Philosophy of Religion Spring 17

Kana Murakami Professor Trusso HUP105. 7351 April 19, 2017 Stories of Previous Lives of the Buddha (Jataka) Rubin Museum of Art Project: Samsara and Tibetan Society What attracted you to this work of art? Explain. While a number of art works related to Buddhism are displayed in the museum, most of them which take up much space, especially pieces of tantric Buddhist art are much different from those I have been used to see in temples, museums, and a painting of Buddha that my parents have at home in Japan. However, strangely I felt familiarity to the one piece of those art works, Stories of Previous Lives of the Buddha (Jataka) , painted in Tibet in the 17th century. Its composition, includes detailed depictions of many figures, buildings and other things, delineation of floating cloud in order to put many stories into one painting, separate two scenes and let them flow from one to another...

Rebekah Rolon HUP 105 Prof. Trusso 19th, April 2017 Rubin Museum Project Visiting the Rubin Museum of Art was a great experience that was also extremely informative and inspirational. There were plenty of different art pieces that caught my eye, which caused me to look deeply into particular doctrines that had to do with Buddhism. Each art piece had their own characteristics and interpretations of Buddhism that had the ability to make you feel like, although it was based on the same doctrine or individual it made you feel like it was something new and that there was something else that you should take upon yourself to learn about. While viewing and reading about these art pieces it also brought to my attention how closely both Buddhism and Hinduism can both be so similar, but differ from one another. The first piece of art that I noticed was an image called “Buddhas”. What attracted me to this piece was the texture, the darker more simple tone of it and the detail of l...

Rubin museum project 18th century stone named crowned Buddha is being displayed in the Rubin Museum. The sculpture definitely captured my attention. First of all the parents of self this just a very beautiful to  me. The sculpture was made with grayish  stone, in a way it seemed as though a portion of "crowned Buddha" was missing. Sculpted on the stone was The image of Buddha. He was an incredibly skinny but he was a bit then, what I like to most was a Buddhist seem to have a crown on his head yet he didn't have any fancy clothing on. This was a bit strange because were used to seeing paintings, sculptures etc. where if someone has a crown on we immediately know they must be wealthy or have power and along with the crown usually comes fancy clothing and/or accessories. However this wasn't the case with the sculpture; The Buddha had a crown but he wore tight plain clothing. Tracing the Buddhist head are several dots which create a circle. This surprised me a bit...

Leidy Polonia April 2017 HUP 105 Dr Trusso       Rubin Museum There is one thing that has been controversial over the course of many decades, religion. Religion is a subject mostly left to interpretation. Everyone sees it, practices it and interprets it differently. Some may not agree with the teachings and message of another religion. Buddhism has been a subject to this controversy. What distinguishes Buddhism from other religions is its  lack of prayer to a God. In Buddhism it is critical to find yourself and understand that being imperfect and suffering are a quality of life, it’s not give or take. The Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, Samsara, Dukkha and Karma are among a few of the many important doctrines of  Buddhism. It was one of the last paintings I encountered, in the fourth floor but it unquestionably captivated my attention. It was like love at first sight. The first thing that attracted me was the red dem...

Amanda Neuman's Rubin Museum of Art Project The Rubin Museum is a museum that displays many different works of Buddhist and Hindu art. Each piece tells its own story and depicts a different doctrine and belief in the Buddhist and Hindu religions.   The walls are covered with various paintings and embroideries of gods and goddesses as well as demons and spirits. One such work of art is called “The Wheel of Life (Existence)”. This piece actually depicts a few different Buddhist doctrines but the main focus of the wheel is to explain the cycle of ‘samsara’, similar to the symbol of Buddhism itself, the wheel of a boat. Samsara describes the cycle of birth and death, or existence. In Buddhism there is the concept of the three root afflictions. The three afflictions are greed, hate, and delusion. These ideas are portrayed in the center of the painting. According to Buddhist teachings, these three afflictions are the cause of dissatisfaction or dukkha. It is only through actively...