Merry Ol' England

[Chishou]

Hello chaps,

Just wanted to see if there is anyone else on here from the UK? I thought it might be nice to make some connects to help each other out on the road to nowhere.

I am also curious as to where you may have bought if you have one, a Buddha statue. There doesn't seem a lot of choice in Blighty.

Metta,
Simon.

[Jundo]

I am also curious as to where you may have bought if you have one, a Buddha statue. There doesn't seem a lot of choice in Blighty.

Metta,
Simon.

Hi Simon,

We have many members in the UK, and I am sure some will pop up here in a moment.

As to Buddha statues, I just want to mention that sometimes a Buddha statue looks like a Buddha statue, and is a good artistic reminder of our Way and its history. However, always recall that the true "Buddha statue" need not be or look like anything at all, and is simply all the peace and goodness found in one's heart. It can be an empty space, a flower, a stone ... even a coke bottle if the heart is wise. During our recent Retreat in California, our "Buddha statue" was a bit of newspaper that one of our members had received from a local homeless man.

I posted this once about "Buddha statues" ... It is in a thread where our members show their homebuilt altars, and I told the story of once getting in trouble for putting Osama Bin Laden, Mother Theresa and George Bush on the Altar after 9-11. They are Buddha too, even if one needs to see through some clouds things to see.

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?6156-home-altar&p=199613&viewfull=1#post199613

However, it is also fine to have a Buddha statue that looks like a Buddha statue.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Kokuu]

Hi Simon

There are a fair few of us on here from Essex, Devon, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Kent and I have probably missed many people for which my apologies. Feel free to add yourself to the list!

It depends what kind of Buddha statue you wish to get but there are many on sale at dharma centres (Cambridge Buddhist Centre may well have some), Garuda Trading stocks some lovely Tibetan inspired statues, Ebay is actually not a bad source and I have rescued more than one from a charity store or car boot sale. Burmese Art also stocks some, Siesta has Fairtrade wooden buddhas and there are plenty of hippyish stores in most towns that have them. If you have any problem finding what you are looking for, let me know.

Could you possibly upload a picture as an avatar at some point please, Simon, so we can see the radiance of your bonny face?

Gassho
Kokuu
somewhere in Kent

[Jundo]

PS -

One more comment on Buddha statues. I said that "anything can be a Buddha statue if the heart is clear." This is true.

However, if one wishes to be Traditional about the matter, just be aware that not all Buddha statues are alike, or the same Buddha or Bodhisattva (I mean, yes, all are the same ... as is the coke bottle ... but, from an artistic and traditional Zen sense, they are different. A Koan).

It is fine to have whatever statue one finds, and which speaks to one's heart. However, to be "Buddha technical", most Zen folks would have Shakyamuni, who is typically found in a variety of poses (each with their own meaning), one of which has his hands in the same meditation "mudra" (finger position) as when we sit Zazen. Here is more information than one probably ever needs on Shakyamuni statues ...

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shaka.shtml

The majority of Buddha statues in meditation that I come across, even on the Altar of many Western Zen Centers, are in fact Amida Buddha (a messiah like Buddha central to Pure Land Buddhism, who takes the faith believer to a Buddha Heaven called the "Pure Land" upon death), not Shakyamuni. The main way to tell is that Shakyamuni has his hands like us in Zazen, while Amida has his hands like the following, fingers bent in ...



Technically, Amida would not be Kosher for a Soto Zen Altar.

Thai, Burmese and other South Asian statues are a whole another thing.

Of course, it is okay if somebody's statue is Amida and not Shakya, or South Asian and not Chinesey/Japanesey. In fact, our old beat up Buddha statue in the Zendo in Tsukuba is so old and scarred and beat up, I cannot even tell which it is. Probably Amida originally. I also have various South Asian statues around this place here and there.

Most of the Tibetan statuary, and the various esoteric and other figures, would not be typical to find in a Zen Center, although I have seen many that do (the San Francisco Zen Center, which some of us recently visited, has some Tibetan statues in their main hall. They are not the main image however, and were just expensive statues gifted to them by someone).

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Tenrai]

Hi Simon,
I'm way up north on Eday, a little island north of mainland Orkney. I don't have a physical Zen centre that I can attend so Treeleaf is just so wonderful for me. I sit in Free sitting room in the mornings before work, and we have also been discussing how best we could just meet up informally on another thread.
My statue is a candle incidentally 😊
Gassho
Richard
Sat today 🙏

[Eishuu]

Hi, I'm in Essex. Used to live in Cambridge many moons ago. I have quite a few statues that I've collected over the years, mostly Tibetan...I think many were gifts. I have shrines everywhere! I got a couple from a stall at Buddhafield festival really cheaply and used to work for a Buddhist shop in Cambridge - Evolution - and got staff discounts. They might have some but I saw they were closing down. For some reason recently laughing Buddhas keep finding me. More recent, Zen inspired, statues I have bought from ebay. I got a beautiful white china Kannon statue second hand from someone in the UK incredibly cheaply. It's a good place for bargains, especially is you don't mind second hand/pre-loved statues. I noticed that EtsyUK have a lot at reasonable prices too.

Also sometimes garden centres do large ones for outside and they are often a bit cheaper than indoor ones. Even Homebase do them.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Chishou]

Blimey, were everywhere!

Hello, one and all. Thanks muchly for the recommendations, I will be investigating them presently.

Jundo: Currently, this is my "Buddha' statue IMG_3601.JPG. I would like to "upgrade" to a more traditional representation. I have seen a lot of Buddhas holding alms bowls, thats more Amida isn't it? , if all else fails I'll just go up the smoke and visit China Town.

Kokuu: I have already uploaded an avatar to my profile, incase you can't see it, here is my boat; 12834569_10154767593944762_1277662414_n.jpg.
Richard: I think I sailed past there once bound for the Faroe Islands. I will venture to the free sitting room some time and a meet up sounds like a spiffing idea.

Thank you all again!

Metta,
Simon

SatToday/今日は座りました

[MacK]

Hi Simon

Cambridgeshire here.

My first Buddha came from Amazon (I know, I know!) and my second was liberated from our local TK Max store. I've just returned from working in a Sri Lankan hospital for a month and have brought four more little ones home with me. Sri Lanka is the home of the kitsch Buddha ; I shall post a photo or two when I work out how to.

Gassho
Karen
Sat today

[Mp]

Kokuu: I have already uploaded an avatar to my profile, incase you can't see it, here is my boat; [ATTACH=CONFIG]4457[/ATTACH], if all else fails I'll just go up the smoke and visit China Town.

Hey there Simon ... this can be tricky, but there is a profile picture, but also the main Avatar. Here is how you can add your Avatar. =)

Here is a walk through in creating or changing your Avatar:

1. Click on "Settings" in the user profile section.
2. Scroll down to the "My Settings" box and click "Edit Avatar" in the My Profile section.
3. Click the "Use Custom Avatar" radio button.
4. Enter a URL in the Option 1 box if the custom image you wish to use is on a website. Ensure that the image meets the requirements for size listed below the box. If the custom image is stored on your computer, click the "Browse" button in the Option 2 box, select the file and click "Open."
5. Click "Save Changes" to see the avatar as it will appear on the site. The avatar will appear alongside your user name when you post a message on the site. New avatar's retroactively appear with previous posts.

Q: I cannot upload my picture for my profile because it is too large. How can I re-size my picture to conform to the forums image upload requirements?

A: A quick and easy way to do this is to visit http://shrinkpictures.com/create-avatar/
and follow the instructions given there. Also if you have re-sized your image and are certain it meets the 80 px by 80px @ 72 ppi requirements yet still cannot upload your image you can visit http://imageshack.us or http://www.flickr.com/ or any image hosting service and upload your image to be hosted, for free, there. and use the "Link to off-site Avatar" option.

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday/LAH

[Daiyo]

The majority of Buddha statues in meditation that I come across, even on the Altar of many Western Zen Centers, are in fact Amida Buddha (a messiah like Buddha central to Pure Land Buddhism, who takes the faith believer to a Buddha Heaven called the "Pure Land" upon death), not Shakyamuni. The main way to tell is that Shakyamuni has his hands like us in Zazen, while Amida has his hands like the following, fingers bent in ...



Technically, Amida would not be Kosher for a Soto Zen Altar.

Funny, I've been bowing to a non-Kosher buddha for some years without knowing

I thought Amida was the one with a flask in his hands. I have a small one with the flask, and a bigger one with the hands as you describe.
BTW, Amida = Amitabha ?

Gassho,
Daiyo

Sat today

[Seishin]

Simon

There's a few ex-pats here as well (though I never liked that tag). I was all over the Uk (Stevenage/Watford/Harrow/Formby/Wakefield) before retiring to Normandy in 2011. We have collected many statues over the years, as although not practicing my wife likes the images ! Mainly from garden centers (we have 4 large laughing Buddhas outside) and just odd general stores - the house is full of them. Strangely not found many over here.

Not sure if you use Insight Timer for sitting but there are many folk from the UK in the Treeleaf group but maybe not all are forum members here. But in my views they are still part of this sangha.

Good to have you on board. Look forward to sitting with you.

STMIZ lah

[Jakuden]

When I went to get a Buddha for my altar, I wavered and bought Kannon instead. Somehow having a female figure, and the need to incorporate the reminder that I was practicing for all sentient beings and not just myself, spoke to me most. I would post a picture but now it has my daughter's Harry Styles poster behind it. LOL

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Seishin]

When I went to get a Buddha for my altar, I wavered and bought Kannon instead. Somehow having a female figure, and the need to incorporate the reminder that I was practicing for all sentient beings and not just myself, spoke to me most. I would post a picture but now it has my daughter's Harry Styles poster behind it. LOL

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

Surely Harry Styles is also Buddha is he not ?

STD

[Meitou]

Hi Simon, although living in Sardinia, I'm also from Kent in the UK with family in Rochford Essex and Bath. Always happy to hook up with fellow UK people and to swap info about supplies and centres etc as everyone has been doing above.
I have a tiny Buddha, bought for me in Cambodia by my step-daughter and a couple of others. I'm currently looking for Kannon, as like Jakuden, her persona speaks to me - this could also be a beautiful image, not necessarily a statue. I'm also a lover of calligraphy and looking for something suitable to create for my space. I personally feel that anything beautiful that speaks to the heart is fine, but also anything, not necessarily beautiful, that serves as a reminder of dharma is also good.
Gassho
Frankie

satwithyoualltoday/lah

[Kokuu]

Frankie

I have a spare Kannon if you would like her. Stands 8.5" high.

http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr117/winterfool/Kannon%20statue_zpsdbkaczs9.jpg

Surely Harry Styles is also Buddha is he not ?

My youngest daughter certaiinly has an altar of him!

Gassho
Kokuu