Barend Jan Terwiel
Professor Emeritus
Throughout history, Buddhist meditation has been a lasting source of happiness, with the ultimate goal being imperturbable stillness of the mind after the fires of desire, aversion and delusion have been finally extinguished. This state is called Nibbāna, the place of perfect peace and happiness.
In his classical book on Thai painting, Jean Boisselier confidently states: “Artists are of course unable to depict any aspect of Nibbāna, since that world is by nature without form.”
This presentation will show that more than two centuries ago Thai artists did venture to do just that what Boisselier proclaimed to be impossible. A number of depictions of the “city of Nibbāna”, drawn in picture books of the Three Worlds, will be examined in detail with an explanation of how the artists reconciled formlessness with depictions.
(Presented in the 2015 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum: Understanding Happiness, 16-17 July 2015, Le Meridien Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies and Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University)