Rosa Rosendo - Ruben Museum Project
Rosa Rosendo
HUP 105
Professor Trusso
April 19, 2017
Rubin Museum Project
Magzor Gyalmo, Queen Who Repels Armies
The first thing that attracted me to this artwork, was the location and placement of where it was. On the third floor towards the back, there’s a section that’s lowered, the walls are some sort of blue velvet and more art is displayed against a blue background side by side. Naturally curious by all things hidden, the location added a sense of excitement and mystery. Compared to the other pieces, what really grabbed my attention was the title of the artwork, Queen Who Repels Armies, after reading that title I didn’t think another piece would rightfully grab my attention as this one already had. Besides the title, what kept my attention on this specific work of art was how much was happening within frame. There was so much detail and expression, that it made it hard to look away from the painting.
The title of the painting is Magzor Gyalmo: The Queen Who Repels All Armies, medium: silk applique with pearls, coral horse hair, and gold thread. It’s height measures as 56 ⅛ x 39 ½ in. A blue deity is the focal point of this painting, she rides on top of a horse. They are caught mid stride, and are looking back. Both the deity and the horse have three eyes, they are both decorated in jewelry, mostly beads (pearls?). The deity has multiple limbs (four arms and two legs) one arm is raised, holding a staff, another, closer to the horse’s head appears to be holding a skull; flames are coming out of the skull, though they appear to be low flames. The deity has it’s mouth open, it has a snout (animalistic feature), wild eyebrows, (the third eye lays bare) what might be classified as facial hair protrudes as a beard and to the sides of the mouth in a triangular fashion. The deity has elongated ears, large circular, jeweled earrings hang from its ears, in motion. Five skulls make up the crown that rests on top of the deity’s head, it too is made of beads and other small jewels. Red fiery red hair flows behind, the deity is decorated in beads (small white ones-possible pearls) on its wrists, on its torso and on its legs.
A lot of tiny details are embedded onto the blue deity and the horse who acts as its counterpart. While the deity is blue, the horse is tan in color with its mane and tail painted white. Like the deity, the horse is also accessorized, the saddle that carries the blue deity, is also laden with numerous of other objects. Interwoven around the body of the horse is a body. Twisted like a piece of cloth, the body’s legs are tied loosely around the horse’s neck the head is at it’s torso looking down. Seemingly falling off. The expression of the person loosely hanging from the horse is intense, even frightened. It should be noted that the ground that the horse gallops upon is actually a river of red (presumably blood) human remains such as skulls and ribs are seen scattered throughout this river. At the opposite side of where the horse and the deity are, below it, are three more deities, they’re features warped and twisted into faces. Different facial features are expressed more than others in each of the three deities at the bottom, one has large eyes, one of them is blue, like the deity that sits ontop of the mule and the other is darker skinned.
According to the museum website, “sacred textiles such as this were designed by monks for important spiritual occasions, and they were stitched mostly by women.” The subject of third piece is Magzor Gyalmo--shortened to Magzor--belongs to the larger class of enlightened protector deities, also known as Shri Devi. Magzor Gyalmo is a wrathful emanation of the peaceful goddess Saravati. As her name states, Magzor, has the power to turn back armies. According himalayanart.org, “some say that there are twenty-one forms of Shri Devi, though not all forms of Shri Devi have the same entity.” This wrathful deity is the wrathful form of Sarasvati, who is the goddess of learning and eloquence and who is thus paired with the bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri. “Magzorma is most commonly associated with the wrathful forms of Manjushri: Heruka Vajrabhairava, Rakta Yamari or Krishna Yamari,” three of the most wrathful forms of Manjushri. Wrathful deities are “enlightened beings who take on wrathful forms in order to lead sentient beings into enlightenment.” Though they may look like demons, these deities are said to be the wrathful manifestation of wisdom and method.
This artwork illuminates the doctrines of the wheel of rebirth and dharma. Deities act as guides, ones who help one follow the teachings of buddhism. While Buddhism is considered a nontheistic religion, and does not have an ultimate creator as western religions have, deities are considered to be an important part of Buddhist religion. They play a role in samsara doctrines, “the heavenly gods (devas - god; devi - goddess) are asserted in a realm of existence in buddhism, and typically subdivided into twenty-six sub realms.” (Rubin Museum) The chapter on buddhism states that there are thirty-one planes of existence include “hell beings, hungry ghosts (beings tormented with unsatisfied desires), animals, humans and gods.” (Buddhism, 76) All the aforementioned beings and states are imperfect and impermanent, all these beings are trapped in the cycle of samsara, repeatedly experiencing suffering , until one is able to achieve nirvana--which is beyond cause and effect. The wrathful deity in this painting is another being that is also trapped in the cycle of samsara, a reminder, that even deity’s are not enlightened. However, unlike mortal human beings, they’re job is to guide beings closer to nirvana.
The doctrine of samsara and reincarnation is similar in that they both aim to break the cycle of a continuous rebirth. In hinduism, the self is eternal, according to the textbook in the third chapter of hinduism, “one takes birth again and again in countless bodies--perhaps as an animal or some other life form--but the self remains the same.” (Hinduism , 42). Hinduism allows multiple life times to achieve moksha (or liberation from reincarnation) with the same soul for every life that one takes. Compared to hinduism, there is no eternal soul to be reborn. In buddhism, “one phenomenon or event acts as the cause that sets another into motion”, this is also known as karma. The passage continues to state that, “when we die, this process continues, passing on the flame to a new life in a realm of existence that reflects our past karma.” The explanation of what happens after one dies is compared to that of passing a flame to a new candle, our self being the flame and the new body being the candle. The flame would then pass onto a new candle, or body with a measurement of how much karma one has accumulated in their life (both good and bad) a representation of one’s next life form.
Huston Smith defines religion as “institutionalized spirituality.” Following that, standard buddhism is a religion, Buddha is not a God, but rather the person on which the teachings of buddhism are founded on. Buddhism is a religion, a philosophy and as such a way of life, anybody can be buddhist. As the documentary, The Buddha states after the story of how the Buddha became enlightened, “the buddhist teachings are for everyone.” (29:52 of Part Two). In describing the enlightenment that the Buddha experienced, his acceptance of the earth, as the world, as appreciation, as coexistence, one of the narrators say this, “you are already enlightened, he ( the Buddha) is saying that the capacity to your awakeness already exists inside you.” (53:50 Part One). Buddhism has no creator deity, it does not focus on creationism, it’s concern is not, “where did I come from?” rather how do I cope in this life as I am? It deals with the notion of suffering and how to come to terms with it as well as being able to break free from suffering in the form of enlightenment known as nirvana. Buddhism is not about being special, buddhism is about being ordinary, it is about walking a normal life with normal human beings doing normal human things. (4:17, Part Two) I really liked when the narrator explained it in that way, because it made it more inclusive to all people, compared to other religions where the special person is already chosen, buddhism emphasizes the opposite.
The shrine room on the fourth floor really helped me understand and view the religion and help ground it as both a philosophy and a religion. On my visit that room was so quiet and peaceful and beautiful and daunting and holy and otherworldly. It was a nice to see how all the artifacts around the museum come together in that one room. Watching all the different sculptures of the deities and of past Buddha Vistas and the previous Dalai Lama’s was so interesting to observe. I don’t think I would have had the capacity to fully understand and visualize the material, the philosophy of buddhism had it not been for my trip to museum. It really put both Buddhism and Hinduism into perspective, one of my closes friends is hindu, but I am able to view her religion more than I did before, and i’m glad that this course has helped embellish those views.
Works Cited:
"Deities in Buddhism." Deities. N.p., 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
"Himilayan Art." Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi, Magzor Gyalmo (Introduction). N.p., 01 Jan. 2017. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. <http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=2125>.multiple authors
"Himalayan Art." Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi, Magzor Gyalmo Main Page. Multiple Authors, 01 Jan. 2017. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. <http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=358>.
Karlsson, Klemens. "The Formation of Early Buddhist Visual Culture." Material Religion, vol. 2, no. 1, Mar. 2006, pp. 68-95. EBSCOhost, mail.lagcc.cuny.edu/viplogin/default.aspx?redirect=http://search.ebscohost.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=23005760&site=ehost-live.
Kumar, Nitin. "Wrathful Guardians of Buddhism - Aesthetics and Mythology." Exotic India. N.p., 1 Feb. 2001. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
"Magzor Gyalmo, Queen Who Repels Armies-18th Century | Rubin Museum of Art." The Rubin. The Rubin Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 2107. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Magzor Gyakmo Queen Who Repels Armies. 18th Century. Silk applique with pearls, coral, horsehair, and gold thread. Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W 17th St, New York, NY 10011.Gift of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation F1996.19.1, HAR472
The Buddha (PBS Documentary). The Buddha. N.p., 28 July 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCdKg5DzMaQ>. written and directed by David Grubin
Hi Rosa! I found your paper insightful and visually descriptive. As I was reading your paper, I can close my eyes and see all the details you described in the museum. You mentioned that you believe Buddhism is a religion based on the definition that it is an institutionalized spirituality. I just wanted to explore this definition a bit further. When I think about institutionalized spirituality, I revert to the term organized religion. It typically is characterized by belief systems, rituals, an official doctrine, a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership structure and a firm set of rules. Some of these characteristics seem to contradict some of the aspects of Buddhism. Like you mentioned in your paper, Buddhism does not have a 'leader' or hierarchy within their faith. It does not demand blind faith from its adherents. It is based on the premise of reasoning and understanding of the universe and our connection to these elements. Based on the definition I described, can we consider Buddhism to be more of a philosophical concept than a religion?
ReplyDeleteAyoka thank you for your insightful observations, you are right, according to the definition that you provided, Buddhism would be considered more of a philosophical concept than a religion. However, I wanted to clarify some things I wasn’t able to do so properly, you mentioned that the term ‘institutionalized spirituality’ made you revert to the term of organized religion, by definition, organized religion is a “structured system of faith and worship.” Yet the reason I want to keep the definition of Buddhism as institutionalized spirituality as a form of religion is the fact that Buddhism goes beyond being just a philosophy.
DeleteWhereas spirituality is satisfied within oneself, religion is dissatisfied with the world, I believe Buddhism is both spiritual and religious simultaneously. Spirituality, Buddhism is concerned with the end of suffering, which is accomplished through the Buddhist practices (the four noble truths and the eight fold path). Siddhartha, the first Buddha taught and passed on his teachings so as to enlighten others so they too, could be enlightened, free of suffering. Buddha was dissatisfied with the world and the all the suffering that existed in it, Buddhism is therefore a solution that he provided as a means to the end of suffering. For this reason, do I maintain that while Buddhism is as much a philosophy as it is a religion it does limit itself to being just a philosophy since the practices and the people who are a part of it exist in it in terms of a religion.
Learning about the complexities of the doctrines that exist within the global religions have helped me realize that religion is not as clear cut as one might imagine it to be so. Before this course I wouldn’t have imagined just how much in common the world religions have in common, even now, the concept of God I view in a different light. I won’t say I believe in a God, but I wouldn’t cross out the possibility, especially after we covered the theodicies on the existence of evil and God’s existence. Having had limited exposure to any religious experience or teachings, I have always been curious about religion, it’s impossible not to be aware of religion, especially in a city as diverse as New York. By exploring these complexities that exist, and from an academic standpoint I was able to receive answers on questions I had about the doctrines or philosophy. Yet through philosophical debates and class discussions new and different questions were asked and the answers that I would have given before are now different because of the new information that I learned through studying the doctrines. It’s refreshing to look at the same people around me from different religions and understand rather than just wonder about them.
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