{"title":"Buddha \u0026 Guanyin","description":"\u003cp\u003eMen wear Guanyin, women wear Buddha, and the logic is corrective rather than decorative. Guanyin is compassion and patience. The Buddha here is Budai, the round monk associated with contentment and with not being easily moved.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou wear what you are short of.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"obsidian-buddha-amulet-necklace","title":"Obsidian Buddha Amulet Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003eObsidian is not a stone. It is glass, and it was made in about four seconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVolcanic glass forms when lava hits water and cools too fast for crystals to grow. No structure, no grain, just a black surface that takes a sharper edge than surgical steel. Stone-age toolmakers used it for blades. It is an abrupt material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn Chinese folk practice it is the absorbing stone, the one worn when you want something between you and the room. Where jade is thought to settle into you, obsidian is thought to take on what you would rather not carry.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor anyone who spends the day handling other people's problems.\u003c\/strong\u003e Nurses, teachers, anybody whose job is other people at their worst.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not a subtle piece. Polished black with the deep glassy shine obsidian takes, and some come out showing a faint sheen when the light moves across them, which is natural to the material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLooking after obsidian\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eObsidian chips where other stones would scratch, so don't drop it on tile and take it off before anything involving impact. A cloth brings the shine back, and it shows fingerprints, so expect to use one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeavy on the chest, and you will know it is there all day. If you want the same figure at a weight you stop noticing, the Jade Buddha Pendant is the one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural obsidian (volcanic glass)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePendant size:\u003c\/strong\u003e Approx 44 x 56 x 14mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCord:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adjustable\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCarving:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hand carved Buddha figure\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural stone, sheen and inclusion vary piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52407258251566,"sku":"\u003cnone\u003e","price":40.09,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/obsidian-buddha-protection-necklace-2.webp?v=1787733190"},{"product_id":"jadeite-buddha-head-necklace","title":"Jadeite Buddha Head Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Buddha is always carved with the same face.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEyes lowered, mouth almost at rest, nothing in it that is trying. There is an old idea underneath that: the face you end up with is made by the mind behind it. \u003cstrong\u003eYou carry this one to be reminded what that looks like\u003c\/strong\u003e, on the days your own face is doing something else entirely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e佛 sounds like 福.\u003c\/strong\u003e Buddha and fortune are near enough the same word in Chinese, and that is half the reason these get worn at all. The other half is plainer: an uneventful life, nothing dramatic, everyone home. That is what a jade Buddha is given for. Not enlightenment. A quiet year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e男戴觀音，女戴佛.\u003c\/strong\u003e Men wear Guanyin, women wear Buddha. It is the oldest rule in Chinese jade buying and it is still how most families decide. The Buddha's ease is meant to lighten a woman's worrying; Guanyin's patience is meant to soften a man's temper. Follow it or ignore it, but if this is a gift, that is how it will be read.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen it stays on. The tradition is that you spend three years wearing jade in and it spends the rest of your life looking after you, which is why nobody takes theirs off. In practice that means showers and swimming do it no harm, and the cord will give out long before the stone does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYours will be cut from a different stone.\u003c\/strong\u003e On this one the dark of the jadeite falls across the face and the curls run pale. On yours the line will be somewhere else. That is the difference between carved stone and stamped metal, and it is why people keep the one they were given.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor a woman carrying a lot who would rather not say so.\u003c\/strong\u003e If you are buying for a man, that rule points at the Guanyin pieces instead. If you want one that lives under a shirt rather than over it, the Carved Jadeite Buddha Necklace is the quieter of the two.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural jadeite\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePendant:\u003c\/strong\u003e Buddha head, approx 32 x 24 x 11mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBail:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gold-toned with green and blue enamel, celadon jade bead above\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCord:\u003c\/strong\u003e 60cm \/ 24.5in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCare:\u003c\/strong\u003e Keep it on. Water does no harm. A soft cloth if it dulls\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural stone. Colour and the position of the darker zone vary piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52407259726126,"sku":"\u003cnone\u003e","price":47.62,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/jadeite-buddha-head-necklace-4.webp?v=1788767352"},{"product_id":"carved-jadeite-buddha-necklace","title":"Carved Jadeite Buddha Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost jade Buddhas are a picture. This one is an object.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe usual jade Buddha is a flat plaque with an outline cut into the face of it, so there is a front, and a back, and not much in between. This one is carved in the round. The knees come forward, the robe folds over the crossed legs, the head sits proud of the shoulders, and the figure reads from the side as well as straight on. \u003cstrong\u003eYou feel the difference before you see it.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is seated in meditation with his palms together at the chest. The long earlobes are from the years he spent wearing a prince's earrings, before he stopped. The tight curls and the raised crown of the head are the marks that tell you which Buddha this is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor somebody who needs the reminder to sit still, rather than the reminder to let things go.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is the Buddha who taught. The round laughing monk with the sack is a different figure and a different job, and the two get given for different reasons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJadeite in mottled greens, no two pieces the same, with a matching jade bead above it on the cord.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWearing jade\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorn against the skin and kept on, which is the tradition. A soft cloth is all it needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe one to choose when it is a gift and the carving itself is meant to be part of the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural jadeite\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePendant height:\u003c\/strong\u003e Approx 32mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLength:\u003c\/strong\u003e 60cm \/ 23.5in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCarving:\u003c\/strong\u003e Carved in the round, seated Buddha in meditation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural stone, colour and marking vary piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52407260610862,"sku":"\u003cnone\u003e","price":47.62,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/carved-jadeite-buddha-necklace-2.webp?v=1788238841"},{"product_id":"green-sandstone-laughing-buddha","title":"Green Sandstone Laughing Buddha","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe laughing Buddha is not the Buddha. He is a monk who probably existed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBudai (布袋) was a Chan monk in tenth century China. Wandering, carrying a cloth sack, giving things away. Over the centuries he got folded into the Maitreya (彌勒) tradition as a future Buddha in disguise, and the round belly and the grin stuck. \u003cstrong\u003eWhat he stands for is contentment, and the good humour to let things go.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo he ended up in shops and homes, and became one of the most placed objects in Chinese feng shui. The temples kept the other Buddhas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe statue is cut from green sandstone, so the surface keeps a rough matte texture and never reads as polished. It looks like stone because it is, and the grey-green tone sits well with plain interiors and does not fight with wood. Small enough for a desk and still with enough presence not to disappear on a shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a house that takes itself slightly too seriously. \u003cstrong\u003eThat is precisely the corrective Budai was always meant to be.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere to place a laughing Buddha statue\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeng shui puts him near the entrance, facing into the room, so that whatever comes through the door meets him first. Raised rather than on the floor, and not in a bathroom. Beyond that: desk, bookshelf, windowsill, entryway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA forgiving thing to give somebody, because nobody has ever been offended by a laughing Buddha.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Green sandstone\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5 x 8 x 6.5cm \/ 4.9 x 3.1 x 2.6in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMotif:\u003c\/strong\u003e Budai (布袋), the laughing Buddha\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFinish:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural matte stone texture\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePlacement:\u003c\/strong\u003e Entrance or living room, facing in, raised off the floor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural stone, colour and texture vary between pieces\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52407380214062,"sku":"14:200006153#1","price":75.22,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/sandstone-lauging-buddha-statue-1.webp?v=1787123278"},{"product_id":"shakyamuni-buddha-head-statue","title":"Shakyamuni Buddha Head Statue","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery curl on this head turns the same way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat is not a carving habit, it is a specification. Hair curling to the right is one of the thirty-two marks of a great man, the old checklist of physical signs a Buddha is held to carry, and carvers have been copying it for two thousand years. The Chinese name is 螺髮, luófà, spiral hair, after the shape of a conch shell. \u003cstrong\u003eThe account behind it is that Siddhartha cut his long hair off with a sword when he walked out of the palace, it grew back short and curled, and it never needed cutting again.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mound beneath the curls is the ushnisha, the mark of expanded wisdom, and the dot at the brow is the urna. None of it is decoration. Each one is a specific claim about what the figure is.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree colourways over the same unglazed terracotta face and chest: ochre, slate blue, and a pale green-grey. The robe is left matte and slightly rough where the clay was not smoothed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA manji (卍) sits raised at the centre of the chest. It is the old Asian auspicious mark, found on Buddha figures from India to Japan, and it predates the twentieth-century European use most people think of first by several thousand years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor a desk, a tea table, or a shelf that needs one still thing on it.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere to place a Buddha statue\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDesk, tea table, shelf or meditation corner. Buddha figures are traditionally kept above waist height and never at floor level, and feng shui adds that one should face into the room rather than at a wall, and should not sit in a bedroom or a bathroom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCeramic chips, so keep it back from an edge, and a soft cloth is all it needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ceramic, matte robe against unglazed terracotta\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eColours:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yellow, Dark Blue \u0026amp; Gray\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDetail:\u003c\/strong\u003e Right-turning hair curls, ushnisha, urna, and a raised manji at the chest\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIntention:\u003c\/strong\u003e Calm and stillness\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hand finished, colour and texture vary between pieces\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCare:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ceramic chips. Clean with a soft cloth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Gray","offer_id":52479735464238,"sku":"14:200006153#C","price":100.31,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Yellow","offer_id":52479735497006,"sku":"14:200006152#B","price":100.31,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Dark Blue","offer_id":52479735529774,"sku":"14:200006151#A","price":100.31,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/zen-buddha-statue-2.webp?v=1787299494"},{"product_id":"ksitigarbha-bodhisattva-statue","title":"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Statue","description":"\u003cp\u003eHe said he would not become a Buddha until hell was empty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKsitigarbha made that vow and has not finished keeping it. Where other bodhisattvas ascend, he goes down, into the realms where the suffering and the dead are, and stays there. He is the one people ask for when somebody is lost, in trouble, or gone. In Japan, as Jizo, he guards travellers and children who died before their parents, and roadside shrines still get little red caps knitted for him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCount the rings on the staff.\u003c\/strong\u003e There are six, one for each realm of rebirth. The staff is a khakkhara, and a monk shook it as he walked so that small creatures on the path would hear him coming and move out of the way. In his other hand is the wish-fulfilling jewel, which lights the dark places he walks into.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo finishes: a glossy white porcelain, and a matte sand body with a speckled, unglazed look. The staff is a separate gold-toned metal piece.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere to place a Ksitigarbha statue\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn altar, a memorial shelf, an entryway. He is the figure kept for the dead and for anyone travelling, so a hallway or somewhere you pass on the way out is a sound instinct. Give him a clear surface and something solid at his back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ceramic with gold-toned metal staff\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFinishes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Glossy white, matte sand\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHolds:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ringed staff (khakkhara) and wish-fulfilling jewel\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Handmade, so colour and finish vary piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Matte","offer_id":52485488214318,"sku":"14:200006151#A","price":100.31,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White","offer_id":52485488247086,"sku":"14:200006152#B","price":100.31,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/ksitigarbha-zen-statue-2.webp?v=1787400349"},{"product_id":"obsidian-buddha-protection-necklace","title":"Half Face Buddha Protection Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe carver stopped at the middle of the face.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne eye, one brow, half a nose, half a mouth. Everything to the right of that centre line is plain polished stone and was never going to be anything else. \u003cstrong\u003eThis is not an unfinished carving.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is liubai (留白), the leaving of blank space, the same principle that makes a Chinese ink painting mostly empty paper. The empty part is doing work: you already know what a Buddha looks like, so the carving only has to give you enough.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe hair is the tight spiral curls, luoji (螺髻), each one cut with its own small turn. The eye is closed and turned down. It is not looking at you, which is the whole intention of a Buddha face.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlack obsidian is the protection stone in Chinese practice\u003c\/strong\u003e, worn to take the edge off whatever is coming at you rather than to draw anything in. It is volcanic glass, which is why it takes a polish like this and why the cut surface turns matte grey. The strand is round obsidian beads on braided cord, with a single bead painted in gold Sanskrit sitting above the pendant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor anyone who wants a Buddha they can wear to work.\u003c\/strong\u003e From across a room it reads as a plain black tablet. It only resolves into a face when someone is close enough to be talking to you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLooking after obsidian\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eObsidian is glass. It will chip if you drop it on tile and it will scuff if you keep it loose in a pocket with keys, and nothing else bothers it. Wipe it with a soft cloth. The matte face will darken very slightly over the years where fingers rest on it, which most people end up liking.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStone:\u003c\/strong\u003e Black obsidian\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCarving:\u003c\/strong\u003e Buddha face to the center line, blank polished field beside it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFinish:\u003c\/strong\u003e Matte on the carved face, gloss on the blank half and the hair\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLength:\u003c\/strong\u003e About 45cm \/ 18in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrand:\u003c\/strong\u003e Round obsidian beads on braided cord, with one gold-lettered bead\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hand carved, so the face varies a little piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52561179509038,"sku":"\u003cnone\u003e","price":37.58,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/half-buddha-protection-necklace-6.webp?v=1788422060"},{"product_id":"baby-laughing-buddha-statue","title":"Baby Laughing Buddha Statue","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe belly is not a joke about eating.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is half of a couplet that hangs over the Maitreya hall in most Chinese temples. \u003cstrong\u003e大肚能容\u003c\/strong\u003e, the big belly can hold what the world finds hard to hold. The other half is about the face: \u003cstrong\u003e開口便笑\u003c\/strong\u003e, the open mouth laughs at what the world finds laughable. That is the whole of Budai, and it is why he turns up in shops, cars and living rooms rather than only in temples.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are the cute baby version. Same laugh, same belly, same long ears, but a toddler, robe slipping off his shoulders and bare feet underneath. \u003cstrong\u003eFour poses, and the robe colour tells you which is which:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStanding\u003c\/strong\u003e, blue robe, holding it open\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSitting\u003c\/strong\u003e, coral robe, both arms flung up\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLaying\u003c\/strong\u003e, purple robe, propped on one elbow\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThinking\u003c\/strong\u003e, green robe, hand beside his cheek\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll four are the same unglazed purple clay, so the skin is matte and faintly sandy, and the colour is the material rather than paint sitting on top of it. Rubbing the belly for luck is a real custom rather than a tourist invention, and the belly on all four is left bare and smooth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHe goes almost anywhere.\u003c\/strong\u003e On an altar next to the more serious figures, on a desk where you will see him during the working day, on a bookshelf, a windowsill, a car dashboard, or set into a plant pot. He is small and he is not solemn, so he does not need a formal setting to look right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHe also works as a tea pet\u003c\/strong\u003e, which is the one use worth explaining. The Chinese for keeping one is 養, to raise: you pour the rinse water and the last of the pot over him while you drink, session after session, and unglazed clay slowly takes up a sheen from the tea. It takes months. One raised for a year looks nothing like one out of the box, and the difference is down entirely to whoever owned it. Completely optional. He looks right dry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor anyone who wants a Buddha that is not solemn.\u003c\/strong\u003e Small enough to sit in a cupped palm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLooking after it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA dry brush for dust is usually enough. If you rinse him, hot water and a soft brush only, never soap or detergent, which unglazed clay absorbs and holds on to. Keep him out of direct sun, which fades the robe colour. If you are raising him with tea, use the tea you actually drink and let him dry between sessions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Purple clay, unglazed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHeight: 5.8 - 10cm \/ 2.2in - 4in\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoses:\u003c\/strong\u003e Standing, Sitting, Laying or Thinking\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFinish:\u003c\/strong\u003e Matte body, matte coloured robe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUse:\u003c\/strong\u003e Desk, shelf, altar, car or windowsill. Doubles as a tea pet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Handmade, so colour and expression vary a little piece to piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Thinking","offer_id":52563685933358,"sku":"14:200004889#B","price":40.09,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Laying","offer_id":52563685966126,"sku":"14:200003699#C","price":40.09,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Sitting","offer_id":52563685998894,"sku":"14:200006151#A","price":40.09,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Standing","offer_id":52563686031662,"sku":"14:200005536#D","price":40.09,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Whole Collection","offer_id":67597264388398,"sku":null,"price":148.05,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/cute-laughing-buddha-statue-7.webp?v=1788489919"},{"product_id":"half-buddha-half-demon-statue","title":"Half Buddha Half Demon Statue","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne thought and you are a Buddha. One thought and you are a demon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat is the saying this is cut from: \u003cstrong\u003e一念成佛，一念成魔\u003c\/strong\u003e. It is not good against evil, and it is not two beings fighting. It is one face, and the distance between the halves is a single thought. Chan Buddhism is unusually blunt about this. The demon is not visiting from somewhere else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe split runs straight down the centre of the face. On the left, tight spiral curls, a lowered eye, a mouth at rest. On the right, flame-shaped hair, a bulging eye with a spiral iris, a bared fang, a hoop earring. Neither half is treated as the lesser one, which is what makes it work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBelow the face, a pair of praying hands. Around them the shoulders and robe break away into ragged, pitted edges, the way the cave-temple Buddhas at Yungang and Longmen have been eroding for fifteen hundred years. It is built to look excavated rather than finished.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhich half people see depends on where you put it.\u003c\/strong\u003e Turn the left side to the room and it is simply a Buddha and nobody is any the wiser. Turn the right side out and it is a demon. Face on, you get the argument. Placement is a decision here rather than a question of what fits the shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt is carved from green sandstone, weathered grey.\u003c\/strong\u003e Go to the close-up and the whole surface is individual mineral grains catching the light at different angles. That is the stone itself. Most Buddha figures at this size are resin with a stone texture sprayed on, and those come out evenly speckled, the same all over. This one does not, because the grain was in the block before anyone touched it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor a desk, a bookshelf, or a room that is not trying to be serene.\u003c\/strong\u003e It sits better against a plain or dark interior than a busy one, and it is the piece for someone who finds most Buddha statues too polite.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLooking after it\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA soft dry cloth, or a dry brush, since the grain holds dust in its pits. Sandstone is porous, so water and cleaning fluid will soak in and mark it. Keep it indoors: it will stain and weather outside, and it is not made for an aquarium.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Green sandstone, carved, weathered grey\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 19.8cm \/ 7.8in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBase:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8.8 x 6.5cm \/ 3.5 x 2.6in\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e About 520g\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMotif:\u003c\/strong\u003e Buddha and demon split down the centre line, praying hands below\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCare:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dry cloth or soft brush, indoors only\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52563686195502,"sku":"14:200006155#2","price":94.04,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/half-buddha-demon-sculpture-3.webp?v=1788497096"},{"product_id":"jade-laughing-buddha-necklace","title":"Jade Laughing Buddha Necklace","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fat, laughing one is not the Buddha most people think he is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is Budai, a wandering monk remembered in China as the Buddha still to come, Maitreya, and the belly is the whole point of him. Over the doors of Chinese temple halls he sits beneath a couplet that opens \u003cstrong\u003e大肚能容\u003c\/strong\u003e: a belly big enough to hold what the world can't. The insult, the bad week, the thing somebody said at work. He takes it in and laughs, and he doesn't carry it around afterwards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThat is what he is for: letting things go.\u003c\/strong\u003e Worn close, he is a reminder that most of what you are holding onto was never yours to carry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor anyone who takes things to heart and finds it hard to let them go.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWearing jade\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJade is traditionally kept on, and it takes a polish from skin over the years. A soft cloth is all it needs if it dulls.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural jadeite\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFigure:\u003c\/strong\u003e Laughing Buddha, Budai, the Maitreya form\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePendant size:\u003c\/strong\u003e Approx 20 x 20 x 6mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLength: \u003c\/strong\u003e60cm \/ 23.5in\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBack:\u003c\/strong\u003e Flat and polished, uncarved\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCord:\u003c\/strong\u003e Braided, approx 600mm, red agate bead, slips over the head\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIntention:\u003c\/strong\u003e Letting things go\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural stone. Colour and mottling vary from piece to piece, some carry flecks of brighter green, and cord colour varies between dark red and black\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Earth Tibet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52625022026030,"sku":"200000226:193#Guanyin","price":42.6,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/4807\/7102\/files\/jade-laughing-buddha-necklace-1.webp?v=1789092851"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.earthtibet.com\/collections\/buddha-guanyin.oembed","provider":"Earth Tibet","version":"1.0","type":"link"}