Meta-Discourse on the Teachings from the Treasury (Abidharmakosha-Bhashya)

1100s

Meta-Discourse on the Teachings from the Treasury (Abidharmakosha-Bhashya), 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Handscroll; gold and silver on indigo-dyed paper; overall: 26.4 x 670.6 cm (10 3/8 x 264 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Worcester R. Warner Collection 1916.1060 This religious text relates some of the teachings of the great fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar Vasubhandhu. The text analyzes human consciousness in its relationship to the environment and transformations that occur during meditation. This scroll is the 17th part of a 30-part translation of the text by Xuanzang, an eminent seventh-century Chinese monk. The frontispiece depicts the Buddha Shakyamuni preaching in a paradisical landscape.