nd this
little object lesson.

X

THE BUDDHA AT BURUPUDUR

To the north the cone of a volcano, rising sharp and black. To the east
another. South and west a jagged chain of hills. In the foreground
ricefields and cocoa palms. Everywhere intense green, untoned by grey;
and in the midst of it this strange erection. Seen from below and from a
distance it looks like a pyramid that has been pressed flat. In fact, it
is a series of terraces built round a low hill. Six of them are
rectangular; then come three that are circular; and on the highest of
these is a solid dome, crowned by a cube and a spire. Round the circular
terraces are set, close together, similar domes, but hollow, and pierced
with lights, through which is seen in each a seated Buddha. Seated
Buddhas, too, line the tops of the parapets that run round the lower
terraces. And these parapets are covered with sculpture in high relief.
One might fancy oneself walking round one of the ledges of Dante's
"Purgatorio" meditating instruction on the walls. Here the instruction
would be for the selfish and the cruel. For what is inscribed is the
legend and cult of the lord of tenderness. Much of it remains
undeciphered and unexplained. But on the second terrace is recorded, on
one side, the life of Sakya-Muni; on the other, his previous
incarnations. The latter, taken from the "Jatakas," are naive and
charming apologues.

For example: Once the Buddha lived upon earth as a hare. In order to
test him Indra came down from heaven in the guise of a traveller.
Exhausted and faint, he asked the animals for help. An otter brought
fish, a monkey fruit, a jackal a cup of milk. But the hare had nothing
to give. So he threw himself into a fire, that the wanderer might eat
his roasted flesh. Again: Once the Buddha lived upon earth as an
elephant. He was met by seven hundred travellers, lost and exhausted
with hunger. He told them where water would be found, and, near it, the
body of an elephant for food. Then, hastening to the spot, he flung
himself over a precipice, that he might provide the meal himself. Again:
Once the Buddha lived upon earth as a stag. A king, who was hunting him,
fell into a ravine. Whereupon the stag halted, descended, and helped him
home. All round the outer wall run these pictured lessons. And opposite
is shown the story of Sakya-Muni himself. We see the new-born child with
his feet on lotuses. We see the fatal encounter with poverty, sickness,
an