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Introduction
A meeting of Buddhist monks and nuns from different cultures and different histories has been called to discuss and debate the ideal form of the shrine: its overall design and imagery. This paper shall present a discussion that entail detailed consideration of the design of the new Buddhist Shrine in Japan of which all stakeholders shall have an input. This will be done in a feature news story format as if I am a design and architecture magazine writer. It will include location, types of imagery, style, materials, size and scale, function, among other visual factors
The News Feature Story in a Magazine
In a recently held meeting of Buddhist nuns and monks for the planned new shrine to be built in one of Japans islands, new suggestions and considerations has been proposed as to the design, location, types of imagery, style, materials, size and scale, function, among other visual factors.
Most basic of consideration has been the location which was agreed to be in the island of Kyushu, Japan. The attendees of the discussion laid down a lot of historical considerations for the new complex to be built.
Foremost was that Buddhist temples are built dedicated to worshipping Buddha. It was planned that so much like every Buddhist compound with several buildings for the purpose of housing monks or nuns. History indicates that by the eight century, each compound basically consisted of seven buildings: the pagoda, main hall, lecture hall, bell tower, repository for sutras, dormitory, and dining hall. Usually surrounding the compound was a wall made from earth that had gates on each side.
It has been proposed and agreed that the main hall in the compound will hold the most prominent object of worship. The lecture hall will be used by monks for study, instruction or for rituals, and will be the largest building. Two predominate tower styles include one in which canonical writings will be stored and another to be used to announce the time of religious observance every day. The pagoda will be in the middle of the compound and will hold sacred relics, the main objects of worship.
The Indian monk Gandahura suggested that the stupa would be needed as a characteristic monument of Buddhism. He discussed that stupas were originally mounds covering the relics of the Buddha or his followers. Buddhist art in its early stage did not represent the Buddha directly but his presence was alluded to through symbols such as the bo tree, the wheel of law or his footprint. The stupa became a symbol of the Buddha, of his final release from the cycle of birth and rebirth the Parinirvana or the Final Dying, the monk explained.
However, Gandahura added that the stupa is also a cosmic symbol with its hemispherical shape represents the world. Stupas usually rest on a square pedestal and are carefully aligned with the four cardinal points of the compass, a recurrence of the symbolism of the dome whereby Earth supports Heaven and Heaven covers Earth. The axis of the world is always represented in the stupa, rising above its summit while the parasols set one above the other along the shaft emerging from its uppermost region, represent a heavenly hierarchy. Finally, the cosmic symbolism is completed by a ritual circumambulatory path around the monument.
The monk of India added that stupas are large-scale memorials built in particularly holy places that enshrine relics and considered the forerunner of the pagoda. But the stupa has also come to be known, on a smaller scale, as the reliquary made of crystal, gold, silver or other precious metals.
The monk of India cited the Great Stupa of Sanchi of which reconstruction consisted of a stone casing, a terrace with a double flight of steps, balustrades, a paved processional path and an umbrella and railing all built of sandstone. Four elaborately carved gateways were added in the first century BCE and the last addition, the effigies of the Buddha were permitted and four stone Buddhas were placed against the walls of the stupa facing the gates with haloes that are elaborately carved.
Another presentation was made by Joo Mung, a Korean monk. He cited the special annex to the Pulguk Temple complex, an artificial cave temple Sokkuram, on the crest of Mount Toham about 1.6 kilometres away. He showed that the cave temple is a domed circular structure built of granite blocks and resembles a tholos, the beehive-shaped tombs built by the ancient Mycenaeans in Greece from about 1600 to 1300 BC. Joo Mung said that the Temple may be considered typical examples of the first half of the 8th century and as stylistic stepping stones leading to the fully mature sculptures of the Sokkuram cave temple of the mid-8th century. He explained that the main Buddha of the cave temple has a massive body and a full, round face. It was apparently built by the master architect of Pulguk Temple skillfully constructed with granite blocks and covered with an earth mound on top to give the appearance of a natural landscape. It boasts a rectangular anteroom lined with large stone slabs carved with the figures of the protectors of Buddhism on each side of the walls and at the entrance passageway to the main chamber. Joo Mung added that the circular main chamber covered by an elegant dome ceiling and surrounded by carved stone wall panels depicting bodhisattvas and the ten disciples with the graceful statue of Buddha on a lotus pedestal in the center of the chamber.
The Chinese Lao Mi monk presided with the presentation of the Buddhist Caves at Longmen. It is located near the ancient imperial capital of Luoyang and composed of 2345 carved caves and niches hollowed out of steep limestone cliffs flanking the Lo River. During the start of carving at Longmen in the mid-fifth century, the site became a destination for Buddhist pilgrims for almost half a millennium. Niches and caves were added through the early tenth century. Lao Mi added that the site continued to be visited right up until the early twentieth-century by scholars and connoisseurs fascinated by the thousands of carved inscriptions, many of which were seen as the only remaining sources of Chinese classical calligraphy.
Lao Mi also recalled the China Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes located along the Silk Road near Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China. He explained that the rock cut Mogao Caves form a system of four hundred ninety-two temples also called Qianfodong, the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, and the Dunhuang Caves. The Mogao Caves became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Likewise, Lao Mi said that one of three (Longmen, Mogao, Yungang) famous ancient architectural sculpture sites in China, Mogao Caves was the most renown of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes.
It has paintings inside the secluded grottoes with stories about Buddhist beliefs that serve as inspirational reminders during the pilgrims and monks meditational quest for enlightenment. According to Lao Mi, local legend says that the first of the Mogao Cave temples was built around 366 ACE after Lezun, a Buddhist monk who had envisioned a thousand Buddhas, secured financial support from a Silk Road pilgrim.
Apparently, scriptures from the West were collected by Dunhuang Buddhist Monks from the fourth to fourteenth centuries. Around 42,00 square meters of the caves interiors have been decorated with murals painted by the many pilgrims who passed through the area. Lao Mi also reported that in 1900 ACE, a Chinese Taoist guardian of the Mogao Caves named Wang Yuan-lu found a veritable treasure drove of ancient manuscripts dating from 406-1002 ACE inside a small walled up cave.
The small cave soon became a repository for anthologies, apocryphal works, Buddhist canonical works, Confucian works, dictionaries, glossaries, old Chinese hemp paper scrolls; old Tibetan scrolls, and Taoist works; as well as, paintings on hemp, paper, and silk.
It has been generally finalized by all delegates that a Zen or Chan image representing practice and experiential wisdom shall be the focal point of the Shrine. It is important to include the image as meditation is realized in the form zazen, the attainment of awakening.
Incorporation of Color in the Overall Shrine Design
Throughout the discussion, to emphasize modern thinking and a worldwide acceptance and appreciation of younger generation, the Buddhist monks agreed to use the representative colors in Buddhism. It was discussed throughout that the principle colors involved in Buddhism are Blue, Black, White, Red, Green, and Yellow, and each except for Black are aligned to a specific Buddha.
It was presented that color blue is associated with the Akshobhya Buddha and the healer Blue Buddha. It represents tranquility, ascension, the infinite, purity, and healing but most of all, the color represents wisdom. However, light and dark blue have different meanings: light blue that Buddhists meditate upon is said to be no better represented than by turquoise that speaks of the limitless heights of ascension. The opaque as earth holds the wisdom of the earth and sky within it and it also embodies the duality of living and dying. The color change the stone undergoes from light exposure or skin oil is considered a reminder of human life and wearing the stone is thought to give the wearer long life as it is believed to absorb sin.
The dark blue represented by lapis lazuli surpassed the diamond in value. The stone represent all things pure and rare and considered the finest of the stones. They are visually comparable to the night sky alive with stars, and can be polished to possess high reflective quality. While turquoise promises a safe journey and long life, lapis lazuli is considered a stone of great healing power used for internal bleeding or inflammation and to quell nervous conditions.
Black in Buddhism is the same with Western Culture referring to darkness and hatred. While meditating upon hate, anger, and darkness may not seem like the path to peace, the principle revolves around coming to an understanding. It was said that learning, rather than reveling in the black of ignorance, is the path to clarity and truth. Black is used as a reminder of conquest but not annihilation, of turning evil into good. Black is most commonly found in black paintings, specifically black thangkas, representing deities. It has been observed that gold outlines and vibrant colors against a black background seemed even more capable of portraying other-worldly manifestations than those typically on plain, white backgrounds.
White represents the principles of purity and considered the color of knowledge and longevity. A color of extremes, white is associated with the cold of snow and the smelting of metal. White is closely linked with the Buddha Vairocana of which according to Buddhist legend, Buddhas mother, Maya, dreamt of a white elephant touching her right side before Buddha was born. Likewise, elephants, associate with rain clouds and fertility, are seen as good fortune, and following that the elephant was white meant purity and learnedness for the child. It was said that because of this dream, seeing a white elephant spells remarkable fortune, which holds truth whether in reference to mysticism or not, as they are quite rare. Finally, the white elephant is thought to be Buddha descended from the heavens.
The color red symbolizes life force, preservation, fire, and sacred things or places. Riddled with duality, fire may represent warmth and comfort, but can also considered be a destructive force. Red in Buddhism is associated with the Buddha Amitabha. Tibetan culture believes that red is a marker of sacred areas, and a true mark of a Buddhist scared area are the simplistic, tall gates at the entrances also frequently seen on the garments on the monks. Red is believed to be a protective color like shamanistic wards.
Green represents youth, vigour, action or Karma, and harmony. It is the color at the middle of the spectrum denoting balance and the lush trees. Green is closely linked with the Buddha Amoghasiddhi.
Yellow is the color that possesses the highest symbolic quality as seen on the saffron color of the monks robes. It was chosen as a symbol of humility and separation from materialistic society symbolizing renunciation and desirelessness. It is also the color of the earth, yellow denotes stability and grounded nature.
There shall be more discussion to follow as the delegates compare notes and probability for the building of the Buddhist Shrine in Kyushu. It is believed that both ancient and contemporary design and concepts shall be incorporated to the planned complex in order to facilitate modern acceptance and regeneration of membership and belief.
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