We passed by this Buddha when we traveled to the Jiulong Group of Waterfalls in China two years ago.
The Buddha was sited at the top of the hill.
After climbing a lot of steps, we we finally reached the top of the hill, and here it was the golden Buddha smiling peacefully and kindly on us.
He seems to be very relaxed, the posture on the right hand may be symbolic of something which I don’t understand and he has a string of beads on the left hand.
He has long ears which to Chinese symbolize longevity.
No sure why he has a big belly – he must be well fed, not sure whether this is healthy though.
There was sort of an awakening radiance when we were looking at the Buddha!
Is it true it’s good luck if you rub his belly?
Haven’t heard this, maybe I should try!
He looks so joyful!
Yes, very much so!
Hi Michael, great pic! The beads are used by many Buddhists as part of prayer ritual, a bit like a rosary for Catholics. There’s a couple of explanations for the ears. One is that they symbolise wisdom and compassion, the ‘all hearing’. The other is that they represent fashion at the time. Heavy ornamental ear pieces caused the ears to stretch. Although it’s said that the Buddah stopped wearing these ear pieces, he was left with elongated ears from his princely days. As for his hand, this is gyan mudra. There are various mudras (hand positions) used during meditation. This one is for knowledge and empowerment of mind 🙏😊
Many thanks for sharing the knowledge!
可愛！
Thank you, Yan!
This is Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. His hand symbol is wheel of Dharma. This is a pretty new sculpture, around 2010? Yiu are really very update in terms of travel. Is that a day tour from beijing?
Many thanks for the sharing. This area is more near to the Guizhou / Yunnan area, we just passed by without really knowing exactly the location.
His right hand pose is a mudra that I think might stand for spiritual understanding – as if a grain of rice is being held between the fingers. What a wonderful Buddha – am looking forward to seeing lots of these on an upcoming trip to Thailand. Thanks for posting him:0)
Many thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Hi Michael, I’d like to use one of your images for a docent training video for the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, CA. It’s an image of a farmhouse in Shirakawa-Go that you took in the autumn one year (2008?). The training video is an interview with the architect of a new pavilion building, and I would like to use your photo as a demonstration of the inspiration of the style of Sukiya-zukuri. This is a non-commercial project for the non-profit San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden, niwa.org
Of course, I’d be happy to show you the video when it is complete–and perhaps you can put San Diego on your list of travel destinations!
Hi Barret, you are welcome to use my photo for non-commercial purposes. I am interested in architecture, the A-frame buildings there make a lot of architectural and functional sense. Regards, Michael
China is on my list of countries to see in the next couple of years!
I am sure you will enjoy that!