The Path to Enlightenment: Buddha Images

This exhibition draws on the permanent collection at Denison University, and through the display of Buddhist art it seeks to present to the viewer the events of the Buddha’s life and his previous lives. The actions of the Buddha are the direct cause of his enlightenment, and their reproduction in visual format reveals the road to nirvana. In this exhibition, not only are the range of styles and materials used in the production of the images described and explained, but the different postures and gestures of the images are also discussed. Most of the exhibition is composed of Buddha images from Burma, with a few pieces from Thailand. These sculptures range in date from the ninth to the twentieth centuries, and are composed of a variety of media, including metal, wood, and lacquer. 

Other objects on show include votive tablets, produced to enhance a donor’s levels of merit; a late nineteenth century manuscript from Burma portraying one of the last ten lives of the Buddha; and reproductions of eighteenth century Burmese wall paintings depicting the last ten lives of the Buddha and the twenty-eight previous Buddhas. Each of these objects demonstrates how the Buddha perfected the virtues necessary for nirvana, and exemplifies how the Burmese and Thai people followed the Buddha’s example in their own quests for religious enlightenment.