Fasting Buddha
The pictures above are the Fasting Buddhas in Tsem Ladrang……my home.
I invited a 3 ft Fasting Buddha home today and on this auspicious occasion, I would like to share some information with you.
Fasting
Fasting is the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. It is known in almost all major religions. The Lenten fast observed in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church is a forty-day partial fast to commemorate the fast observed by Christ during his temptation in the desert.
Fasting is also an important part of Hinduism, where some Hindus fast on certain days of the month. Devotees fast on certain days of the week related to a deity, for example, devotees of Shiva tend to fast on Mondays. Hindus also fast during religious festivals, such as the Maha Shivaratri dedicated to Lord Shiva, and Navaratri festival or ‘Nine Nights festival’ when the various forms Goddess Durga are worshipped.
Muslims in Malaysia and all over the world had celebrated Eid or Eid-ul-Fitr next week, on the 30th August this year. This festival marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. They do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan. Muslims fast to develop self-control and it is a sign of their faith and appreciation.
In Buddhism, fasting is considered a method of purification. Theravadin monks fast everyday after 12pm till the next sunrise. The Tibetan Buddhist practice of Nyungne, which includes holding strict vows and fasting, has been gaining increased attention in Buddhist centers across North America. Fasting in Buddhism is to develop control of one’s attachments so the mind can be freed to develop higher awarenesses. Also fasting can be done so that one restricts from a pleasure (food) and dedicate it to someone sick, in need or dying. Basically to restrict one’s body from the normal food intake is to develop discipline, awarness, self control and even appreciation for all one has.
Buddha’s Spiritual Awakening & Fasting
The Buddha’s spiritual awakening is related to fasting. The young prince Siddhartha left his palace in search of enlightenment and practised for six years under severe austerities and intense mental concentration that his beautiful body withered away to skin and bones. Towards the end of this period, he was surviving only on a single grain of rice a day. Buddha wanted to cut the attachment to the senses starting with excess indulgence in food and so on. This stage of Buddha’s practice is known as Fasting Buddha and the depictions in images or statues are usually called Emaciated or Fasting Buddha.
This holy form or image of the Fasting Buddha reminds and inspires us how much difficulties Buddha went through to become fully enlightened. His compassion to benefit others is so strong he put his body through so much to attain enlightenment. Although his body went through so much pain, difficulties and weakness due to fasting so intensely, he never gave up. He never quit. He never found the difficulties a reason not to pursue his spiritual practice. It inspires us to or do the same.
Difficulties build mental strength, purify negative karma, instills self respect, and helps us to appreciate everything much more. Nothing is to be taken for granted. Seeing this holy image blesses us to remember that difficulties on the road to enlightenment is not negative but part and parcel of our journey. To be experienced, to learned from it, to understand from it and to ultimately grow from the difficulties we experience. What success in life was not earned by difficulties. When we see this image and make affinity we create the karma to be able to have endurance, tolerance and develop a high degree of diligence. To have great fortitude. For anything to be successful we need fortitude and diligence.
As Siddharta realised that desire was the root of samsara, he thought that one of the methods he could end desire was by fasting. At one point, he no longer had the strength to meditate and he realised he would die before he gains liberation due to the ‘abuse’ he put on his body.
It was then that a local Brahmin’s daughter, Sujata, approached and offered him a golden bowl filled with rice prepared in the essence of the milk of one thousand cows. He regained his strength, renewed his meditation, and realised Buddhahood. Siddharta reached enlightenment only after accepting nourishment from Sujata, hence preaching a “middle way”, a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, the central tenet of Buddhist practice.
It is wonderful to understand and see this image of the Fasting Buddha as it has so much significance for all of us on the spiritual path. To have an image of this Fasting Buddha, make offerings and to pray to Buddha in this form blesses us with fortitude, diligence and mental strength to absorb difficulties and continue until success. It is one the most favorite images of Enlightened Beings for me.
Tsem Rinpoche
(In his autobiography, His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche says that Shakyamuni recieved wrong advice that by practicing fasting He can gain wisdom. In spite of great suffering endured during the fast, he did not achieve the wisdom He sought. After six years, He realized that torturing the body was not the way to enlightnenment and abandonded His fast to set on the Middle path.)
Famous Fasting Buddha/ Emaciated Buddha
There are two famous artifacts that I know of related to the Emaciated Buddha or Fasting Buddha.
The first one is a stone sculpture of the Fasting Buddha from the 2nd or 3rd century AD that is now located in the Lahore Museum, Lahore, Pakistan. It is considered the greatest masterpiece of the Buddhist Gandharan civilisation that existed in northwest Pakistan. This sculpture was one of the first to blend Hellenistic and Indian styles with art that is Roman in form and Buddhist in motif. Read more about this here: Fasting Siddharta
The famous Fasting Buddha statue
Fasting Buddha (Gandhara Civilisations) stamps produced by Pakistan Post in the year 1999
More images of Fasting Buddha from all over the world
Thailand
China
For me this is the most impressive image of a Buddha.
I am amazed by the spiritual force that it radiates!
Thank You so much Rinpoche!
My Dear Lawrence, I agree with you that it radiates such powerful spiritual energy. I very much love this image. I am so fortunate to have it in my room to worship daily. Tsem Rinpoche
Looks a weak and frail body, but this image gives me a very strong impression as He could to overthrow the entire universe with just a simple thought. Also, watching Him, I feel infinite peace and security on The Path!
Thanks for sharing Rinpoche. I remember reading in a book that the fasting statues of Shakyamuni Buddha were HIs Holiness the Dalai Lamas favorite because they helped to illustrate the point that reaching enlightenment required great effort and great sacrifice. Thanks again!
When I first came across the fasting Buddha was in Thailand. I liked the image so much and the meaning behind it. It was a beautiful story but not just a story, it was a teaching itself. Buddha endured so much pain and experience so much to become enlighten just to benefit us. And some of us even skipping a meal would be like the end of the world… It really reflects how narrow and petty we can be.
Without Buddha going through such pain, we can never be helped. I suppose we are still indulging ourself with more attachments. This image is an inspiration and a reminder for us about difficulties, pain and suffering. And Buddha also prove to us that enlightenment is possible if we want to.
I love the images, it is so beautiful and meaningful. So alive, and to this day, I really like to have all fasting buddhas on altar.
When we were in Bangkok, Rinpoche told Bryan and Ethan to look for Fasting Buddha statue in Bangkok. Rinpoche mentioned that Rinpoche would like it so much in our ladrang.
It was amazing that when Ethan and Bryan came down from the taxi, imediately they saw the Big Fasting Buddha sitting in front of them.
Buddha himself has to put in so much effort for enlightenment, how about us? We want leisure and not able to put up with difficult situation these days.
Luckily we have facebook, blog, twitter etc, so that we can still spread Dharma, learn Dharma through Internet. We cannot stay in long Meditation like Buddha, Milarepa as we have too much distraction these days, hence Dharma work like maintaining a Dharma website, blog, sharing are wonderful way for us to practice.
This Buddha image is totally different from the normal Buddha Shakhamuni that always be seen in the major Buddhist temple. Just like what Rinpoche shared in the article, it has a very deep teaching behind it, which is let go on our outer attachment and develope inner awareness.
Rinpoche always mention we as a Buddhist will never worship any statue but the meaning behind the statue, every different Buddha images represent different teaching and method. By praying, praise or make offering to these quality of the Buddha, we creating the course to have a body, speech and mind just like Buddha. The altruism mind of a Buddha is the most powerful practice, because when we let go of our ego, nothing can harm us.
Rinpoche have kindly placed this fasting Buddha statue outside in the garden, because Rinpoche hope all being that see this Buddha image will leave a altruism seed in their mind, and one day all of us will be release from suffering that cause by our own ego, desire and etc.
Thanks Rinpoche again for sharing this.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing with us the Fasting Buddha. It is a beautiful sight, historically significant & spiritually important.
Thank you Rinpoche for the above post. It is truly remarkable knowing that Buddha took so much sufferings just for the sake of realizing everything. To be able to suffer so that we can gain from his sufferings. I pray that we will be able to achieve what Buddha believe that all of us can do. Achieving Enlightenment….
My dear Lama
These images of fasting Buddha are very beautiful. This is the first time I had a glance on it. Usually, we are faced with Buddhas images in its grandeur. But we hardly have a glance on the process on how they achieved those grandeur. Maybe because we don’t see the hard process, we tend to undermine the process.
Thank you Rinpoche, I love these images and wish to have the opportunities to invite this particular image in the future.
Much love and care
Valentina
Buddha’s strength is enormous as he cuts of his attachment to indulging into food. It takes a lot of courage and determination to reach the practice, I could have imagines. As I am writing now, i am thinking about food! Nevertheless, the images are beautiful and are great reminders that Buddha has gone through a lot of hardship to gain enlightenment. As we are not buddha, we would need more determination and strength to go on with our journey to enlightenment.
I have seen the picture of the BUddha many many years back I was filled with some revulsion and did not take of it as a particularly nice image to have around or to look at.
Now I like it a lot It says so many things to us like we should not take extreme positions in life, we should never give up if we believe in something. determination , strength, indomitable spirit etc etc
Thank you Rinpoche. The Fasting Buddha makes me to think of whatever difficulty i am facing in current life will never be equivalent to Buddha’s sacrifices in order to achieve enlightenment and passed the teaching to us. This is very inspirational to me!
Very “powerful” statue. It show the determination, the persistence, the focus! So powerful as a reminder: to achieve and to gain Dharma (Enlightenment) , no matter what happen; what kind of obstacles, the hallucination, the pain, the desire, the attachment; is reminding me, to learn to overcome, to push away the negativity and AIM to be success! No matter what happen- Dharma come first!
tetsumonkai living buddha in north japan , and eminence i suggest it is not wise to coppy this style of offering it is unecessary and foolish even my wife stole the book from me and all records of his effort
when one has come from this eminence and radiated to such gigantuas proportions one is left with which way to turn be the best man you can be and stop taking every thing so seriously and