At the Met, these two sculptures appeared to be most intriguing to me because of the contrasting difference between the states of each subject.

The first statue, featuring the subject in the colorful clothing is called the Arhat (luohan), dating back to the Liao dynasty (907–1125). This sculpture seemed interesting to me because it appears that this man has not yet reached his full potential of awakening, as popularly showcased in many forms of Buddhist art. He appears to have such a determined facial expression and i thought it was interesting to see the work and diligence required to reach that goal, especially since it took many Buddhist monks numerous years, often times their whole lives, to reach that state, if they were able to succeed at all. Also, according to the Metropolitan Museum’s background description, this piece is intended to symbolize the waiting for a future Buddha to come down to them and to save them from being persecuted by other people/religions.

The second sculpture, featuring a subject carved out of stone, appears to be much more evolved than the first. This is made evident through his facial expression and body language, but it mostly stands out to me because it has multiple heads and arms. Typically, this is intended to mean that the subject has reached such a high level of awareness and self-realization that it can theoretically be at multiple places at one time, which indicates one of the true powers/advantages of attaining full enlightenment.

At the Rubin Museum, there were a myriad of different sculptures and works of art representing symbols and idols pertaining to Buddhist practices. This statue shown above is representing one who has finally attained the everlasting goal of enlightenment. This is made evident by various signs in the statue’s body language, with the most obvious and immediate indicator being the sitting position of the subject. This is known as the “lotus position,” which is a commonly used sitting position for Buddhist meditation, which is one of the primary techniques/practices for clearing one’s mind entirely and becoming enlightened. The subject’s facial expression also appears to be extremely relaxed, and even happy – also made evident through the position of the subject’s hands, calmly resting on his own lap. All of these positive signals are being displayed to represent the belief that once enlightenment is achieved, the subject has reached the ultimate goal of self-realization and awakening.