Expert: Alex Wilding - 5/29/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I have a buddha. He's sitting with his left leg in the meditation position, but his right knee is raised up under his chin with foot flat on floor. His hands are resting palm down on his knee, left hand first, and his head is resting on the back of his hands on his knee. His head is tilted very much to the right and his eyes are closed. He is slim and has the bumpy head covering rather than the smooth bald head (which makes me think he is Tibetan, Indonesian, or Thai, rather than Chinese or Japanese ?) I have searched the net for hours trying to find what this pose, or mudra symbolises, but with no luck . Please can you help ?Also, my friend has a buddha with a scar on his chest, I cannot find the meaning of this either.

ANSWER: Hi Nat,

It sounds rather like one of the "bodhisattva" poses, but I'm not sure. It would be a lot easier to point you in the right direction if you could send me a link to a photograph - any chance?

As for the scar, that doesn't say anything to me, but could it be a swastika? Swastikas have been an auspicious symbol in India and Tibet for a long, long time, long before it was hijacked by the Nazis. In that case, it would be one of the traditionally listed 84 marks of a Buddha, i.e. essentially an auspicious symbol associated with the sun.

I hope that helps a bit - link to a picture if you can.

All the best

Alex W

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QUESTION: http://www.e-apollo.co.uk/acatalog/info_7135.html

Hi,
thankyou for such a fast response. I have found a pic on line that is a very similar buddha to mine and the pose is the same. I hope I have managed to post the link correctly. Looking forward to your answer and finallly knowing the more about my buddha and his pose.
Thankyou, Nat

Answer
Hi Nat,
I saw the picture. All I can really say is that it looks Southeast Asian - perhaps Thai - and that the posture is not one of the standard Buddha postures. The "hair" tells us that it is indeed meant to be a Buddha – according to some sources the bumps are curls of hair, but according to others they are snails that crawled onto his head one hot day to protect him from sunstroke. Usually, however, the Buddha is shown in one of a number of standard poses (standing, lying, interlocked crossed legs...). Im not an iconographic expert, so the associations of this particular pose escape me.
My guess would be that someone more familiar with, say, Thai or perhaps Sri Lankan Buddhism might have a better idea.
Good luck!
Alex W