Past in Perspective

The mind is everything. What you think you become.
–Buddha

The ‘Fasting Buddha’ statue was excavated in Sikri in Pakistan during the 19 century. According to estimates, it dates back to the 2 century and is said to depict an event that took place before the Buddha’s enlightenment. Young Siddhartha left his palace in search of enlightenment and for the next six years, he practiced intense ascetic practice, including starving, in order to foster mental cultivation and lead towards enlightenment. The effects of this process were so intense that he was reduced to flesh and bones. It is said that towards the end of this process, he was surviving only on a single grain of rice a day, leading him to let go of worldly attachments like that to food.