Carved Wooden Buddha "Calling Upon the Earth to Witness the Defeat of Evil" ca. 1920-40

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  • Carved Wooden Buddha "Calling Upon the Earth to Witness the Defeat of Evil" ca. 1920-40
  • Height approx 8"
  • Material: wood with traces of gold leaf and lacquer
  • In Buddhism, Mara is the demon who assaulted Gautama Buddha beneath the Bodhi tree, using violence, sensory pleasure and mockery in an attempt to prevent the Buddha from attaining enlightenment. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies the "death" of the spiritual life. He is a tempter, distracting humans from practicing the Buddhist Dharma through making the mundane seem alluring, or the negative seem positive. Buddhism utilizes the concept of Mara to represent and personify negative qualities found in the human ego and psyche. The stories associated with Mara remind Buddhists that such demonic forces can be tamed by controlling one's mind, cravings and attachments.
    "Then and there the Exalted One reached out his right hand to touch the earth in what is called the Bhumisparsha Mudra, and Mae Thorani appeared. The water (representing the good merit accumulated by Buddha) that Mae Thorani wrings from her hair caused a flood that drowned Mara's army. The earth-mother herself spoke: 'Bless him/her who sits on the Axis Mundi, for One can only transcend time and space if One is Immovable."
  • Origin is Laos 
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