纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 059婆罗浮屠佛陀头像（1）（在线收听）

059：EPISODE 59 - Borobudur Buddha Head 婆罗浮屠佛陀头像

Borobudur Buddha head (between 780 and 840 AD). Stone; from Java, Indonesia

石制佛陀头像，来自印度尼西亚爪哇岛，公元七八年至公元八四o年

I am in the Indonesian island of Java - just a few degrees south of the equator. It's hot and it's humid, but I, and hundreds of other people on this steamy early morning, am about to set off on a walk that will take us around the world - or at least, around a symbolic representation of the world, as it was imagined and built here sometime around 800 AD. I'm at Borobudur, one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and the huge, square, terraced pyramid in front of me, is nothing less than the Buddhist view of the cosmos, in stone. And as I climb it, I shall be treading a physical path that mirrors the spiritual journey symbolically transporting the walker from this world to a higher plane of being. It's quite a journey.

"When you are at Borobudur, you are standing on this great monument. You can see the entire world around you, beneath you - it's an enormous experience of spaciousness, of freedom, and a far vaster perspective." (Stephen Bachelor)

让我们沿着千年前的那条连接亚欧非三大洲的贸易路线追溯。本节介绍的这件石制佛头能帮我们了解当时跨越中国海和印度洋的巨大贸易网络，这张网络使东南亚的居民得以交换商品，交流观念、语言和宗教。佛头来自印度尼西亚爪哇岛的婆罗浮屠，地处赤道以南仅几度的位置，是世界上最大的佛教遗址，也是人类历史上最伟大的文化成就之一。那是一座巨大的方形底座的阶梯状金字塔建筑，饰有上千块浮雕与数百座佛像，以石头堆砌出一个佛教徒眼中的世界。参拜者攀爬台阶的过程也是一趟心灵之旅，象征性地从现实世界迈入一个更高的境界。在富饶且具有重要战略意义的爪哇岛上，婆罗浮屠的遗址作为一个典范，让我们了解佛教如何借助海上贸易走向外界，成为世界性的宗教。