Offended Buddhists

[Amelia]

What happens when Buddha decides to go for a ride?

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

He wanted to go for a stroll!

Gassho

Sat today, lah

[lorax]

Dear Sekishi sliding off the subject a bit, I was really taken by your pattern of thought regarding staying warm with wood from the living forest. I almost bet you are a reader of Aldo Leopold. My favorite of Leopold quotes is from his Thinking Like a Mountain which reflects your thoughts on the firewood.

Thinking Like a Mountain
We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes - something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view...I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer. And perhaps with better cause, for while a buck pulled down by wolves can be replaced in two or three years, a range pulled down by too many deer may fail of replacement in as many decades. So also with cows. The cowman who cleans his range of wolves does not realize that he is taking over the wolf's job of trimming the herd to fit the range. He has not learned to think like a mountain. Hence we have dustbowls, and rivers washing the future into the sea.

” So while our cultural prejudices may guide our response on images of the Buddha their may be more basic realities we are missing in the dust storm of thought.

SAT TODAY

[Ishin]

Small History Wonk Footnote ... not Ikkyu, and this is a very fictionalized version of the traditional Koan. The original is Master Danxia Tianran (different guy, Chinese and centuries earlier, except of course, that everybody is everybody).

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/danxia.html

I believe in being respectful both to Buddha and to the stories of old dead Zen guys.

Anyway, Ikkyu was too drunk and hanging out with the girls in the brothel.

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17063-Ikky%C5%AB-S%C5%8Djun&p=243222&viewfull=1#post243222

Please now return to what you were doing.

Gassho, J

STLah

I am glad you posted this. I too am a wonk for history and accuracy. Interesting to know. Thanks!
Gassho

Sat Today LAH

[Ishin]

This appeared at my work today


Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Not even sure where to begin with this.. reverse cultural appropriation?

Gassho
Ishin
Sat Today LAH

[Ishin]

I’m going to be the voice of dissent in this conversation. I will start by saying that I do agree with what everyone is saying. For me, just little old me sitting here in myself, I don’t really care if Buddha is printed on a bikini bottom or someone gets a Buddha tattoo. I’m much more concerned with how people actually behave than about symbols.

But let’s look at some examples, and see if we can understand why people might be offended by the use of the Buddha.

Have you had your Enlightenment Beer today?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5830[/ATTACH]

This is Lucky Buddha beer, which is called “Enlightenment Beer”. From their marketing they say, “The “Laughing Buddha” depicted on Lucky Buddha beer is actually not THE Buddha and therefore is not religious but cultural.”

They go on to use an Ancient Taoist saying, “If you think that enlightenment is separate from the drinking of beer you have not yet understood.”

What do you think… is this a good use of the symbol?


Case number 2: ZenDesk

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5831[/ATTACH]

I will note that this is their old logo, and was probably changed due to pressure from groups who were offended by the use.

But can you see how people would be upset to see a symbol of their religion being used to represent a customer service company?

Final example,

This is the opposite of the others, but I’ll give an example from my life that helps me to put into perspective why some Buddhists are upset of the use of the Buddha as decoration, beer bottles, etc.

My grandmother was a Catholic and was very devoted to praying the rosary. One summer when I stayed with her; she would take me to church and teach me about different aspects of Catholicism. One of those items was the rosary. She taught me how to pray the rosary and how to show it respect. She said it was not jewelry, and not something to be shown off. It was a practice, an item to help you say the prayer. And when it wasn’t being used for that, it should be stored with care.

Over the years, I watched my grandmother pray the rosary more times than I can remember. Someone was sick, she would pray. Someone had passed away and she would pray. Over the years through seeing her faith and respect for the item, I grow to hold it with respect. I remembered what she had taught me when I was young, and the rosary she gave me was always storage with care and not shown off.

Recently I have started to see rosaries used as imagines on printed t-shirts so it looks like you are wearing it. And often I see people who have them draped around their rearview mirrors. When I see those things there is a small part of me that goes, “ugh… that’s not right.”

I let it go, but that little momentary “ugh” is where being offended starts.

Think about feeling that walking in a grocery store to see something scared to you on a beer bottle or being used to represent “happy” customer service.

Perhaps there is a cherished “scared” item in your family or life that you can apply this to. Would you care if someone printed it on a t-shirt or used it as decoration?

So while I don’t personally care what people do with the imagine of the Buddha, I do respect the fact that there are an estimated 500 million people who practice Buddhism around the world, and some of them might feel like the imagine of the Buddha should be respected and not used in some ways. Perhaps they had a grandma like mine, who engrained in them a sense of respect for certain items related to their religious practice.

I’m like Jundo, I’m overly accepting, do what you want with the imagine and it does't bother me personally. But I understand and respect those who aren’t. And because of this I don’t decorate with the Buddha. I have one Buddha statue that sits on an altar at home. The altar and statue have moved over the years from being in the living room, where they were more a part of decorations of the house to now being in the office where they are clearly on an altar for the purpose of spiritual practice.

On occasion when work is really bad, I think it would be nice to have a small Buddha at work on my desk to help remind me of practice; but I don’t want it to appear like a decoration. So instead I’ll get a rock or twig from outside and set it on my desk instead. For me it is just as much a representation of the Buddha as anything else and doing so also respects those who feel like the Buddha shouldn't be used as decoration.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

These are relevant thoughts, Shoka, thanks for sharing. I think the context is important too. But following this lead; I don't find myself getting bothered by people who decorate their homes with crucifixes, or have Christian tattoos. If that has a deep meaning for them then I think it's fine. Many people put statues of saints in their gardens too. I believe what matters is intent. If someone has a Buddha statue in their garden because it brings a sense of peace to them or they are somehow inspired by it, why not? But, bringing home a life sized Buddha statue, just to impress others with your wealth, or to sell beer might not be the right intent.

Incidentally, I have this beer because someone bought it for me, more as a joke I think. It's not very good.

Gassho
Ishin
Sat Today/LAH

[Amelia]

I have mentioned the beer before in a different thread, I think. Nasty marketing tactic, but they are quite lovely strung up as green lights. Transform it into something good, I guess? But even strong up as lanterns could potentially bother somebody. If they were to bother someone that entered my home, I might've taken them down, however. I guess it is all about context in the ten million moments... and mindfulness of others' potential suffering.

Gassho

Sat today, lah

[Nenka]

This conversation reminds me of a podcast episode about the Buddha of Oakland. Apparently this guy (not a Buddhist) was having trouble in his neighborhood with crime, drug dealing, and illegal dumping, so he got the idea to go down to the hardware store and buy a concrete Buddha garden statue. Then he covertly installed it in a public area where people were throwing large trash items. Over time, people starting coming to the Buddha to worship, and take care of the area, and turn it into a little garden area. Crime started going down, too. It's a fascinating story. Here's a link: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-1...ral-7-19-2019/

Gassho

Jen

ST/LAH

[Tairin]

Hi Jen

That story sounded so fantastical I assumed it was mostly apocryphal but a web search turned up this complete with pictures. https://www.odditycentral.com/travel...own-by-82.html

In the local park near me, someone has placed a small stone buddha under a tree by the walking path. It has been there for several years and as far as I can’t tell hasn’t been bothered with by anyone. Someone obviously cares for it though. The area is weeded and occasionally flowers are left there.

Thank you for sharing this story. It was lovely.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Washin]

This conversation reminds me of a podcast episode about the Buddha of Oakland. Apparently this guy (not a Buddhist) was having trouble in his neighborhood with crime, drug dealing, and illegal dumping, so he got the idea to go down to the hardware store and buy a concrete Buddha garden statue. Then he covertly installed it in a public area where people were throwing large trash items. Over time, people starting coming to the Buddha to worship, and take care of the area, and turn it into a little garden area. Crime started going down, too. It's a fascinating story. Here's a link: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-1...ral-7-19-2019/

Gassho

Jen

ST/LAH

Thank you Nenka (and Tairin!) for sharing the story. It is amazing.

Gassho
Washin
sat/lah

[Ryudo]

This conversation reminds me of a podcast episode about the Buddha of Oakland. Apparently this guy (not a Buddhist) was having trouble in his neighborhood with crime, drug dealing, and illegal dumping, so he got the idea to go down to the hardware store and buy a concrete Buddha garden statue. Then he covertly installed it in a public area where people were throwing large trash items. Over time, people starting coming to the Buddha to worship, and take care of the area, and turn it into a little garden area. Crime started going down, too. It's a fascinating story. Here's a link: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-1...ral-7-19-2019/

Gassho

Jen

ST/LAH

Thank you Nenka,
This is heartwarming.

Gassho/SatToday

[Kyonin]

Hi guys,

This weekend I attended an event with different sanghas here in Mexico and I realized how easy people get offended.

There was this person who was wearing a t-shirt with a Buddha saying something like "don't give a f%"!" and a Tibetan monk asked him to leave. After that the mood was very tense.

I try never to use the Buddha as decoration, but I also understand that not all people know or understand and I am fine with that. I also don't understand anything about Christianity. The point is to know that we have to be open and try to respect everyone, specially when it comes to religion.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH

[Ishin]

A few days after I posted this thread, I noticed something else relating to this topic. I get, and see all kinds of spiritual memes on FB where Buddhist iconography, or images of Buddha are added and they have absolutely nothing to do with what Buddha taught. I don't think most people who post or share this are doing from a malicious intent, however I would say they are doing so in ignorance. It's really kind of like " if it seems spiritual then Buddha must have said it" attitude. I don't know I would go so far as to say I am "Offended" by this behavior, but I do not like Buddha being used to advance abundance metaphysics either.

Gassho
Ishin
Sat Today/Lah

[Jishin]

This is what I wear daily:



Gasho, Jishin, __/stlah\__LRM_EXPORT_703845814877443_20190723_184612750.jpg

[Jundo]

This is what I wear daily:



Gasho, Jishin, __/stlah\__[ATTACH]5843[/ATTACH]

Yes, one can see the bottomless cave at the bottom from which he emerged, and the swelling Himalayas at the top. Looks like Buddha has recently put on a couple of pounds, by the way.

Gassho, J

STLah

[lorax]

Worry about Buddha's ankle in the picture Jishin posted. Hope it is not early CHF.

SAT TODAY