Buddhism and Art, a Path to Understanding

SAINT LOUIS BEACON
By Patricia Rice

Head of Buddha Śākyamuni, 4th century, Afghanistan, ancient Gandhāra region.
18 x 10 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. St. Louis Art Museum, Museum Purchase

MISSOURI - Learning about a great faith through its art is an appealing introduction, said John Renard, a professor at the Saint Louis University theology department, when asked about the Pulitzer Foundation's "Reflection of the Buddha." Like most Americans, his students' chief image of the Buddha was the smiling seated man in restaurant shrines. Renard (right) himself remembers his teen years in the heyday of Gaslight Square in the CWE when he was too young to enter bars. He and other youth (including this author), got warm welcomes at the area's only coffee shop "The Laughing Buddha." Renard broke it to his students that the laughing man was really not the great Buddha, who founded the religion. "Actually it's Buddha transmogrified, it's Pu-Tai," he said. That laughing Buddha is based on a Chinese story of a man called Ch'i-t'zu, later nicknamed Pu-tai, which means hemp sack. The man, a protector of children, carried sweets and goodies for kids in a sack. The image is also a good luck charm to bring wealth. Nearly all religions accrue folk customs; and today many Asians consider it good luck to rub Pu-Tai's large stomach. The exhibit open[ed] at the Pulitzer on Sept. 9 and runs through March 10. To read more about the exhibit, go to "Take Five: 'Reflections of the Buddha' curator talks about the permanence of change" and Buddhists look forward to Pulitzer show. [link]