Before and Beyond the Image: Aniconic Symbolism in Buddhist Art

First published a quarter of a century ago, Dietrich Seckel's essay remains a vital contribution to a much-debated feature of Buddhist art, its aniconism, its aversion to depicting spiritual entities of the very highest order. Unlike Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam, the Buddhist faith has not condemned the representation of holy beings or living creatures. Nonethless it believes that its most crucial spiritual insights lie beyond the power of human imagination to describe or depict. << 95 illustrations