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The physical characteristics of the Buddha refers to the general appearance and characteristics of Gautama Buddha's physical body. There are no extant representations of the Buddha represented in artistic form until roughly the 2nd century CE, partly due to the prominence of aniconism in the earliest extant period of Buddhist devotional statuary and bas reliefs.〔Krishnan, Yuvraj. ''The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development.'' 2009. p. 51〕 A number of early discourses describe the appearance of the Buddha, and are believed to have served as a model for early depictions.〔Shaw, Sarah. ''Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pali Canon.'' 2006. p. 114〕 In particular, the "32 signs of a Great Man" are described throughout the Pali Canon, and these are believed to have formed the basis for early representations of the Buddha.〔 These 32 major characteristics are also supplemented by another 80 secondary characteristics (Pali:''Anubyanjana''). In Mahāyāna Buddhism, including the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism, the 32 major characteristics and 80 minor characteristics are understood to be present in a buddha's sambhogakāya, or reward-body.〔Sangharakshita. ''A Survey of Buddhism: Its Doctrines and Methods Through the Ages.'' 2004. p. 295〕 In contrast, a buddha's physical form is understood to be a nirmāṇakāya, or transformation-body.〔 ==Early history== The earliest phase of Buddhism was generally aniconic, with the Buddha being represented as symbols such as a footprint, an empty chair, a riderless horse, or an umbrella.〔 Later, iconic sculptural traditions were established, with two of the most important being in the regions of Gandhara and Mathura.〔 The first statues and busts of the Buddha were made in the Gandhara (now Kandahar) region of modern day Afghanistan. Many statues and busts exist where the Buddha and other bodhisattvas have a mustache. In the Pali Canon a paragraph appears many times recording the Buddha describing how he began his quest for enlightenment, saying: After examining the cult of the Buddha image in India, Gregory Schopen concludes that followers of Mahāyāna at this time played little to no role in introducing statuary and other physical depictions of the Buddha.〔Schopen, Gregory. ''Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India.'' 2005. p. 138〕 Mahāyāna sūtras from this period such as the ''Maitreyasiṃhanāda Sūtra'', only address the image cult as an object of criticism, if it is mentioned at all.〔 Schopen states that followers of Mahāyāna were generally uninterested in worshipping buddhas, but rather in becoming buddhas, and their outlook toward Buddhist practice was "profoundly conservative."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Physical characteristics of the Buddha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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