Submitted by Kim on
Image by Antonietta Matteo from http://Pixabay.com
Is it okay to have a Buddha statue in the house or garden if you are not a Buddhist?
Buddha was not a religious figure. Buddhism is not a religion.
Religions by definition, or a “belief in a higher power;” Buddhism is a “non theistic” philosophy. No higher power that created us, or that guides us, or tells us how to behave. And that insight is available to everyone. Hence why there are Buddhist Catholics, Buddhist Jews, etc.
We don’t have a word for non theistic philsophy, so it gets lumped into the word religion. (I’ve had this discussion with people who pointed this out to me awhile ago, Buddhist scholars who agree. “It’s not a religion; philosophy is a more apt description.”)
When Chairman Mao said to the Dalai Lama “All religion is poison,” the Dalai Lama could have said “I agree with you. That’s why Buddha founded this philosophy.”
It’s based on the idea that the nature of the universe is knowable, and if you spend some time considering it, you’ll reach the same conclusions that Siddhartha did when he sat under the Bodhi Tree.
Which is why its a conundrum that certain fundamentalists get furious about “images” of Buddha (Bamiyan). A statue of Buddha has nothing to do with another God, nothing to do with an alternate religion. If anything it’s like having a statue of your best friend, your favorite teacher in your room. A bust of Beethoven, Einstein, Wittgenstein, or Larry David would be the same.
Having a statue of Buddha won’t bring anyone “luck” (nor will having Tibetan flags flapping in your backyard) - the idea is that when the wind blows and a person see the flags flapping, they remember the profound teaching that’s printed on those flags. That’s how they “gain benefit” or “luck” from those “icons.” Having a statue of Buddha would be a great way of remembering the nature of reality, or how people spend time “grasping” at the illusion of reality (or any of the other insights he had.)
If seeing a statue of Buddha gets one to stop and “smell the roses” then it’s valuable for that alone.
Image by djedj from http://Pixabay.com
Richard Martini
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