The Great Buddha of Kamakura

The Great Buddha of Kamakura

The Great Buddha from Kamakura (Daibutsu) represents the Amida Buddha (in Japanese Amida Nyorai), the Buddha of the Infinite Light, the main Deity of the Buddhist Sect Jodo (Pure Land).

 

 

Actually, Buddha is not a name, but a honorific term, like the Christian Mesia. Buddha comes from Sanskrit and it is the past participle of the verb Buddh, meaning “to awaken” or “to know", translated in English as “one who has awakened to the truth".

In Japanese it is also referred as Butsu, hence Daibutsu (written ?? or ??), from ? Dai, meaning Great and ?, Butsu (the On reading), meaning Buddha.

 

 

 

In the Mahayana tradition there are many Buddha. The Historical Buddha (the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism) is one of them and the statues of the various Buddha share common attributes. The Amida Buddha is not Siddhartha Gautama, it is a monk named Dharmakara, who become a Buddha and lived in very old times (or in another realm…). Amida Buddha is usually represented wearing simple monk clothes and the Kamakura Daibutsu is no exception.

 

 

The hair is represented in small spiral curls (Rahotsu in Japanese). This is an allusion to a legend about Prince Siddhartha, who at one moment pulled his hair together into a top knot and cut it. After the cut, the hair spiraled into fine curls and he never needed to cut its hair again.

 

The statue of Amida Buddha must always have 656 curls.

 

 

On the top of the head we can see Ushnisha (Nikkei in Japanese), a bump on top of the head symbolizing the fact that Buddha is all-knowing and also symbolizing a fully developed top chakra.

 

At the front base of the Nikkei we can see a circular object, the Nikkeishu (Nikkei Jewel), which “radiates the light of wisdom":

 

 

Also, on the forehead, we can see Urna (Byakugo in Japanese), symbolic the representation of the third eye, emitting rays of light and symbolizing that Buddha is all-seeing. Usually, on Buddha statues the third eye is represented from a crystal or a gem. On the Kamakura Great Buddha, Byakugo is made of pure silver, weighing 13.5 kilograms.

 

 

 

The elongated ears symbolize that Buddha is all-hearing…

 

 

The hands are represented in the position of Mida no Join (Meditation Mudra), a Japanese specific position, used exclusively for Amida Buddha.

 

 

I will return tomorrow with a more down-to-earth look at this statue…

 

 

 

 

- Sree...

"How deeply you can touch another life, is how rich your life is..."

 

 

 
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Do You Know...??

 

01  —MOPED is the short term for 'Motorized Pedaling'.

02. —POP MUSIC is 'Popular Music' shortened.

03. —BUS is the short term for 'Omnibus' that means everybody.

04. —FORTNIGHT comes from 'Fourteen Nights' (Two Weeks).

05. —DRAWING ROOM was actually a 'withdrawing room' where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix 'with' was dropped..

06. —NEWS refers to information from Four directions N, E, W and S..

07. —AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from 'Agricultural Marketing'.

08. —JOURNAL is a diary that tells about 'Journey for a day' during each Day's business.

09. —QUEUE comes from 'Queen's Quest'. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queen's Quest..

10. —TIPS come from 'To Insure Prompt Service'. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a Box on which was written 'To Insure Prompt Service'. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.

11. —JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named 'General Purpose Vehicle (GP)'.GP was changed into JEEP later.

12. —Coca-Cola was originally green.

13. —The most common name in the world is Mohammed..

14. —The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

15. —The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

16. —TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row ! of the keyboard.

17. —Women blink nearly twice as much as men!!

18. —You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

19. —It is impossible to lick your elbow.

20. —People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

21. —It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

22. —The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

23. —Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.

—Spades - King David

—Clubs - Alexander the Great,

—Hearts – Charlemagne

—Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

24. —Horse Statue in a Park…

—If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.

—If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle —If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

25. —What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? Ans. - All invented by women.

26. —A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

27. —A snail can sleep for three years.

28. —All polar bears are left handed.

29. —Butterflies taste with their feet.

30. —Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

31. —In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

32. —On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

33. —Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.

34. —Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

35. —The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

36. —The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

37. —The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

38. —Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

39. —Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

40. —The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

41. —Most lipstick contains fish scales.

 

CheersJ

Sreenath

 

 
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The unlucky Sparrow Vs the lucky Bull Frog :(

The unlucky Sparrow Vs the lucky Bull Frog

 

Spectacular captures of the American Bullfrog preying on an unlucky sparrow. Growing up to a length of 20 centimeters or 7.9 inches, the bullfrog preys on any animal that it can overpower and stuff down its throat. Their stomachs have been found to contain rodents, small turtles, snakes, frogs including bullfrogs and birds of course. Ambush predators as they are known for, the bullfrog can be seen submerging large preys (in this case the sparrow) into the water to cut their air supply and defense. Check out the whole sequence of the bullfrog and the unlucky sparrow with 5 more pics after the jump........

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Sree...

"Getting stuck is not the problem. Staying stuck is."

 
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World's Tallest Dog

World's Tallest Dog

Standing at nearly 43 inches tall from paw to shoulder and weighing a staggering 245lbs could this be the world's new tallest dog? Pictured here in the parks of Tuscon, Arizona, George, a four-year-old blue great dane, looks more like a miniature horse than a dog.

 

'Giant George' and owner Dave Nasser share a couch together: The four-year-old blue great dane, weighs a staggering 245lbs and measures almost 43ins at the shoulder. The gentle giant, who measures 7ft 3ins from nose to tail, could be a prime contender to take the title from the former record holder, Gibson, a harlequin Great Dane who passed away from cancer last August.

 

Now George's owners, David and Christine Nasser, are awaiting confirmation from Guinness World Records to see if he has achieved the lofty heights.

 

'He's 42.625 inches at the shoulder,' said David. 'He's very very unique.'

 

According to David, George consumes 110lbs of food every month, and sleeps alone in his own Queen Size Bed.  David and Christine raised George from when he was 7 weeks old, but never expected him to grow so big.

 

 

Magnificent: George measures more than 7ft from nose to tail and tucks away 110lbs of food every month

 

With size comes problems: The giant great dane barely fits in the back of his owner's SUV

 

The couple eventually had to move their aptly named dog out of their king sized bed, when he grew too large for the three of them to share the same sheets.

 

Dr. William Wallace of the Buena Pet Clinic in Tucson, who witnessed the documentation necessary for the Guinness record, said: 'In my 45 years of experience working with giant breed dogs, without question, George is the tallest dog I have ever seen.'

 

David is currently rushing to get that necessary documentation into Guinness as other dog owners are coming forth claiming the record.  As they wait for the results to come through, George is busy occupying himself with his new found stardom and even has a Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts for his adorning fans. It appears as though the sky's the limit for this mammoth hound.

 

 

Paws for thought: George's giant feet dwarf his owner Dave Nassar's hand. Last August the world’s tallest dog, Gibson, a harlequin Great Dane, passed away from cancer

Via: Link

 

 

Cheers…Sree

 

 
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Tips to become a master of your Gmail inbox...

Dear all,

 

Have you ever wondered you can be a master of your Gmail inbox...??

Here comes Google's approach to email…

 

Check out the attachment and also visit the URL: http://www.google.com/mail/help/tips.html#white  for more info…

 

Thanks,

Sree..

 
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Most Married Woman World Record

Most Married Woman World Record

Most Married Woman World Record set by Linda Wolfe

American grandmother Linda Wolfe has become "the most married woman in the world" after walking down the aisle 23 times, and is now "on the lookout for number 24".
Mrs Wolfe, 68, is included in the Guinness Book of World Records for the dubious honour of being wed more times than anyone else alive.
She has said that she is "addicted to the romance" of getting married.
Born Linda Lou Taylor, the American first married in 1957 aged 16, to a 31-year-old called George Scott.
The union lasted for seven years, the longest and happiest of any of her marriages.
Since then things have tended to go downhill.
Over the subsequent decades she married a one-eyed convict, a preacher, barmen, plumbers and musicians.
Two turned out to be homosexual, two were homeless and one beat her. Another put a padlock on her fridge.
One marriage lasted just 36 hours because "the love wasn't there".
But Linda, from Indiana, once married the same man, Jack Gourley, three times.
She has had seven children by her different husbands and been a stepmother to many more.
Her last marriage, a decade ago, was a publicity stunt.
It was to Glynn Wolfe, who in taking Linda as his bride meant he was the world's most married man, at 29 times.
He died a year later aged 88.
Consequently she said that she was "on the lookout for number 24".
She told The Sun: "It's been years since I walked down the aisle. I miss it."
The serial bride, who now lives in a retirement home, said she had never cheated on a husband. She said if she had her life over again she would "never, ever" marry so many men.

 

- Sree...

"Getting stuck is not the problem. Staying stuck is."

 

 
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The Coin Sculptures

The Coin Sculptures

 

Wowwww should be the word to say now!  This amazing coin work was created by a Russian man and all these work without glue. Take a look at this one on top, quarter of it was placed out of the table but they don’t fall down. I wondered what holds it….Hmm absolutely amazing

 

Cheers…Sree

 

 
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10 Amazing Staircases Around the World

10 Amazing Staircases Around the World

1. Spiral Stair (Australia)

 

 

Fascinating spiral stairs at Garvan Institute in Sydney, Australia. 6.5 revs and five stories from top to bottom.(Link - Photo)

 

2. Spiral Staircase at the Vatican Museum (Italy)

 

 

The Vatican Museums spiral staircase is one of the most photographed in the world, and certainly one of the most beautiful. Designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932, the broad steps are somewhere between a ramp and a staircase. The stairs are actually two separate helixes, one leading up and the other leading down, that twist together in a double helix formation. Little did the Vatican Museum know in 1932 that this formation would come to represent life itself, with the discovery of the double helical DNA strand. (Link)

 

3. Loretto Chapel Staircase (USA)

 

 

The Loretto Chapel is a chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, known for its unusual spiral staircase that is an exceptional work of carpentry. The construction and builder of the staircase are considered a miracle by the Sisters of Loretto and many who visit it, because it had no central support (a support was added later). The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway. Instead of metal nails,the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs. The wood for the staircase cannot be found anywhere in the region. The stairs had 33 steps, the age of Jesus when he died. The mystery had never been satisfactorily solved as to who the carpenter was or where he got his lumber, since there were no reports of anyone seeing lumber delivered or even seeing the man come and go whilethe construction was being done. Since he left before the Mother Superior could pay him, the Sisters of Loretto offered a reward for the identity of the man, but it was never claimed.

 

Note: some historians claime that most of this story is a MYTH. (Link 1 Link 2 Photo)

 

4. Tulip Staircase at the Queen's House (England)

 

The elegant Tulip Stairs in the Queen's House are the first geometric self-supporting spiral stairs in Britain. Although called the 'Tulip Stairs,' it is thought that the stylized flowers in the wrought-iron balustrade are actually fleurs-de-lis, as this was the emblem of the Bourbon family of which Queen Henrietta Maria (wife of Charles I) was a member. The Tulip Stairs are also the location of the Rev R. W. Hardy's famous 'ghost' photograph taken on 19 June 1966, which when developed revealed what appear to be two or three shrouded figures onthe staircase. (Link Photo)

 

5. Staircase at Lello Bookshop (Portugal)

 

 

This interesting grand staircase in Lello Bookshop in Portugal stands ominous and heavy. The steps are like two channels pouring and swirling to a single point. The side view gives you a closer idea of the immense curves and giddy sinking feeling to each step. (Link)

 

6. San Francisco's Tiled Steps - World's Longest Mosaic Stair (USA)

 

 

The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, perhaps the world's longest mosaic staircase (163 steps, 82' high), was conceived and fabricated by Irish ceramicist Aileen Barr and San Francisco mosaic artist Colette Crutcher. Over a two and a half year period, a tireless group of neighbors raised funds and lobbied city government to make the project, unveiled in August 2005, a reality. Over 2000 handmade tiles and 75,000 fragments of tile, mirror and stained glass went into the finished piece, located at 16th Ave. and Moraga, in San Francisco. (Link)

 

7. Umschreibung - KPMG Building Munich (Germany)

 

 

This artistic staircase designed by Olafur Eliasson is called Umschreibung (Rewriting), and was completed in 2004. It's in the courtyard of the global accounting firm KPMG in Munich. (Photo Link)

 

8. Stairs at the Longchamp Store (New York)

 

 

Constructed in 1¼” hot-rolled steel and taking six months to be built, the sta  ir landscape weighs 55 tons and is an installation of ribbon-like forms that divide and converge to form a topography of walkways, landings and steps. (Link)

 

9. Vertigo Staircase at the QVB Building (Australia)

 

This image shows “The Grand Staircase" of Sydney's Grand Queen Victoria Building. This building, now affectionately known as the QVB, wasdesigned by George McRae and completed in 1898, replacing the original Sydney markets on the site. Built as a monument to the long reigning monarch, construction took place in dire times, as Sydney was in a severe recession. The elaborate Romanesque architecture was specially planned for the grand building so the Government could employ many out-of-work craftsmen – stonemasons, plasterers, and stained window artists – in a worthwhile project. (Link)

 

10. Bridge-stair at the Traversinertobel (Switzerland)

 

 

The bridge over the Traversinertobel, a side valley of the Via Mala, is the latest structure of this kind designed by engineer Jürg Conzett and his associate Rolf Bachofner . They solved the problem of connecting two different elevations over the gorge by creating a staircase.The staircase replaces a rope bridge for hikers that was wiped out by a rock slide. This suspended footbridge spans a distance of 56 metres, with a difference in height of 22 metres between the two ends.

 

 

CheersJ

Sreenath

 

 
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The Largest Pair of Jeans Ever

The Largest Pair of Jeans Ever

 

 

Seamstresses in Peru decided to get to the Guinness World Record for the largest pair of jeans ever. The pair of jeans measures 141 feet tall and 98 feet wide and weighs in at 7.5 tons. The current record is held by the city of Medellin in Columbia. That pair was 114 feet tall and 82 feet wide. It sounds like they are just waiting for their record setting jeans to be accepted by Guinness. There wasn’t a Guinness representative present, but a notary who can send documentation to the group was.

 

The more impressive thing is that the pants will be recycled as backpacks for school children…

 

 

 

CheersJ

Sreenath

 

 
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An Expensive Art

 

An Expensive Art

 

All right, I understand everything: it is art, it is beautiful etc…

but why, why did they have to waste so much money? Should we...?

 

CheersJ

Sree

 

 
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No No my answers are correct....

With that smile you have, Have a enjoying weekend…!!!

 

Thanks

Sree..

 

 
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A nice read for a weekend...!!!

A nice read for a weekend…!!!

 

There was a king who was a great admirer of art. He encouraged artists from all over his country and gave them valuable gifts.

 

One day an artist came and said to the king, “Oh King! Give me a blank wall in your palace and let me paint a picture on it. It will be more beautiful than anything you have ever seen before. I promise you shall not be disappointed.”

 

Now, the king happened to be constructing a big hall at the rear end of the palace. So he said, “All right you may work on one of the walls in the new hall.” So the artist was given the job and he was very pleased indeed.

 

Just then, another young man said, “Oh King! Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I too am an artist.” The king said, “What would you like to make?”

 

The man said, “My Lord, I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so, without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so that either of us can not see the other.”

 

Now, that was a tall statement. Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the first artist were intrigued. But the king loved surprises and he decided to give the young fellow a chance.

 

The following day a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil, water etc. The second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.

 

After a month the first artist told the king that his work was complete and he would like to show it to the king. The king sent for the second artist and asked him, “Young man, when would your work be ready? I am coming to see the first wall this evening.” The man said, “My Lord, my wall is ready too!”

 

The king went to see the first artist’s wall. He was very, very impressed with the painting and gave a hefty sum as a reward to the artist. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up. Lo and behold! The same painting was to be seen on the opposite wall too! Amazing! But true! Each line, each minor detail was exactly as it was on the first wall. But this man had not been seeing what was going on, on the other side of the curtain. So how had he done it?

 

The king wanted to know the secret. He gave a double reward to the fellow. Then he said, “Young man, I am indeed very happy with your work. But you must tell me; how did you do it?”

 

The lad said simply, “It’s very easy! I just polished the wall every day! It was a wall made of white marble! The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The reflection of the painting across the room, showed up in it!”  

 

 

 

MORAL OF THE STORY: That is what it means to polish yourself. For when we polish our hearts and souls, we see God’s reflection within. It is said that the world is a reflection of you. Whatever you are, the world will seem to be that too. If you are sad, jealous, dejected, angry, restless ... That is what the world will seem to be! If you are happy, the world will seem to be paradise. You decide how you want your world to look.

 

 

Sree…

 

 
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