Garny's New York

On Thursday October 27th, my friends and I visited the Rubin Museum of Art. It was a rainy day but we decided to walk since the subways would have got us there in the same amount of time. We got to the museum and quickly got lost and security had to direct us to the ticket admissions desk (it was a small museum). The person at the desk informed us that the CUNY free admissions program was ending shortly so we fortunate to take advantage of the savings before it was over. The museum was filled with Tibetan art and Buddhist culture. There were sculptures of Buddhist gods and goddesses. What really fascinated me about the art was the complexity of the culture and the understanding of the human body so early in history. My favorite piece of art in the museum was the clay sculpture of Yellow Jambhala which was quite detailed. The sculpture was of a yellow human like figure with a large crown atop his head. He had large eyes and stared with a very menacing glare. He holds a mongoose in one hand and in the other hand he holds fruit shaped gems. Yellow Jambhala is the god of wealth and I thought the sculpture was interesting because of how detailed and exciting it was to look at. Looking at the sculpture makes me feel like the figure would animate and start attacking me because of how menacing it looks. Another interesting thing about the sculpture is the purpose of it being built in the first place. Why would humans create this image to worship? The idea that this would somehow bring them more wealth and fortune is something hard for me to wrap my head around. How could it be that worshipping this deity bring about more wealth? I have to assume that in someway worshipping the god of wealth has brought about some form of positive energy to the ones who practice it, for it is still part of many peoples lives today.

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