudur, Java, Indonesia (Shubh M. Singh/flickr.com)

Bells (TrevThompson/flickr)

The largest and most elaborate stupa sits at the center of the largest Buddhist temple complex yet discovered at Borobudur in Java, Indonesia. 

 

It runs a close second to one in the jungles of Cambodia known as Angkor Wat, "the Temple at Angkor." This was once the center of the city of Angkor with a million inhabitants and a very complex water-distribution system, the jewel of the ancient Khmer empire.

Angkor Wat (Alexey Stiop/livescience com)

Its suburbs sprawled 150 square miles (400 km²) into the Southeast Asian jungle with ornate bas relief covering the stone walls with Hindu and Buddhist imagery of space nymphs, devas (light beings), yakshas (ogres), and very significantly nagas (reptilians, flying serpents). Its obsession with the latter seems to have precipitated its downfall, much as happened in the jungles of Central America with their stone monoliths and Mesoamerican pyramids.

• US underground: Alaska's buried pyramid near Mt. McKinley is real (Linda Moulton Howe)

Bell/breast-like dagoba, Thanthirimale, Sri Lanka (Dev Wijewardane)

One explanatory diagram (zhaxizhuoma.net)

The Buddha's Feet (Pho Temple)

hotography by Aidan McRae Thomson (flickr.com), Pho Temple, Bangkok, Thailand

The temple treasures

Wat Pho is the largest and oldest temple complex in Bangkok. Along with the temple of the royal palace, it is also the most visited. The sprawling complex covers a huge area. It is easy to lose oneself within its gateways, courtyards, and stunning buildings.

The present-day complex dates back to 1788, having been founded in response to the plundering of the former Thai capital of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767. A similar complex was destroyed at that time and recreated here.

Massage and funny foreigners
Wat Pho is a famous place of learning. And instruction is not limited to monastic training. It has a renowned school of Thai massage, which combines Indian Ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine, and Southeast Asian innovations.

One enters the complex through gateways guarded by huge Chinese statues, believed to have been imported as ballast aboard ships trading with China. The outer gates have fierce warrior figures, whereas the inner courtyards have the bizarre figures of farang (Western "foreigners") with their peculiar top hats, believed to represent the first European visitors to the East.

The Buddha's Feet
Many of the inner courtyards are surrounded by a cloister containing over 400 sculptures of the seated Buddha. The main bot, the spiritual nucleus of the temple, is beautifully decorated with frescoes of rich landscapes in red and gold.

The biggest and most spectacular attraction of the complex however is the Hall of the Reclining Buddha, housing an enormous gilded figure of the Buddha entering final nirvana. It is over 160 feet long, filling the entire center of the chamber.

Feet, Why Feet?
Wisdom Quarterly (ANALYSIS)

In India and much of Asia, the feet are considered debased and dirty. The brahmins considered the filthiest peeople as being born of the soles of Brahma's feet. But even the lowest parts of a holy person are sacred.

The Buddha had special feet. Not only were they soft, proportional, and beautiful, they bore many of the Marks of a Great Person (Sanskrit mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa, Pali lakkhana) he was famous for: He had "level feet" which were "pliant," with thousand-spoked wheel signs on them. His toes were finely webbed with full-sized heels, arched insteps, golden-hued, with soft and smooth skin, well-rounded soles, holding him erect and upright.

In addition to these major marks, there are 80 minors marks that include: beautiful, well-proportioned, tube-shaped toes, with rosy tinted toenails that are slightly upturned at the tips, smooth and rounded without ridges, with ankles that are rounded and undented, each foot of equal length giving him a beautiful and stately gait, like that of a king-elephant or king-lion or swan, a majestic gait, like that of a royal ox, led by the right foot when walking with skin that is unwrinkled, spotless and without lumps, unblemished, free of impurities, radiant, exquisitely sensitive to touch, with the scent of sandalwood.

These features are not exaggerations or additions. They are documented characteristics that defined one as a World Monarch (chakravartin ruler) or Buddha. What they looked like or how important they are, that indeed is subject to exaggeration.

But the signs themselves are spoken of in the ancient Vedas (Books of Knowledge) and the lore was familiar to brahmin priests who asserted their supremacy.

Warrior-caste (kshatriyas) Nobles vied with brahmins for supremacy when Siddhartha was born. Brahmin priests read these signs for the Buddha's father, warrior-caste King Suddhodana, to foretell the prince's great future.

Throughout India and in many Theravada countries (Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Khmer-Empire era Cambodia, etc.), the Buddha's feet are venerated. In Sri Lanka, for example, there is an imprint of the Buddha's foot at the top of Adam's Peak. (It is actually a very large carving). These depictions are embroidered with stories and signs, symbols of fortune and royalty.

The tradition of sacred feet extended to Jesus Christ (St. Issa, a.k.a. Yus Assaf, of formerly Buddhist Kashmir), whose burial site is marked by feet, a tradition unknown to Judaism and Islam. (Yes, good St. Issa, not having died on the cross, returned to India and is buried in a tomb now co-occupied by a Muslim figure and off-limits to Westerners).

• Physical characteristics of the Buddha
• VIDEO: Jesus in Kashmir documentary (BBC)
• Mahayana "Bodhi Day" transgender tribute
• Buddha's blue eyes, common for Central Asians
• The Afghan girl with green eyes: a life revealed
• Buddha's origins in Central Asia (West India)
  

Erawan Museum's Buddhist cosmology

Thailandsworld.com; Wisdom Quarterly; Stewie1980 (Flickr.com)

Hinduism was brought to Southeast Asia 1,500 years ago and was the controlling belief system of the imperial Khmers and Siamese kingdoms. Buddhism had pervaded the lands beyond India in all directions:

• west to Afghanistan, Central Asia, ancient Greece, and onto China, Japan, and Korea
  
• south to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia
  
• east to Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
  
• north to Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Mongolia.

Many Vedic Brahminical (pre-Hindu) and pre-Buddhist myths were prevalent in art and architecture in ancient and modern Thailand. Erawan Museum is a five-storey building shaped like the three-headed elephant Erawan. The museum contains ancient objects of cultural and religious significance.

The building is constructed as a symbol, just as temple prangs are a symbol of Mount Meru. The former Kingdom of Laos used the symbol head of Erawan on its flag, and statues of Erawan can be seen throughout Bangkok.

The building's three floors have, on the first floor, antiquities, on the second floor, decorative artistic statues and a stained glass ceiling illustrating the zodiac and the world (as shown here) and the top floor contains Buddhist relics and ancient statues. There is also a painted ceiling illustrating the cosmos. More

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Take a sleigh ride into orbit

Our Dharma Tattoos

Wisdom Quarterly; VanishingTattoos; Buddhist Art News; Wildmind.com

Americans love the Dharma. We may not understand it fully, but we are drawn to what we think we understand. How we express our affinity differs radically between Anglo and Asian worlds, the anachronistic Occident and Orient.

Asian Buddhists get tattoo but not as art. Many serve a "magical" purpose; they do not advertise affiliation so much as serve a perceived protective function by incorporating mantras (spells), sacred geometry, and other supernatural elements to expressly ward off inimical spirits and invite blessings.

Tattooed youth in the East are taking their cue from the West. Old style tattooing were largely a poor, rural phenomenon in Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, and Japan. In Japan, until recently, the worst thing one could do was get a tattoo. It was tantamount to becoming a pirate or convict.

Jews used to be banned from traditional internment for anti-biblical body modification, which seems to have stopped no one from getting tattoos.

Why do we emblazon the Buddha, Kwan Yin (Kannon), Dharma wheels, lotuses, Zen iconography, and Sanskrit or Tibetan lettering on our own personal canvas?

• Roshi Albrizzee (PasaDharma.org): Each piece is symbolic.
  
• Gary Sanders (Against the Stream): I just got this sacred geometry on my face. It looks like a tear drop, but if you look closely. The others all have a story. They are from different times in my life. The Dharma is prominent and no accident. It means the most to me besides my family.
  
• Yogini Lisa (Pasadena): I don't think they mean much to most people. They mean a lot to me. I research them. They are very symbolic. I could have gotten a rose, but I chose a lotus. It's very meaningful. I organize tattoo conventions, and I see people going with fads.
• Kalyani Dev (meditation instructor): Mine meant more in the past. They were more of an impulse. I don't think about them much now.
• Pat Macpherson: I used to be Zen. It was a look.

Vanishing Tattoos
VanishingTattoos.Blog
The spiritual emptiness of the modern world manifests in the obvious need for people to seek out meaning. This is apparent to anyone working in the tattoo industry. We see the surge in seekers looking for tattoos that have deep meaning.

Whether it is a tattoo with spiritual significance, a sacred symbol, or image of an Eastern deity -- forms have been used for millenia.

Seekers have religious, magickal, and sacred reasons. Bombarded by advertisements and cheap images, we are deadened. So it is not surprising that symbols, icons, and seals are sought out in art.

Many people are even beginning to suggest that the placement of sacred symbols on their bodies can help with illness or grief. More

Reclaiming the body with Buddhist tattoos
Marcus Hartsfield (BuddhistArtNews/Wildmind.com)
People often ask me why I get tattooed and why I have so many. I have 40 tattoos, including one that covers my entire back. I have also been branded and pierced in various locations. I started out with a small tattoo paid for by my best friend as a 25th birthday present. He said, “I want to give you something that you can never get rid of!” I continued to get tattoos regularly, a couple times a year and at one point every six weeks. For many years, I was not conscious of any particular reason for being continually tattooed. I liked how they looked; I actually liked the pain and the feeling of being tattooed. When I was first tattooed, they were not so trendy... More