Eyes of Buddha

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The Eyes of Buddha on a stupa at Swayambhunath in Kathmandu, Nepal
The Eyes of Buddha on the Swayambhunath stupa
Eyes of Buddha adorned on a Stupa in the Gobi Desert in the Dornogovi Province of Mongolia

The Eyes of Buddha (also called Buddha eyes or Wisdom eyes

Sanskrit: Mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa) in Buddhism.[2] Directly below the urna is a curly symbol stylized as १, which represents the number one in Devanagari numerals.[4][5] The curly symbol, which represents either a nose or a divine fire emanating from the urna above, symbolizes unity.[1]

The Eyes of Buddha symbol represents the all-seeing eyes of the

Buddha,[6] or sometimes more specifically represents the eyes of the Ādibuddha.[1]

On stupas

The Eyes of Buddha are painted[7] onto the upper portions of many Tibetan-style stupas, mostly throughout Nepal.[1][8] The symbol is painted on all four sides of the cube at the top of the stupa to symbolize the Buddha's wisdom seeing all things in all four cardinal directions.[1] Two of the most well-known examples are the historic stupas at Swayambhunath[9] and Boudhanath,[10] which both comprise two of the seven Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site monuments located in Kathmandu in Nepal.[11]

Other uses

Similar to its use on stupas, the symbol is painted on the upper portion of many

caityas.[2] The symbol is also sometimes inscribed on mani stones alongside the Sanskrit mantra Om mani padme hum as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism.[12]

The Eyes of Buddha are painted on the silo housing the world's largest kaleidoscope, the Kaatskill Kaleidoscope in Mount Tremper, New York.[13]

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 870699557. Archived
    from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. ^
    OCLC 38029358. Archived
    from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. JSTOR 23091098
    .
  4. OCLC 44612945. Archived
    from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022. On all four sides of the stupa, painted eyes represent the all-seeing eyes of Buddha. The 'nose' between them is a Nepalese number one, a symbol of unity.
  5. S2CID 245890297
    . The Nepali language in the Devanagari script is the language of the nation of Nepal.
  6. Newspapers.com
    .
  7. OCLC 40050950. Archived
    from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  8. ^ Olschak, Blanche Christine; Wangyal, Geshé Thupten (December 1974). "Lotus eyes of the Buddha". UNESCO Courier. 27 (11): 28–29 – via Internet Archive.
  9. S2CID 142489523. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022 – via EBSCO Information Services
    .
  10. ^ "Nepal's earthquake-hit Boudhanath stupa reopens after restoration". The Guardian. 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Kathmandu Valley". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 31 October 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  12. OCLC 320661925. Archived
    from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  13. ^ Gitter, Dean (26 July 1996). "Buddhist Symbol at Home in the Catskills". The New York Times. pp. A–28. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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