Throughout the 6th century BCE, Greek pottery painters experimented with ways to describe reality on the curved surface of a vase. In the best examples, the urge toward description is balanced by the necessity of creating an effective two-dimensional design.

In scale and execution, Stadtbild

Dear Jerry:

Tara is the most important female bodhisattva, particularly in Tibet, Nepal, and Mongolia where Vajrayana Buddhism is practiced. She is the consort of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and like him is a bodhisattva of compassion. Tara has two main forms: Syamatara (Green Tara) and Sitatara (White Tara). In all her forms, Tara is a maternal and merciful figure who brings prosperity and happiness.

Avalokiteshvara is one of the most popular bodhisattvas, as he is a great compassionate and merciful being who saves people from suffering and misery. He resides in a transcendent paradise and enters the world to rescue living beings from their difficulties and guide them to paradise where they can readily gain enlightenment.

Maitreya (“the friendly one”) is the Buddha of the Future, who is thought to reveal the completion of the Buddha’s teaching 5,000 years after Siddhartha Gautama. He will be reborn from the Tushita heaven, in which he currently dwells, to usher in an age of peace and prosperity.

Maitreya highlights the cyclical world view held by Buddhists.