Original buddhas logo Original buddhas logo

Initiation of Enlightenment

Buddha statue

Buddha statue

Buddha statue

Having regained his physical strength, Siddhartha went to the site of Bodh Gaya, where he seated himself under a tree to meditate, vowing not to move until he had attained Enlightenment. During his meditation he was assailed by doubts, temptations and terrifying visions sent by Mara, the personification of desire, but Siddhartha sat unmoved throughout.

Finally Mara himself appeared to taunt him, asking the Bodhisattva to produce evidence of his accumulated merit. In answer, he simply lowered his right hand to touch the earth. At his touch, the earth goddess spoke in a voice like thunder, saying ‘I am his witness’, and defeated at last, Mara and his armies of demons retired.

Meditation for Enlightenment

After the retirement of the demons, Siddhartha continued his meditation. In his mind's eye he looked far beyond his own country, far beyond his own world. Soon the sun, planets, the stars out in space and distant galaxies of the universe all appeared in his meditation. He saw how everything, from the smallest speck of dust to the largest star, was linked together in a constantly changing pattern: growing, decaying and growing again. Everything was related. Nothing happened without a cause and every cause had an effect on everything else.

Enlightenment

Buddhist Monk

As he saw how everything was connected in this way, deeper truths appeared to his mind. He looked deeply into himself and discovered that his life as Siddhartha the Prince was but the latest in a series of lifetimes that had no beginning - and that the same was true of everyone. We born, live and die not one time, but again and again. He saw that death is only the separation of the mind from its present body. After death the importance of Karma is central to the next journey.

The dramatic moment when Siddhartha overcame desire is represented in various forms of Buddhist art like Buddha statues and Buddha images by the ‘touching the earth’ gesture (bhumisparsha mudra), in which the Buddha, seated in the meditation posture, lowers his right hand, palm inwards, so that his middle finger touches the earth.

Share this page

View our Buddha statues in our gallery

Old bronze Nepali Buddha statue

€ 275

Antique wooden Buddha from Laos

€ 1.950

Old bronze Nepali Buddha statue

€ 275

Antique wooden Burmese Buddha statue

€ 125

Antique Burmese marble Shan Buddha

€ 950

Very high quality bronze Nepali Maitreya Buddha

€ 12.500

Large marble Burmese Buddha statue

€ 7.500

Antique wooden Burmese Mandalay Buddha statue

€ 3.950

Special antique Burmese Buddha statue

€ 9.500

Old bronze Nepali Bodhisattva Lokeshwor

€ 850

Old bronze Burmese Buddha statue

€ 1.650

Old bronze seated Buddha statue

€ 1.650

Old bronze Nepali Buddha statue

€ 275

Antique marble Burmese Buddha statue

€ 1.750

Antique Burmese marble Buddha statue

€ 1.950

Special large reclining Burmese Buddha statue

€ 9.500

Large antique bronze Thai Buddha statue

€ 9.500

Antique wooden Burmese Buddha statue

€ 1.100

Antique wooden Burmese Shan Buddha

€ 1.250

Antique bronze Shan Buddha

Antique Shan Buddha

€ 2.600

Antique Burmese marble Mandalay Buddha statue

€ 3.250

Antique wooden Burmese Mandalay Buddha statue

€ 1.450

Marble Buddha statue from Thailand

€ 275

Antique bronze Burmese Buddha statue

€ 2.500

Old bronze Nepali Buddha statue

€ 275

Antique wooden Burmese Shan Buddha

€ 1.250

Old marble stone Burmese Buddha statue

€ 750

Antique Burmese Buddha statue

€ 1.350

Antique wooden Tai Lue Buddha

€ 1.950
arrow-right keyboard_arrow_right arrow-down chevron-down keyboard_arrow_down chevron-up arrow-left keyboard_arrow_left close menu search twitter facebook youtube-play linkedin envelope instagram google-plus pinterest whatsapp heart-o Wishlist share file-pdf-o printer trash