Murals

Renowned Thai artist, Khun Teerayoot Daochanterk, was commissioned to carve two wall murals in stone to depict the biography of Lord Buddha and the principle teachings of the Buddha, as a tribute to our Great and Compassionate Teacher.  These stone murals are similar to the “Borobudur” bas reliefs in Java, Indonesia.

Mural on the Life of the Lord Buddha

The composition of the relief scene is symmetrical.  There are two intended directions in which the relief is depicted. 

First is the main theme, displayed in the central column, in an upward direction from the bottom to the top.  It depicts the Birth of the Buddha, his Enlightenment, the preaching of his First Sermon and the Final Passing Away of the Buddha.
 
The second is the detailed biography of the Buddha to illustrate the main theme mentioned above.  This is depicted in a rightwards direction, beginning from the lowest left hand corner, moving towards the right and then continuing on the next row upwards, again from left to right.

As the Buddha had lived for eighty years, it will not be possible to depict all the details of his life.  Instead, the artist has chosen to depict only the most significant events in the relief.  Moreover, due to the size of the mural, the scenes have been simplified to represent whole events.
 
Prior to his Enlightenment, the Buddha was referred to as the Bodhisatta (a Buddha-to-be).  In the relief, beings of the higher realms, such as devas and brahmas, are differentiated with special characteristics, namely halos around their heads.  The ‘curly shapes’ in some of the relief panels depicts supernormal sights/events or other realms of existence.

Mural on the Teachings of the Lord Buddha

The objective of the mural is to present a visual representation of the key components of the Teachings of the Lord Buddha.

The largest panel at the middle-top represents the Lord Buddha preaching his first sermon to his first five disciples – the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (The Sermon on the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma).  The image in this panel is a replica of a very famous image found in Sarnath, India (where the First Sermon was taught).  The presiding image in our meditation hall is also a replica of this same image.

Below the Sarnath Buddha image lies three square panels with lotus flowers in different stages of blooming, which serve to represent the three groups of practice that summarizes the Noble Eightfold Path, namely Sila (virtue), Samadhi (concentration) and Panna (wisdom). The lotus flowers in the bottommost panel appear as new flowers/buds, signifying that the practice begins with virtue as a base. The middle panel shows the flowers beginning to blossom, meaning that concentration opens up our minds for wisdom to arise. The top panel represents the flower in full bloom, meaning the practitioner attains full Enlightenment.

The two panels at each side of the lotus flowers represents the four component members of the Buddhist Parisa or community.  This community is made up of Monks, Nuns, laymen and laywomen.

Further to the sides are eight footprints in total representing the footprints of the Buddha and at the same time, they represent the Eightfold Path of Practice taught by the Buddha.  The footprints also reminds us of the fact that the Teachings of the Buddha are to be walked/put into practice.  The Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha are:

1) Samma Ditthi – Right View,

2) Samma Samkappo – Right Renunciation,

3) Samma Vaca – Right Speech,

4) Samma Kammanto – Right Actions,

5) Samma Ajivo – Right Livelihood,

6) Samma Vayamo – Right Effort,

7) Samma Sati – Right Mindfulness,

8) Samma Samadhi – Right Concentration.

The bottomost panel in the middle depicts three fishes eating one another in a circular fashion, representing the three characteristics of existence (Anicca – impermanence, Dukkha – stress, and Anatta – not-self).  The inner circle is divided into 12 sections, each representing the 12 component factors of Dependent Origination (Paticca Sammupada).  The Buddha stated that this teaching of Dependent Origination is very deep and difficult to understand but “whoever sees Dependent Origination, sees the Dhamma, whoever sees the Dhamma, sees Dependent Origination”.  It is taught that all those who attain Enlightenment, does so by penetrating Dependent Origination.