The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (251 page)

are also common. Also distinctive are
ayagapata
, small carvings, incorporating elaborate symbolism, which express devotion. They may be related to
yantras
and
ma
alas
.
Sikhism
See
ICONOGRAPHY
.
Buddhism
Buddhist art, with the possible exception of
Zen art
(see below), did not arise from such deep theoretical considerations as did the Hindu. It arose from grateful recognition of the work of the
Buddha
in teaching the way to the cessation of
dukkha
. The Buddha is therefore represented increasingly with the marks indicating his status or his achievement of
nirv
na
. The elaboration of saviour-figures in Mah
y
na and Tibetan Buddhism led to an immense proliferation of sculpture and wallpainting, with extremely careful codes of iconographic symbols. The devotion of thanksgiving to the Buddha (and eventually to buddhas and
bodhisattvas
) led to the building of
caityas
and st
pas; and the formal organization of Buddhism into communities of monks (
bhik
u
) required the building of accommodation in monasteries (
vih
ra
). The development of these into large temple and monastic complexes is particularly impressive in Japan.
Chan/Zen art occupies a special place in Buddhism. Chan/Zen is a way of seeing through the superficial claims of appearance in reality, enticement, endurance, etc., to the true buddha-nature of all appearance. Zen realization, is both attained and expressed through the arts. Architecture of monasteries is thus related to environment, especially by the development of
gardens
leading into the natural landscape. Rock gardens, with carefully swept sand, challenge the perception of the ordinary; the tea-garden surrounded the tea-ceremony (see
CHAD
).
In addition to architecture,
calligraphy
is central in Chan/Zen art. Calligraphy precedes Chan in China, but it was raised to new heights by Chan practitioners, especially in the Sung period. In Japan, it was known originally as
shojutsu
, but later as
shod
. The importance for Zen lies in the complete connection between the artist and the art: nothing serves so well to overcome the opposition between worker and work: the medium is the messenger; the connection from heart-mind, through brush and ink, to paper realizes the unity of the one buddha-nature.

 
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