by Chris Wilkinson

The Transmissions of Gautama

After his awakening, the Buddha began to teach. He is famed for teaching not only all sorts of human beings, but beings of the divine worlds as well as beings of the nether worlds. As these paintings show, he taught to gatherings of many kinds, including monastics, the ruling classes, ascetics, divinities­both "peaceful" and "wrathful," the laity, and to any living being capable of receiving his instruction. He traveled continually, and audiences would gather around him. In the central painting above you will notice that not only are there four groups in the audience, but that­in the fore, the Guardians of the Four Directions are present, providing a secure setting for the teaching to take place. In the painting on the left, you will notice demonic figures receiving teaching along with the monkish, while on the right, you will notice various types of divinities gathered for his teaching. All this exemplifies the universal character of the Transmission of Enlightenment. The teachings of the Buddha have been classified by his followers throughout the world as being of three classes: the Discipline, the Analysis of Reality, and the Sermons. The Mahayana schools divide the Sermons into three sets: the Teaching on Discipline, the Teaching on the Middle Way, and the Teaching on the Vast Array of Reality. A forth, and secret class is often mentioned, the teaching of the Secret Tantras. The images in the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation include representative iconography from each of these types of the Buddha's transmission.