According to legend, the first statue of the Buddha was done during his own lifetime. He had "arrived at complete Enlightenment* and ascended into Heaven to preach the Law for the benefit of his mother," but after about three months he returned to earth to find that his friend Udayana, King of Kausambi, an ancient realm in India, had ordered a statue made of him in sandalwood.
When Buddha approached the statue, "the carved figure arose and saluted the Lord of the World. The Lord then graciously addressed it and said, The work expected of you is to toil in the conversion...
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