Le stupa de Swayambhunath à Katmandou (8435684322)

The Eyes of Buddha (also called Buddha eyes or Wisdom eyes) is a symbol used in

Buddhist art Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and ...

. The symbol depicts two half-closed eyes, a style sometimes referred to as the Adamantine View ( sa, Vajradrsti, italic=yes). In between and slightly above the eyes is a circle or spiral which represents the

urna In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (more correctly ūrṇā or ūrṇākośa (Pāli uṇṇa), and known as in Chinese) is a spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark. It symbolizes a third eye, w ...

, one of the thirty-two characteristics of a great man ( sa, Mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa, italic=yes) in Buddhism. Directly below the urna is a curly symbol stylized as १, which represents the number one in

Devanagari numerals The Devanagari numerals are the symbols used to write numbers in the Devanagari script, the predominant for northern Indian languages. They are used to write decimal numbers, instead of the Western Arabic numerals. Table The word for zero was ...

. The curly symbol, which represents either a nose or a divine fire emanating from the urna above, symbolizes unity. The Eyes of Buddha symbol represents the all-seeing eyes of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, or sometimes more specifically represents the eyes of the Ādibuddha.

On stupas

The Eyes of Buddha are painted onto the upper portions of many Tibetan-style

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

s, mostly throughout

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The symbol is painted on all four sides of the cube at the top of the stupa to symbolize the Buddha's wisdom seeing all things in all four cardinal directions. Two of the most well-known examples are the historic stupas at

Swayambhunath Swayambhu (Devanagari: स्वयम्भू स्तूप; new, स्वयंभू; sometimes Swayambu or Swoyambhu) is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. The Tibetan name for the ...

and

Boudhanath Bouddha ( ne, बौद्धनाथ; ; , ), also known as Boudhanath, Khasti Chaitya and Khāsa Chaitya is a stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.Snellgrove, David. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors'', 2 vols., p. 36 ...

, which both comprise two of the seven

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

monuments located in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

in Nepal.

Other uses

Similar to its use on stupas, the symbol is painted on the upper portion of many

caitya upright=1.25, Phra Pathom Chedi, one of the biggest Chedis in Thailand; in Thai, the term Chedi (cetiya) is used interchangeably with the term Stupa Cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials" (Sanskrit ''caitya''), are objects and places used by Buddhi ...

s. The symbol is also sometimes inscribed on

mani stone Mani stones are stone plates, rocks or pebbles inscribed with the six-syllabled mantra of Avalokiteshvara (''Om mani padme hum'', hence the name ''mani stone''), as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. The term mani stone may also be used to ...

s alongside the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

mantra ''

Om mani padme hum ' ( sa, ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana ''Kāraṇ ...

'' as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. The Eyes of Buddha are painted on the silo housing the world's largest kaleidoscope, the Kaatskill Kaleidoscope in

Mount Tremper, New York Mount Tremper is a hamlet in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. Mount Tremper is situated to the east of New York State Route 28 and to the north of New York State Route 212, within the Catskill Park. The community ...

References

{{Reflist Buddhist symbols Eyes in culture Nepalese culture Tibetan culture