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RVML Resource Center 2002-2007 Calendar Archives 10 October 2006, Tuesday |
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Lecture: Sacred Art Revealing Meditation- The Inner Meaning of Legendary Works of Buddhist Art
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: RVML Event Center - 258 A St, Ashland
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Lecture: Sacred Art Revealing Meditation- The Inner Meaning of Legendary Works of Buddhist Art By Robert Bruce Newman
Presentation Description:
This slide lecture presents life-like images of renowned statues of the disciples of the Buddha (Lohans, Chinese; Arhats, Sanskrit.). The ceramic statues constitute the remaining half of the greatest single work of art from the Orient.
These are the famous statues that embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha reflected in his direct disciples. They reveal many qualities of realization.
The images are from the book, Disciples of the Buddha; Living Images of Meditation by Robert Bruce Newman. It has an extensive introduction by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the revered Buddhist meditation master. He said of these lohan-disciples: "I think that the statues are expressions of nonverbal experience that the artist had in the state of arhathood.
The statues are powerful because they are filled with a state of experience. We could say that these images present the particular realization of the Buddha's sanity in his disciples. The images are done with a sense of awe and reverence, in a very sacred application. And so the images are very human and at the same time kind of superhuman."
Major Western museums paid an average of two and a quarter million dollars for each the eight surviving statues in 1913-14, the largest sums ever paid for works of art at that time. They have received great respect for decades. Many people have had remarkable experiences with the statues, which shock them into inherent spiritual knowledge.
The statues represent Ch'an-Zen Buddhism at the height of its spiritual influence in China. This presentation reveals the connection of the lohan/disciple tradition with the tradition of portrait statues of teachers of the lineage. The statues objectify Vipashyana meditation, "extraordinary insight", "panoramic awareness", and suggest the meditation training halls they were made for. This work honors the profound potential of human art and a great meditation tradition alive in Japan and the West today. This meditation is widely used in medicine and self-development.
Presenter's Biography:
Robert Bruce Newman worked closely with Tibetan meditation masters and doctors for more than 20 years. He was authorized to teach the meditation practice embodied in the work he is presenting. He taught at the University of Colorado, Naropa University, and the City University of New York. His publications include:
The Lohan Statues and the Stages of Realization; Loca, Random House, 2/75 Disciples of the Buddha; Living Images of Meditation; Cool Grove Press, 4/01The I-Chou Lohan Statues; Shambhala Sun, Halifax, NS; 5/01 Calm Birth; New Method for Conscious Childbirth; North Atlantic Books; 10/05 Calm Healing; Medicine for a New Era; North Atlantic Books; 11/06
Mr. Newman is president of Medigrace, which has been researching and developing programs in the medical uses of meditation since 1991. He has presented more than 90 training seminars in West Coast hospitals since 1997.
More information: Phone and fax: (541) 476-3965 e-mail: RobertNewman@Medigrace.org
Websites: http://www.Medigrace.org and http://www.CalmBirth.org
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TUESDAY LECTURE SERIES FORMAT: 90-120-minute lecture presentation including break and Q&A period. All events conclude promptly at 9pm.
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