Depicting the Buddha, Teaching the Dharma. Issue 1 (1st September 1998)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Contreras, Cynthia
• Is Part Of: Asian cinema. Volume 10:Issue 1(1998)
• Page Start: 176
• Page End: 192
• Publication Date: 1998-09-01
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- East Asia -- Periodicals; Motion pictures -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Motion pictures -- Periodicals; Asians in motion pictures -- Periodicals; 791.43095
• DOI: 10.1386/ac.10.1.176_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1059-440X

Abstract

The person of the Buddha and his teachings have profoundly influenced Eastern thought for twenty-five hundred years. As a metaphysical system, the essential qualities of Buddhism have been communicated throughout the centuries in story and image. One of the methods of transmitting the teachings has been through anecdotal narratives, such as the stories about Mileropa or the Bokuden fables, recorded for occidentals by Suzuki. These didactic tales generally illustrate confused or enlightened states of mind. Another mode, common to the transmission of other religious traditions as well, is through the visual imagery of ceremony and the fine arts.