Samadhi Buddha -

The gentle Buddha sits deeply absorbed in samadhi. Samadhi, the highest stage of yoga sadhana (practice), is a profound yogic contemplation. The erstwhile Shakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama has attained its deepest recesses - nirbeeja or seedless samadhi - after years of renunciation and mendicancy, asceticism and austerities. He sat for a long time under the Bodhi tree and, in its cool shade, the sacred citta gradually tipped over into Enlightenment.

The chhavi (image) of Gautama Buddha that you see on this page captures Him at the juncture of Enlightenment. Legs gathered in a fine padmasana, the culmination of all other asanas, and the almsbowl resting in the open palm of His left hand. The fingers of the right hand tenderly touching (‘sparsha’) the earth (‘bhoomi’) beneath Him, a gesture (‘mudra’) of calling upon Mother Earth to witness the transition. The robe wound around His princely form is draped over a single shoulder in keeping with iconographical norm.

A sattvik countenance balanced on a stately neck. Upon the skin on the latter are three distinct curves like in the body of a conch, symbolic of the sweet voice of Lord Buddha. Beneath the wide-set brow are large eyes that have been shut for a long time now. A sharp, handsome nose; a tender, compassionate mouth. Long, wizened earlobes framing such a countenance, and a mass of curls gathered in a stoopa-like bun atop the head.