Levels of Creation & Sinners at Dazu

One thing that struck me at Dazu is how different the conception of Buddhism shown there is from that which many of us PC-type Americans are often attracted to. Here at Dazu, you see instead visions of sinners suffering in lower levels of creation, and indeed a whole canyon face devoted to the different levels of creation. In these three photos, you see the faces of some unhappy sinners who’ve lived the wrong kind of life, and the canyon side given over to the levels of creation diorama. I was very struck by the quality of the sculpture – note the realism in the face of the woman who’s suffering from her sinful ways.