Myths and methods of Buddhism

According to legend, the Buddha was born in the 4th or 5th century B.C — or rather, reborn. Having done good deeds in his many earlier lives, he entered the world in an extraordinary way: a perfect being, he slipped out of the side of his earthly mother, Queen Maya.

"Buddha" translates as "the enlightened one," but the Buddha, born as a prince, also had an earthly name: Siddhartha Gautama. Discontented with his life in wealth and privilege, he stole forth one night to seek truth in a life of poverty. So as not to be heard during his flight, he rode off on a cloud.

It is said that while fasting and meditating, the Buddha sat so utterly still that a bird built its nest in his hair. But learning that negation of the physical self did not take him further on his path, he broke the fast and sought a way of moderation to unite body and soul, the physical and the spiritual.

After attaining Enlightenment, the Buddha became a teacher whose sermons were so compelling that even animals would come to hear them. At his death, he left the cycle of rebirths, entered Nirvana — and ceased to exist.

The Buddha lived before reading and writing existed in India, so his teachings were passed on in an oral tradition — and later, in pictorial depictions such as these clay tablets, found in places as diverse as India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Tibet. They were commonly buried at the construction of temples or carried by pilgrims.

Another being attaining Enlightenment was Avalokiteshvara, who was so filled with compassion at mankind's suffering that his head broke into a thousand pieces. Out of them, the transcendent Buddha Amitabha fashioned 11 heads and eight arms, so that Avalokiteshvara might see the world's sufferings and come to the aid of those in need.

Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have opted to remain in the world. Some of them strive for the redemption of all living beings. Others, such as these Bodhisattvas of Compassion, fulfill the wish of parents desiring children.

This smiling Buddha motif refers back to a monk whose friendliness and contentment were legendary. He crammed everything he found or was given, valuable or not, into his sack, symbolizing the notion that every object has value. Believers call on Jambhala to intercede to end poverty or to grant prosperity in this world.

One Bodhisattva cried out of compassion for the world until his tears created a lake. On the lotus flowers growing in the lake sits the goddess Tara, giving hope and joy to care-worn individuals.

Around 550 A.D., rulers of the northern Chinese Qi dynasty had over 2,300 grottoes carved into stone and adorned them with 100,000 sculptures. The temples were plundered in early 20th century, the figures' heads and hands chopped off and sold on the art market. In 2005, scientists were able to identify the original location of this Buddha head and virtually reconstruct the grotto it once occupied.

Shown for the first time outside a museum in Peshawar, Pakistan is one of the largest Buddhist sculptures from the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. It was found in Gandhara. This region in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan was once settled by Greeks, which is why this Buddha is reminiscent of Greek art. Monks from China, Taiwan and Myanmar came to the opening of the exhibition in Zurich.

The Zurich exhibition's biggest sensation is rather small. These tiny stones were found at a burial site in northern India in 1898 along with human ashes. Buried with them was an inscription in ancient Sanskrit reading "These are the remains of the Buddha."

The stones and ashes were discovered in a "stupa," a Buddhist grave in the village of Piprahwa by William Claxton Peppé, a British colonial engineer and landowner. The discovery was seen as proof that the Buddha actually existed as a historic figure.

After discovering the Stupa of Piprahwa, Peppé gave the ashes to monasteries in Asia, where they have been venerated by millions of Buddhists. The greater part of the precious stones remained in family custody however. Now, 120 years after coming to the light of day, they are being shown publicly for the first time.

This man calls his great-grandfather William Claxton Peppé "the original Indiana Jones." For the past six years, Luke Peppé and his brothers have been the custodians of the precious stones and intend to show them to the world. Next stop: an exhibition in New York.