Title: The Buddhist Worlds of Southeast Asia
1 The Buddhist Worlds ofSoutheast Asia the
High Himalayas
2- 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. -
3Early 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.
4Borobudur (800 CE Java)
5side views (six square terraces)
6side carvings / stupas images on top
7stairs to upper level, with crowningBuddha status
8Avalokiteshvara Icon (left) at nearby Chandi
Mendut temple (right)
9Hindu temple complex at Prambanam(9th-10th CE
Indonesia)
10carving of Lord Rama hunting dear in the
wild(remember Shakuntala!)
11Buddhist Temples at Banteai Srei (10th CE Khmer)
12central shrine
13temple guardians (remember Sañci)
14Hindu temples at Ankgor Wat(Khmer region, 12th
CE)
15section plan
16outer façade (w/ moat) inner courtyards
172. 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
18standing Buddha at Aukana(7th-8th CEShri Lanka)
19Buddhas at AnuradhapuraMonastery(8th-9th CE)
20Phra Pathom Buddha (14th CE Nakhon Pathom,
Thailand)
21victorious Buddha (15th CE Wat Traimit, Bangkok)
22Wat Mahathat Buddha Temple (1374--Ayudhya,
Thailand)
233. 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.
24Avalokiteshvara Painting (15th CE Tibet)
25Angry Manjushri (Pango Choten, Gyantse)
26Goddess Tara (Pango Choten)
27Prajñaa Paramitaa (Insight Perfection)
Goddess(Pango Choten)
28painting of monk with Goddess (at Jhokang)
29painting ofspirit guardian (Sera Monastery)
30Time Mandala(Sera Monastery)
31Samye Monastery (depicted as a mandala)
32Tsong Kha Pa icon banner(Drepung Monastery,
near Lhasa)
33Tsong Kha Pa Tanka (Sera Monastery)
34Tsong Kha Pa w/Buddhas (Tashi Lumpo, Shigatse)
35Red Sect Lamas of Sakya Monastery (13th-16th C,
near Lhasa)
36Ivory Book Cover (15th CE)
37(close up)
38Porch to Sera Assembly Hall (near Lhasa)
39Sera Assembly Hall (restored)
40Jokhang Monastery, Lhasa (front view)
41Jokhang Roof (dharma wheel)
42Jokhang Roof (wide view)
43Jokhang Roof (dragon)
44Jokhang Courtyard
45Pilgrims at Jhokang
46Shamanic Dancer
47Tashi Lumpo Monks in Procession (Shigatse)