It is said that the Buddha was reluctant to accept images of himself, as he did not like to be venerated as a person. To symbolise the Buddha in the very early art, one used mainly the Eight Spoked Wheel and the Bodhi Tree, but also the Buddha's Footprints, an Empty Throne, a Begging Bowl and a Lion are used to represent him.

Since the making of human images of the Buddha was considered sacrilegious for a long time, Buddhist visual art has produced an elaborate vocabulary of symbolic and iconic forms of expressions. A great variety of Buddhist symbols is found in temples and in Buddhist visual art and literature.

The following eight figures are among the more common ones. The lotus, the wheel, and the stupa can be seen in almost every Buddhist temple.

One may understand these symbols as visual mantras. Contemplating these figures is an exercise in meditation to establish inner contact with the aspect that is represented.

Mudras

Images of the Buddha were produced from the fifth century onwards. The sacred nature of the representation is reflected in the artistic goal of creating an aura of equanimity, perfection, and holiness. The large number of rules governing the execution of a portrayal or a statue require an erudite understanding of Buddhist symbolism. Any Buddha figure made by a skilled artist exhibits a multitude of characteristics that communicate subtle meanings and intentions to the viewer.

The most important of these characteristics are perhaps the mudras, or hand gestures, of the Buddha. These well-defined gestures have a fixed meaning throughout all styles and periods of Buddha images.

A mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. A mudra is a spiritual gesture and an energetic seal of authenticity employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions and traditions of Dharma and Taoism.

In yoga, mudras are used in conjunction with pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), generally while seated in Vajrasana pose, to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana in the body.

A brain research paper published in the National Academy of Sciences in November 2009, demonstrated that hand gestures stimulate the same regions of the brain as language.

Abhaya Mudra

The Abhaya mudra ("mudra of no-fear") represents protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear. In the Theravada, it is usually made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, the arm bent and the palm facing outward with the fingers upright and joined and the left hand hanging down while standing. In Thailand and Laos, this mudra is associated with the walking Buddha, often shown having both hands making a double Abhaya mudra that is uniform.

The mudra was probably used before the onset of Buddhism as a symbol of good intentions proposing friendship when approaching strangers. In Gandhara art, it is seen when showing the action of preaching and also seen in China during the Wei and Sui eras of the 4th and 7th centuries. The gesture was used by the Buddha when attacked by an elephant, subduing it as shown in several frescoes and scripts. In Mahayana, the northern schools' deities often used it with another mudra paired with the other hand. In Japan, when the Abhaya mudra is used with the middle finger slightly projected forward, it is a symbol of the Shingon sect.

Bhumisparsha Mudra

This gesture calls upon the earth to witness Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. A seated figure's right hand reaches toward the ground, palm inward.

Dharmachakra Mudra

The Dharmacakra mudra represents a central moment in the life of Buddha when he preached his first sermon after his Enlightenment, in Deer Park in Sarnath. Gautama Buddha is generally only shown making this mudra, save Maitreya as the dispenser of the Law. This mudra position represents the turning of the wheel of the Dharma.

Dharmacakra mudra is formed when two hands close together in front of the chest in Vitarka, having the right palm forward and the left palm upward, sometimes facing the chest. There are several variants such as in the frescoes of Ajanta, India the two hands are separated, and the fingers do not touch. In the Indo-Greek style of Gandhara the clenched fist of the right hand seemingly overlie the fingers joined to the thumb on the left hand.

Dhyana Mudra

The Dhyana mudra ("meditation mudra") is the gesture of meditation, of the concentration of the Good Law and the sangha. The two hands are placed on the lap, right hand on left with fingers fully stretched and the palms facing upwards, forming a triangle, symbolic of the spiritual fire or the Triratna, the three jewels.

This mudra is used in representations of the Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha. Sometimes the Dhyana mudra is used in certain representations of Bhaisajyaguru as the Medicine Buddha, with a medicine bowl placed on the hands.

It originated in India most likely in the Gandhara and in China during the Wei period. This mudra was used long before the Buddha as yogis have used it during their concentration, healing, and meditation exercises. It is heavily used in Southeast Asia in Theravada Buddhism; however, the thumbs are placed against the palms.

Varada Mudra

The Varada mudra ("favourable mudra") signifies offering, welcome, charity, giving, compassion and sincerity. It is nearly always used with the left hand for those whom devote oneself to human salvation.

It can be made with the arm crooked the palm offered slightly turned up or in the case of the arm facing down the palm presented with the fingers upright or slightly bent. The Varada mudra is rarely seen without using another mudra used by the right hand, typically with the Abhaya mudra. It is often confused with the Vitarka mudra, which it closely resembles.

In China and Japan during the Wei and Asuka periods respectively the fingers are stiff and then gradually begin to loosen as it developed through time, eventually leading to the Tang Dynasty were the fingers are naturally curved. In India the mudra is used in images of Avalokiteśvara from the Gupta Period of the 4th and 5th centuries. The Varada mudra is extensively used in the statues of Southeast Asia.

Vajra Mudra

The Vajra mudra ("thunder mudra") is the gesture of knowledge. It is made making a fist with the right hand, index extending upward, and the left hand also making a fist and enclosing the index.

A good example of the application of the Vajra mudra is the seventh technique (out of nine) of the Nine Syllable Seals, using the mudra with mantras in a ritual application. Here is a video of a Sanskrit prayer to set the mind in a sacred state, followed by a quick version of the kuji-in ritual, using the Japanese kanji pronunciation (Sanskrit mantras are usually offered to the serious seeker).

Vitarka Mudra

The Vitarka mudra ("mudra of discussion") is the gesture of discussion and transmission of Buddhist teaching. It is done by joining the tips of the thumb and the index together, and keeping the other fingers straight very much like Abhaya and Varada mudras but with the thumbs touching the index fingers.

This mudra has a great number of variants in Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia.

In Tibet it is the mystic gesture of Taras and Bodhisattvas with some differences by the deities in Yab-yum.

Jnana Mudra

The Jñana mudra ("mudra of knowledge") is done by touching the tips of the thumb and the index together, forming a circle, and the hand is held with the palm inward toward the heart.[4]

Karana Mudra

Joseon Dynasty figure on the left makes the Karana mudra.

The Karana mudra is the mudra which expels demons and removes obstacles such as sickness or negative thoughts. It is made by raising the index and the little finger, and folding the other fingers.

It is nearly the same as the rude gesture known as corna in many western countries, the difference is that in the Karana mudra the thumb does not hold down the middle and ring finger.