Most beautiful pictures/artwork of the Buddha/buddhism related

[Invo]

Hello

I’ve came up with idea of creating a thread, where we could post the most beautiful pictures related to Buddha and Buddha Dhamma.
I’m collecting them for a long time, so I wanted to share the most beautiful with you. You could use it for inspiration, for a wallpaper on the screen or whatever you wish for

A few first:

Don’t hesitate to post your favorites
With metta

[Adutiya]

I think the photo of the monk walking is my favorite of these.

It’s really interesting that most depictions of the Buddha include a topknot or a protuberance on the head.

[Adutiya]

[thomaslaw]

I am unable to see why the pictures/artwork posted here are the “most beautiful” for the Buddha or for Buddhism???

Different images and styles are being developed and accepted in deferent areas as a symbol for the Buddhist devotional faith. The symbolic images are closely associated with idol worships for different culture background.

[dxcore35]

[thomaslaw]

Buddha and Brahma

[Gillian]

This is a lovely idea. Because we all come from a huge diversity of cultural backgrounds there will be a huge diversity of different images for us to discover. I’m sure it will help us appreciate the different strands within our shared tradition even more.

[sukha]

Here is my desktop background. I also have put it on a few portal, like my (very geeky) pfSense firewall .

[Nessie]

Here a picture which I got presented long time ago and which I still like much:

Perhaps something iconic also for the Bhikkuni-ordination …

[Invo]

@thomaslaw

I am unable to see why the pictures/artwork posted here are the “most beautiful” for the Buddha or for Buddhism???

Different images and styles are being developed and accepted in deferent areas as a symbol for the Buddhist devotional faith. The symbolic images are closely associated with idol worships for different culture background.

Hey
First of all what I’ve meant is “most beautiful” in personal opinion/esthethical tastes.
I’ve posted most beautiful in my opinion, and I encouraged others to share most beautiful in their opinion It is just for sharing purposes, and to check what we like, no need to discuss tastes, because they’re always subjective.
Perhaps someone will find some of them inspiring or simply “nice” picture and make some use of it It is a watercooler categery so I guess there is nothing wrong with some fun
I for example use such pictures sometimes as background for posters to let people know some meditation is going on somewhere etc.

There is also very big difference between “nice picture” and putting it on a wallpaper, than being devotional to it as an idol I propose: lets just post pictures and not judge each other tastes and purposes

With metta

[mickey]

This is a picture taken at Tzu Chi Foundation in San Dimas, California.

[Dhammosadha]

This is gandhāran art. Why I find it so great is because I’ve been experimenting with robes and have made a robe according to the measurements in the vinaya, using my own hand-span (contemporary robes are about double the size of what they should be). What struck me was that using those measurements that are actually given in the vinaya, what I got was exactly a robe as the Buddha is wearing here, and I learned some tricks from the statue on how to keep it neat (holding the corner in the left hand for example). I know that people usually say that gandhāran art is greek-inspired and so the robe is assumed to be greek-style, but by actually trying out the measurements in the vinaya this is exactly what we get and the only artistic part is that of so many elegant folds, which obviously doesn’t happen in real-life…
So for what that’s worth - maybe the most authentic Buddha statue as far as the robe goes!?!

I think this is supposed to be mahākassapa?
Love the beard and the patched robe

This is Taungpulu Sayadaw with a group of monks in a forest in the US. They seem to be doing a formal vinayakamma which I guess would mean they made a temporary sīma in the forest with trees as markers etc, the idea of which I love. Keeping it simple…

Again, Taungpulu Sayadaw with fellow monks doing a kammavācā in the rain. Again, the sīma seems to be improvised, or at least the makeshift platform

[ERose]

[Nessie]

The graphical beauty of the mandelbrot fractal and experiments with it lead someone to discover something similar, but nearly looking as a meditation-Buddha. After that a lot of reproductions and variations are under way. This is from wikipedia:

I like the version (which I have seen first time a couple of years ago) more, since it is more “original” and still of beauty:

[Nicolas]

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[Adutiya]

Thanks, Nicolas!

Enptiness and not-self!

[Viveka]

Buddha on window ledge of room in Jhana Grove retreat centre

[Coemgenu]

Check it out. It’s a picture of the Dharmakāya sitting on a chair in my living room.

[anyatama]

Magha Puja by Junaidi

It would be nice to see more photo realistic pictures of the Buddha - like this one but less anime. He was a man who achieved a state that went beyond the human, beyond any form or becoming. Depicting him realistically gives me more inspiration than the grandiose extrapolations. It gives the sense that we are all capable of attaining Arahantship, even today.

[awarewolf]