The Buddhist Worlds of Southeast Asia

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The Buddhist Worlds ofSoutheast Asia the
High Himalayas
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• Background
• Buddhist tradition flourished in various
  parts of Southeast Asia during roughly the same
  historical periods that Buddhist teachings and
  practices were first taking hold and evolving in
  the neighboring regions of Tibet Nepal from
  the 7th to the 14th centuries CE, precisely the
  time when Buddhist influence was severely
  declining in most parts of India. Clear
  parallels exist between what Buddhists taught and
  practiced in these two parts of Asia during this
  time yet the forms of tradition that eventually
  prevailed in the two regions are as different as
  their starkly contrasting landscapes. Most of
  mainland Southeast Asia, with its fertile river
  valleys blessed by abundant rains falling on
  numerous mountain ranges, came to be dominated by
  the conservative forms referred to as Theravada
  (Doctrine of the Elders), which traced its
  lineage back to the teachings of the Buddha
  recorded in the early, pre-Mahayana sutra
  collections, and whose leaders repeatedly revised
  their practice to exclude teachings and
  devotional forms of worship that were becoming
  the primary focus of most Mahayana traditions.
  The Buddhists who came to influence those who
  inhabited the cold and rugged high-altitude
  terrain of Tibet, on the other hand, as well as
  the less remote mountain regions of Nepal,
  promoted Tantric Vajrayana forms of Buddhist
  thought practice (a later evolution of the
  Mahayana movements described in IAR, chapter 11).
  Vajrayana Buddhist practice, with its colorful
  icons depicting a wide range of celestial
  bodhisattvas and nature spirits, provides one the
  most vivid contrasts to the austerity of form and
  thought found in Theravada.
• Yet this contrast between Southeast Asia the
  high Himalayan regions of Nepal Tibet did not
  emerge overnight. While Tibet seems to have been
  dominated by Vajrayana quite early, Theravada was
  initially only a minor force in Southeast Asia,
  existing alongside of a variety of Mahayana
  forms. The following images document some of
  this historical complexity, pointing out key
  contrasts between Tibetan, early Southeast Asian,
  later Theravada iconography architecture.

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Early Buddhist Icons Monuments of Southeast
Asia (8th-12th CE)
The earliest monuments built in mainland
Southeast Asia indicate the early influence of
Hindu (primarily Shaivite) traditions, beginning
in the mid-4th century CE. Other clues,
however--including the presence of Buddhist icons
imported from India--suggest a significant
Buddhist presence as early as the 3rd century CE.
By the turn of the 9th century this influence
leads to the first major Buddhist monument at
Borobudur on the island of Java, in present-day
Indonesia. During this and the following
centuries, important Buddhist monuments were
constructed also on the mainland in the Khmer
region (current day Cambodia) and Vietnam
(influenced primarily by Chinese traditions).
Several of these monuments make clear that
different forms of Mahayana traditions were
widely popular during this period.
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Borobudur (800 CE Java)
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side views (six square terraces)
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side carvings / stupas images on top
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stairs to upper level, with crowningBuddha status
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Avalokiteshvara Icon (left) at nearby Chandi
Mendut temple (right)
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Hindu temple complex at Prambanam(9th-10th CE
Indonesia)
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carving of Lord Rama hunting dear in the
wild(remember Shakuntala!)
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Buddhist Temples at Banteai Srei (10th CE Khmer)
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central shrine
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temple guardians (remember Sañci)
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Hindu temples at Ankgor Wat(Khmer region, 12th
CE)
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section plan
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outer façade (w/ moat) inner courtyards
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2. Theravada in Shri Lanka, Burma, Thailand
(?-15th CE)
Theravada came to the island Shri Lanka (at the
southern tip of India) very early in Buddhist
history by the 2nd-5th centuries CE its
monasteries had gained a reputation as centers of
study, attracting scholars from India and other
parts of the Buddhist world. In the 9th century,
the Pagan dynasty of Burma the Shri Lankan
Theravada version of Pali Buddhist scriptures as
the standard for their own Buddhist institutions.
A political alliance between Shri Lanka and
Burma, furthermore, was forged in the 11th
century when the Burmese king lent his aid to the
Shri Lankan king to drive out invaders from Tamil
Nadu (in mainland India) Burmese monks also
subsequently assisted in reestablishing the Shri
Lankan monastic lineages, which had been
suppressed by the Tamil Hindus. A century later,
the reforms of king Parakrama Bahu created a new
alliance between the Shri Lankan state and
Buddhist monastic communities, with the former
rewarding the latter for their loyalty and praise
of the monarch as Dharmaraja (Dharma-king). This
new model gradually spread first to Burma and
then to Thailand and Cambodia, where kings
quickly recognized its benefits thus Theravada
came to dominate mainland Southeast Asia other
than Vietnam
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standing Buddha at Aukana(7th-8th CEShri Lanka)
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Buddhas at AnuradhapuraMonastery(8th-9th CE)
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Phra Pathom Buddha (14th CE Nakhon Pathom,
Thailand)
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victorious Buddha (15th CE Wat Traimit, Bangkok)
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Wat Mahathat Buddha Temple (1374--Ayudhya,
Thailand)
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3. Vajrayana Buddhists in Tibet(7th-15th CE)
Buddhist traditions took root in Tibet around
the same time that Javanese kings were building
Borobudur, by which time Buddhist communities
were firmly established in both mainland
Southeast Asia and its various islands. Yet the
early period of Tibetan history, from 7th - 9th
CE, remains somewhat obscure in addition to the
fact that few records have been preserved, later
revival of the tradition in the 10th - 14th
centuries (after a period of disintegration)
describes the key figures of the early period
primarily as manifestations of celestial
bodhisattvas and spirits. Most of Tibetan
iconography architecture dates from this period
of revival and the even later period of
patronage by Mongol rulers that led to the
current lineage of Dalai Lamas. There is little
doubt, however, that the many paintings,
sculptures, and monasteries built during this
time were revisions and renovations of earlier
forms.
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Avalokiteshvara Painting (15th CE Tibet)
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Angry Manjushri (Pango Choten, Gyantse)
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Goddess Tara (Pango Choten)
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Prajñaa Paramitaa (Insight Perfection)
Goddess(Pango Choten)
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painting of monk with Goddess (at Jhokang)
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painting ofspirit guardian (Sera Monastery)
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Time Mandala(Sera Monastery)
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Samye Monastery (depicted as a mandala)
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Tsong Kha Pa icon banner(Drepung Monastery,
near Lhasa)
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Tsong Kha Pa Tanka (Sera Monastery)
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Tsong Kha Pa w/Buddhas (Tashi Lumpo, Shigatse)
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Red Sect Lamas of Sakya Monastery (13th-16th C,
near Lhasa)
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Ivory Book Cover (15th CE)
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(close up)
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Porch to Sera Assembly Hall (near Lhasa)
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Sera Assembly Hall (restored)
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Jokhang Monastery, Lhasa (front view)
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Jokhang Roof (dharma wheel)
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Jokhang Roof (wide view)
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Jokhang Roof (dragon)
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Jokhang Courtyard
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Pilgrims at Jhokang
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Shamanic Dancer
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Tashi Lumpo Monks in Procession (Shigatse)