Impermanence – The Delicate Beauty of Broken Buddhas
In this series, I aim to document the Buddhist concept of Anicca – the truth of impermanence – which is one of Buddhism’s Three Noble Truths alongside Dukkha (the acceptance that suffering exists and is an inherent part of life) and Anatta (the Truth of not-self or non-self; there is no such thing as an underlying, permanent or unchanging soul created by or emanating from a higher power).
I first became fascinated by the idea of Anicca when I noticed that many Buddhist temples I visited featured a special section for broken Buddha statues. Since these statues are considered sacred by Buddhist, they cannot just be thrown away but must be disposed of in a respectful and reverent manner, such as burial or by moving the object to a secluded manner.
Exposed to the elements and the ravages of time, these broken Buddhas continue to transform, to grow as they slowly deteriorate. Thus, they perfectly exemplify the concept of impermanence, their imperfections taking on a beauty of their own. Everything changes, gets born, grows, decays and disappears; all things are transient and constantly evolving. ‘Nothing is permanent, except change’, as the Buddha says.
More Buddhist-related photography is available in my Buddha gallery.