This antique gilt medicine Buddha seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus base fetched $550,000 at Tokyo LA Gallery Auction Center in September 2017. The figure holds an aruna fruit in his right hand and in his left, a jar of medicinal nectar. Dyanasana refers to the meditation position in which a Buddha is usually shown: seated and cross-legged. Photo courtesy of Tokyo LA Gallery Auction Center and LiveAuctioneers
NEW YORK – The Indian prince Siddhārtha Gautama, born in the sixth century B.C. in the Himalayan foothills to become known as Buddha (or the Enlightened One), is reported to have said, “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.” In the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., as a great age of intellectualism was sweeping the world (think Socrates, Plato and Confucius), the Buddha was transforming Indian philosophy and religion.
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