The Buddha’s Stūpa and Image. The Icons of his Immanence and Transcendence

Abstract

This paper broadly explores the innate or doctrinal permutations of the Buddha’s stūpa and image, and attempts to establish their mutual relationship. In the first instance the Buddha’s stūpa was considered as the symbol or epitome of his enlightenment and parinirvāna, although as such the stūpa was considered to be empty, in the sense that the Buddha was utterly absent. However, eventually the stūpa received a whole gamut of doctrinal interpretations, which viewed it as an epitome or repository of the absolute Buddha-body (dharmakāya). In the case of the Buddha’s image, the pattern of doctrinal developments is similar to that of the stūpa. Since the Buddha was absent from this world, initially he was not represented in iconic forms but only through symbols. Then again, eventually the Buddha was depicted in anthropomorphic forms, which did not reflect his mundane appearance. Instead his images were cast in conformity with doctrinal permutations, which propounded an idealised person or state of Buddhahood completely divested of the Buddha’s historicity and mundane appearance. The Buddha’s stūpa and image do have their respective interpretations and functions. But when they are combined and considered together, they may be viewed as the Buddha’s transcendent and immanent presence in this world.