Mycelium Buddha

THE STORY IN YOUR HEART

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Status: Production phase
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We are all familiar with the Buddha statue. Although the connoisseur will immediately ask whether you mean the Indian Buddha or the Chinese one. The former depicts the founder of Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama Buddha – complete with his mythically large ears – the latter is known as the ‘laughing potbelly’. We at Celium have more in common with the first.

Buddhism is an earthly religion. Contrary to what many spiritual minds think today, it is not about attaining enlightenment but about living this life on earth to the fullest. Buddha was very clear about this and therefore never spoke about reincarnation or an afterlife. Zen and meditation aren’t about being in the ‘there and than’, but in the ‘here and now’.

We have therefore decided to make Buddha figurines from mycelium, because a material does not become more earthy. The Buddha figurines that the mycelium grows for us are not only a beautiful metaphor for personal and spiritual growth, but also a living proof of the power of nature. And of our human origin. Mycelium has been around for over two billion years and the network of unicellular threads bears striking resemblance in form and function to our brains. It is not far-fetched to refer to mycelium as the architect of our brain. Beautiful right?

Ps: We ‘make’ Buddha’s in various sizes.