Amida Manifesting in the Dharma-body of Expedient Means

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This image of the Buddha Amida (Sanskrit: Amitābha) radiating beams of light was created as a private devotional image, most likely for the home altar of a follower of the True Pure Land School of Japanese Buddhism. Unlike deluxe icons made for major temples, a work like this one would have been attached to a paper backing before it was painted—a form of prefabrication. After the image was executed, it would have been mounted on bright silks. Similar examples produced today are sometimes made in sets of three, with Amida at the center; Shinran, the founder of True Pure Land Buddhism, to the right; and Rennyo, the reviver of Honganji Temple, to the left. Alternatively, Amida is flanked by calligraphic inscriptions of ten and nine characters, respectively, known as myōgō. The simplest myōgō used in True Pure Land Buddhism is six characters, and translates to “Hail the name of Amida Buddha.” Although some of the pigments are lost, much of the cut silver foil remains, and is untarnished. The rays of light symbolize the forty-eight vows made by Amida when he was a bodhisattva to help others attain enlightenment.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art