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Egyptian ArtLesson 5. The target skills: using the given information to describe the visual effects produced by a work of art; to draw analogies between various phenomena.
1. Read the given information, reproduce the gist of it and add a few sentences to explain the essence of the attitude to life common among ancient Egyptians. The pyramids and the Sphinx are mysteries in stone. In their silent presence one has the feeling that they are somehow eternal, in the true sense of the word, “outside time” – that they are emerging into visibility from some powerful spiritual world that the ancient Egyptians believed interpenetrated and enriched this material world. The dividing line between life and death was obviously not so clearly defined for the Egyptians as well as it is for us. The life of spirit that surrounded men in the living world was believed to continue in that other world with a difference that what was under normal circumstances invisible to ordinary eyesight during life became quite visible after death.
2. Read the information and try to explain the similarities and differences between the Egyptian concepts of “Ka” and “Ba” and the Christian concept of the soul. The mummy could be inhabited by the dead man’s Ka. The Ka appeared as the double of his earthly body, but it was the vital force that survived him after death. If the mummy had been destroyed, the Ka could live in a statue of the deceased, but it needed constant nourishment. Knowing this, the Egyptians included pictures or models of food and drink and all the other good things of life in their tombs for the use of the dead. The tomb was “the House of the Ka”. The scenes of daily life carved or painted on the walls, and the clothes, and the furniture, and the jewels buried with the dead make it look as if the Egyptians imagined the afterlife taking place in the tomb and being very like life in Egypt. As well as a Ka, every Egyptian was thought to have a Ba, or soul, which was shown as a bird with a human head. After death, a man’s or woman’s Ba could take the form of a swallow, or a falcon, or a heron, and fly wherever it liked on earth with flocks of other souls. Nor was the Ba confined to earth; it also made a perilous journey through the underworld to win the right to an afterlife of eternal joy.
3. Read the following information about Egyptian sculpture and characterize a plate (representation of a statuette or a bas-relief): The vital aim of a statue was to ensure the survival of the person represented for the rest of eternity. By being inscribed with his name and titles. it became magically endowed with his personality, and would provide an eternal dwelling place for his spirit after death. The correct religious formulas would likewise make a statue fit to house the presence of a god. Such statues might have beauty, but even the roughest would fulfil its purpose if correctly inscribed. Many indeed were never intended to be seen by the living: they were buried with their owners in tombs. Any representation, whether sculpture in the round, relief, or painting, was therefore intended to be timeless. To produce a portrait of a person was not the aim; instead the human form was idealized, so that men were shown in the prime of life and women in the gracefulness of youth. There were exceptions, however. Some men who held particularly high offices are shown as they must have appeared in later life. Most figures follow accepted conventions. Treatments of the human figure in the round and in relief consistently draw on the same formal traditions. Men are usually shown striding forward on to the left foot, their hands at their sides, while women stand with their feet together or slightly apart. Ancient traditions were also followed in colouring statues and reliefs fashioned in wood and stone, which were usually brightly painted. The skin of men, who spent much of their time out-of-doors, was always painted reddish-brown, in sharp contrast to the creamy yellow or light pink tints used for the skin of royal and noble ladies. The convention of relative size was also followed from the earliest times: the most important figure in any scene was always larger than the rest. Thus the power and divinity of the king is at once apparent in his domination of any scene. The plastic laws were very much the same for monumental sculpture and small statuettes. Every part of the body had its counterpart, and the symmetry was ensured by an axis that went through the centre of the body. The figure, though a bit conventional, had poise, balance, and monumentality. 4. Characterize a plate (representation of a painting or carving), taking into account the Egyptian canons of visual arts: The representation of life as an everlasting procession with no beginning and no end reflected itself in the linear composition of Egyptian frescoes and bas-reliefs. Line after line, being static and yet symbolizing movement, the string of figures goes from this world to the other one. The picture is placed in one plane, confirming the unity of episodes in time and space. Egyptian painters never knew any laws of perspective, but at the same time they tried hard to show volume in bas-reliefs and frescoes due to a simultaneous representation of a human figure both in profile and facing the spectator. The head and legs were shown in profile, and the upper part of the body and the eye were depicted as if from the front. The waist and the hips are in three-quarter view. The Egyptian believed it gave a perfect representation of the human form on a flat surface. Indeed, this artificial pose does not look awkward because of the preservation of natural proportion. The excellence of the technique, shown in the fine modelling of the muscles of face and body, bestows a grace upon what otherwise might seem rigid and severe. Instead of perspective, which could suggest depth and distance, Egyptian craftsmen established a convention whereby several registers, each with its own base line, could be used to depict a crowd of people. Those in the lowest register were understood to be nearest to the viewer. The registers could also be used to represent various stages in a developing sequence of actions, rather like the frames of a strip cartoon. The important events of the agricultural year follow each other across the walls of many tombs: plowing, sowing, harvesting, and threshing the grain are all faithfully represented. It was in these scenes of everyday life that the sculptor was able to use his initiative, and free himself to some extent from the ties of convention. The dead man and his family had to be presented in ritual poses. But the workers and peasants could be shown in a more relaxed manner. They seem sturdy and vigorous. Painting in Ancient Egypt followed a similar pattern to the development of carved relief, and the two techniques were often combined. Throughout the Old Kingdom, paint was used to decorate and finish limestone reliefs, but during the 6th dynasty painted scene began to supersede relief in private tombs.
5. In a Japanese haiku you may find another interpretation of time.
The pond is old and dumb, A jumping frog ... a splash ... a wave ... And all again is calm.
Compare the interpretations of time as presented in the Pyramids, Egyptian paintings and haikus. What do they have in common? What do they differ by?
The Essence of Buddhism Lesson 6. The target skills: giving definitions, drawing comparisons.
1. Buddhism, founded in India during the 6th century B. C., gradually spread throughout Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. As the new religion reached every country, its beliefs blended with the ideas and traditions of the native population. Today, it is estimated that Buddhism has well over 300,000,000 followers, Use this brief information to compare the major religions in the world from the viewpoint of their relative age, geographic areas and the approximate number of followers. 2. The man who became the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born into a royal family and was brought up to live a life of pleasure. He first witnessed human suffering and death when he was twenty-one. This sight made him renounce his family and home to become a seeker. “Never shall I enter this city again until I have seen the farther shore of life and death.” Siddhartha tried a succession of severe disciplines in hopes of finding his Truth. At one point, he nearly starved himself to death. But starvation, he realized, was not the route to his spiritual destination, and he gave it up. Yet he was getting closer to his goal. Six years after beginning his quest, the boddhisattva (future Buddha) arrived outside the town of Gaya, where he sat himself cross-legged under the spreading branches of a tree and vowed not to move until he found enlightenment. According to legend, Mara, the Evil One, appeared to taunt and assault him. Unleashing the full fury of his demon hordes, Mara set upon Siddhartha floods, earthquakes, and deadly whirlwinds. Next, the Evil One tempted the boddhisattva with his daughters Desire, Pleasure, and Passion. Through it all, Siddhartha sat silent, unharmed, and unmoved. Fearful of losing his hold on humans if Siddhartha gained the supreme truth, Mara demanded that Siddhartha show proof of his goodness. Without speaking, Siddhartha merely touched the ground beside him, with his hand. In a voice that rumbled like thunder, the very earth answered Mara: “I am his witness.” After the defeated Mara fled, Siddhartha continued his meditation, and as dawn appeared, he attained his goal. He was now the Enlightened one – the Buddha. The founder of each religion, be he a god or a prophet, is a hero in search of the ultimate Truth. Relate the story of Siddhartha Gautama in a comparative perspective. It is not unnatural to draw some parallels between Buddha and Christ. Try to trace both the similarities and diversities. Pay attention to the temptations Christ was exposed to when fasting for forty days in the desert (Matthew 4). Also make use of the Program “The Hero Adventure”.
3. What is Truth? To Buddhists, it is dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. Dharma is a Sanscrit word whose meanings include truth, teaching, doctrine, law, ethical conduct, and universal righteousness. Buddhists are not told to accept doctrines just as a matter of faith. Rather, they are taught to understand the Buddha’s teachings and accept them into their lives. The Buddha’s first sermon at Deer Park is often called “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth”, because it set in motion the dharma, which is a spiritual weapon that overcomes all ignorance and establishes a Kingdom of Righteousness. Buddhists see the universe as made up of many states of being. All these states have suffering and unhappiness, and change constantly, like a churning sea in which creatures are tossed back and forth. A person born into this system faces continual rebirths through time. The Buddhist concept of rebirth focuses more on a causal connection between one life and another, like passing a flame from candle to candle. Karma, or actions, sows seeds that later produce consequences. Karma’s results can go beyond death to affect other lives. Buddhism does not teach that a supreme being created the universe. Rather, it views everything as the result of dependent origination. That is, whatever occurs, happens because something causes it. Buddhists see all phenomena as existing within a giant interconnected chain-reaction. Recognizing that suffering exists in every life, the Buddha taught that the ultimate cause of suffering is the desire for worldly things. Suffering can be cured by getting rid of its cause, which is worldly cravings. Only then would a person be able to achieve nirvana, or enlightenment. Only then would a person end the cycle of death and rebirth. The Buddha taught that the way to do this is to follow the Eightfold Path. The path is a set of practical guidelines on wisdom, morality, and meditation. The “steps” through the path are not taken in order, but rather are developed together through a person’s life: 1. Right View: Understand the Buddha’s teachings. 2. Right Thought: Act out of unselfishness. 3. Right Speech: Speak kindly and truthfully. 4. Right Action: Avoid killing, stealing, lying, misusing the body, or doing things to cloud the mind. 5. Right Work: One’s job should do good and avoid harm. 6. Right effort: Work for self-improvement. 7. Right mindfulness: Develop self-awareness. 8. Right concentration: Focus in meditation. · Explain the terms: dharma, karma, nirvana, reincarnation, meditation. Are there any other important terms to be considered? · Compare the “steps” to Enlightenment with the Mount Sermon from the Bible (Matthew 5). · What sets Buddhism apart from the other major religions of the world? 4. Today, the dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea and Japan is Mahayana, while Theravada is the major school in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. The followers of the Theravada school emphasize self-discipline and meditation as the means of attaining Nirvana. They believe that followers of the Buddha should aspire to become arhants – enlightened saints – who will not be subject to continued rebirth after death. The followers of the Mahayana tradition believe that it is better to work toward the enlightenment of others before seeking enlightenment for oneself. They therefore seek to become boddhisattvas. A boddhisattva is someone who freely chooses to remain in the cycle of rebirth in order to guide others toward enlightenment. They teach the ‘emptiness’ of all things; that is, that all things have no reality apart from the concept and ideas that we have about them. Once we understand that things are empty, they will no longer serve as objects of longing or hatred. Thus, according to the Mahayanists, understanding the true nature of things is the ultimate path to liberation – to freedom from craving, attachment, and self-centeredness. Dwell on any of these issues: · What does the notion of ‘emptiness of things’ mean to you? · Some people are reported to have been hypnotized into an awareness of their former lives. Do you think such reports merit attention or is it sheer nonsense? · Which of the two Buddhist schools comes closer to the Christian concept of taking hood (taking the veil), i.e. becoming a monk or a nun?
5. Why does Buddhism have such a great appeal, judging by the number of its followers? Why are more and more Western people being converted to Buddhism? Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1190
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