Week 32: Aug. 11, 2024

Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Buddha), Japan, 1392-1568, Lacquered and gilded wood

The Buddha of Infinite Light…

Amida (as you would read on the card under his display if it were large enough to see here) is the personification of eternal life and vast compassion, and one of the most popular representations of the Buddha in Japan. He is positioned at the other end of the room from the carving of the Bodhisattva that I shared in an earlier post.

The peice sits on a landing between two sets of stairs and the lined wall behind the statue keeps your eye moving upward toward the very high ceiling.