Catalog: Antiques: Decorative Art: Religious Artifacts: Buddhist (1)

Antique East Asian Bronze Standing Buddha measuring an impressive 7.0" W x 28.0" H x 9.0" D . This superb sculpture depicts the Buddha meditating with his hands in the Abhaya mudra of dispelling fear. Abhaya is translated from Sanskrit as fearlessness. It is made with the open palm of the right hand extending outwards at the chest level or slightly higher. The condition is consistent with a dating from the 19th century it would make a superb addition to any collection of Asian antiques, Buddhist objects or art related to Buddhism. The original Buddha, Sakyamuni Gautama, or Gautama Siddhartha, was born in India in the 5th-6th century B.C. He was born into a noble family, but left this life to lead the life of a wandering ascetic and thinker. Reflecting on the human condition one night while sitting under a Bodi tree, he awoke to find he had realized nirvana, the state of absolute beatitude, and would not be reborn again. He traveled the land, meditated, gained wisdom, and along the way realized impermanence was an undeniable, inescapable fact of life. The rest of his life was spent as a preacher, his teachings contained in a series of documents called the Sutras.