Buddhism and the Nara Aesthetic Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Buddhism and the Nara Aesthetic Values - Essay ExampleOne of the most significant of these unknown exports that have influenced the eras aesthetic values is the Buddhist philosophy.The pre-Nara indigenous devotions were markedly austere. But the imperial government was interested in staging foppish rituals for the protection and prosperity of the state and so this predilection was used by the Buddhists as the practical route to imperial patronage. (Reynolds & Tracy 1990, p. 134) Throughout the Nara period, Buddhism became the official state religion or philosophy and encroached every element of the Japanese society that at its height, Nara came to be known as the Golden Age of Buddhism in Japan as well.Nara itself has had six different sects of Buddhism and that their priests participated in a number of different fields of the Japanese society, from government administration to social work. The upshot was that Buddhism shaped many workings of excellent craftsmanship and contribut ed and indispensable aesthetic value to the culture of the period.Buddhism, which originated in India in the sixth century B.C., was transmitted to China in at the clipping of the initial years of the European Christian era. Buddhisms development was largely influenced by Taoism before its spread to Japan. The main feature of Buddhist thinking is show in what it calls the three characteristics of existence. Nancy Hume (1995) elaboratesMost forms of Buddhism view existence being characterized by dukkha, frustration or unsatisfactoriness, impermanence, and anatman, which refers to the idea that nothing possesses an intrinsic selfless Buddhist theory is particularly opposed to the view that there are independently existing things, claiming that everything is itself only in relation to a set of conditions that make it what it is.