Smiling Bodhisattva greyish-green schist
Gandhara 4th-5th century
Musee Guimet    |    Paris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avalokiteshvara    |    3rd century Gandhara   |    grey schist   |    Matsuoka Museum   |    Tokyo

 

Seated Bodhisattva in Meditation, His Hands in Dhyana-mudra Kushan period    |    c.100 BCE-250 CE
Stucco with traces of polychromy    |    Gandharan style, perhaps from Hadda, Afghanistan
H. 51 x W. 30.5 x D. 12 cm ( 20 1/16 x 12 x 4 3/4 in. )
Harvard Art Museums / Arthur M. Sackler Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddha Shakyamuni    |    Pakistan, Gandhara region    |    1-2 century    |    Los Angeles County Museum of Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Head of a Bodhisattva

Peshawar
Gandhara period 3rd century-5th century
Lime composition with traces of polychrome
V&A London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

image thanks to @zpr27

An aniconic representation of Mara’s assault on the Buddha, Amaravati, India
2nd century CE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Womb Realm (garbhakosa-dhatu or taizōkai) mandala. Shingon tantric buddhist school, Heian period (794-1185), Tō-ji, Kyōto, Japan. National Treasure.

The center square represents the young stage of Vairocana. He is surrounded by eight Buddhas and bodhisattvas (clockwise from top: Ratnasambhava, Samantabhadra, Saṅkusumitarāja, Manjushri, Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Amoghasiddhi and Maitreya)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kanō Yoshinobu    |    1552-1640
Buddhist Sculpture Workshop, first half of 17th century
Detail of one of twenty-four hanging scrolls mounted on folding screens, ink and colors on paper, h 58 cm.
Kitain, Saitama

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as a precious jewel, the sky, and water are by nature pure, likewise the tathagatagarbha or dharmadhatu is by nature always free from the defilement of the mental poisons and thus utterly pure. Whereas this is the meaning of the essence, the cause that completely purifies the adventitious defilements consists of devotion towards the Mahayana Dharma, of highest discriminative or analytical wisdom realizing the non-existence of a self, of limitless samadhi endowed with bliss, and of great compassion focusing on sentient beings as its point of reference. The realization arising from these [purifying causes] is to be known as enlightenment.

Buddha Nature
The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra with Commentary
by Maitreya
translated by Rosemarie Fuchs    page 119

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Shambhala [ publisher ] description :

All sentient beings without exception have buddha nature—the inherent purity and perfection of the mind, untouched by changing mental states. Thus there is neither any reason for conceit in deeming oneself better than others nor any reason for self-contempt, thinking of oneself as inferior and unable to reach enlightenment. This seeing is obscured by veils which are removable and do not touch the inherent purity and perfection of the nature of the mind as such. The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra, one of the Five Treatises said to have been dictated to Asanga by the Bodhisattva Maitreya, presents the Buddha’s definitive teachings on how we should understand this ground of enlightenment and clarifies the nature and qualities of buddhahood.

Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Thaye (1813–1899), the profoundly learned and realized master who compiled what are known as the “Five Great Treasures,” wrote the outstanding commentary to the Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra translated here. Called The Unassailable Lion’s Roar, it presents Maitreya’s text as a background for the Mahamudra teachings in a way that is especially clear and easy to understand.

relic depicting footprint of the Buddha with Dharmachakra and triratna, 1st century CE, Gandhāra

thanks to @RareHistorical