Blog Entry #7: Telling My Humanities Story

2021 Books in Review, 

 Hello! I haven't read that many books this year as the books that I have read are textbooks from classes that I took. Although there are only a few I felt like I learned a lot from reading the books that were provided. 

Hawley, Jack. The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners. New World Library, 2011. 

• In this version of the Bhagavad Gita, Jack Hawley is able to do an amazing job at translating the infamous scripture the Gita which has been around for many generations into English. This book contains various spiritual knowledge and even divine revelation that has been around for centuries with its origin stemming from a story that would eventually turn into a movement. I would recommend this book to the people who are interested in not only religion but also the progression in ones' spiritual journey. Although it is a scripture with religious content, it can also provide a new perspective on how to live ones life that can be beneficial. 

Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s
and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 

• In this series of brief documents it will go over the two of the most influential human rights activist who were prominent figures during the civil rights movement in 1954 through 1968. This book provides documents and speeches that shows the ideologies between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Although both men were known to have different views, this book will go over how similar they actually were in the goal to achieving freedom for African Americans. Of course it would also go over the struggles and obstacles that African Americans had to deal with in America as racism was evidently present in the systems. I would recommend this book to everyone as it provides a better understanding of how African Americans were being treated in the systems of America. It provides you a new perspective on how America in which it notions the freedom for all is actually just a facade from the beginning.  

Theme Project,  

What I liked the most about the project was that I was able to go back to each unit to review all the information that I had learned. It was somehow a way to refresh all the knowledge that we had learned so far throughout the semester especially having to incorporate our theme to the arts, ideas, skills, and institutions of each unit. The project took around 16 hours for me to complete it. 

Telling My Humanities Story, 

In the beginning of this class, my expectations were to explore the region of Asia and its foundations. My goals were to get a better understanding of the cultures and beliefs of each country. Now that we're at the end of the semester I definitely feel like I've learned a lot about the humanities of ancient Asia specifically the religion or beliefs of the people which interested me the most about the class. I believe that people are essentially just a culmination of beliefs as they would live their life through the way of which they believe is right. I was able to learn how not only the role of religion but also how other themes contributed to the arts, ideas, institutions, and skills of a society which would expand my knowledge on the topic. Overall, I really enjoyed Humanities 320 and would definitely take it again! 

In this video, it provides an amazing depiction 

                                                              of what humanities is all about. 

Blogging Museum Visit

 The museum that I was able to visit virtually is the National Museum of Asian Art. The work of art that I chose is the Buddhist sculpture of the deity named Aizen Myo-o in Japan. Although the artist is unknown, the time period of this sculpture dates back to the Kamakura period of the year 1293 after reaching its peak when the Mongols failed twice to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281. 

Buddhist sculpture of
the diety Aizen Myo-o, dated to
the Kamakura Period, 1293

The article "Aizen-Myoo: The Esoteric King of Lust: An Iconological Study" published by Artibus Asiae Publishers goes over the origin of the Buddhist deity Aizen Myo-o also known as Ragaraja.

 The deity would be a part of the iconography group called Kings of Esoteric Knowledge within the late phase of Buddhism which were thought to be "conceived as embodiments magical spells (mantra) but soon they were regarded as representations of Magical or Esoteric Knowledge" (Artibus Asiae, 8).

 Aizen Myo-o is seen to have 6 arms with each holding a bell, a stick, a thunderbolt, a lotus, a bow and an arrow which would have "codified texts of ritual and of descriptive iconography" that developed over centuries of year (Artibus Asiae, 17). With 6 arms, Aizen Myo-o also has red skin which in Buddhism usually shows expression in emotion and excitement. 

In other context, the color red symbolizes the Buddha Amitahba (Amida) and together with the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara would be the embodiment of  the central virtue of Compassion (karuna) (Artibus Asiae, 17). The lion headdress on the other hand would indicate that Aizen Myo-o possesses the strength of the five wisdom Buddhas as his three eyes are able to see the "three realms" of desire, form, and non-form. Overall, Aizen Myo-o is among the complex figures in the pantheon of Esoteric Buddhism, the mystical interpretation and practice of the belief system founded by the Buddha.

A colored image of 
Aizen Myo-o also known as
Ragaraja 

 I chose this art work because it would relate to my theme of religion as this is affiliated with Buddhism in Japan. As religion is seen to affect the arts, ideas, skills, and institutions, the Aizen-Myo-o sculpture is an example of an art and idea that has been influenced by religion specifically Buddhism. While viewing this artwork I was pleasantly surprised as the sculpture is very detailed from the items that he is holding to the Lotus flower he sits on. I would love to visit an actual museum next time to see the art work in its actual form and how the multiple themes correlate to each one. 

Works Cited

Aizen Myo’o | the Powers That Be - Shirleytwofeathers.com. https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/powers-that-be/aizen-myoo/. 

Goepper, Roger. “Aizen-Myōō: The Esoteric King of Lust: An Iconological Study.” Artibus Asiae. Supplementum, vol. 39, Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1993, pp. 3–172, https://doi.org/10.2307/1522701.

“17 Educators: Arts of China, Painting Ideas: Chinese Painting, Chinese Art, Painting.” Pinterest, 18 Nov. 2016, https://www.pinterest.com/freersackler/educators-arts-of-china-painting/.