Love My Buddha Statues !!

[yawares]

Dear Members,

Quote from Bhikkhu Gavesako: The driver who was in his 60s asked how long we have been Buddhist monks, and then he inquired whether we have ever been evangelized before. We started talking about Christianity and he said that the Roman Catholic church is not really Christianity proper. Instead, he said, he belongs to Jesus Christ himself. Then he asked us about the Buddha statues and decorated temples in Buddhism, and I explained to him that some people are more faith-oriented and need such external symbols to focus on, but others have a more analytical character and like to question and examine things.

This QUOTE gave me inspiration to write about how I love my Buddha statues.
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I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the place where most citizens love all Buddhas and Buddha statues. To me and my family, Buddha statues represent Buddhas . My mom had altar room (Thai styles just like you see at Thai temples),with 2 beautiful goldplated Buddha statues that my mom prayed to every night before going to bed...and I did that too with so much love/admiration. If my love for Buddha can grow like a tree, it would reach the sky and all levels of heaven by now. And now my daughter feels what I feel, she prays everyday before entering the operating room...prays longer if performing difficult/complicated surgery cases!!!

I gave my daughter 5 beautiful miniture buddhas in different positions the very day that she left home when she got the Air Force scholarship to go to medical college in Houston. Since then,everywhere The Air Force sent her to station, she would take her 5 Buddhas with her even to Japan(for 3 years). She always gave me money for donation to Thai temples/the Monks Hospital(in Bangkok) which we have been doing as tradition since I married Tep. As soon as she became a surgeon, she gave me as much as $1,500/year for donation. Very strange that my daughter never has car accident from the day I taught her to drive when she was 16 until now, and she is very healthy like I/Tep, we just have headaches/cold/cough, never anything serious(Tep's doctor said that he's never known anyone as healthy as Tep).

Right now we have 9 Buddha statues, 4 goldplated, white, 2 green marble, silver and glass. Tep/I bath the statues with perfumed water(Nina Ricci) sometimes just to clean them. During spring - fall, every morning I always pick flowers from my garden: roses, jasmines, daylilies, plumerias or oleanders for Tep to give to Buddha statues in his computer room and I give to my Buddhas in my computer room. I love my Buddha statues very much. I probably met different Buddhas in my past lives to have this kind of love in my heart.

One fine day, my daughter and I went to TJ Maxx store, we saw a white Buddha-statue from India that look like Tep's face, my daughter immediately bought it for me to put it at the altar in my computer room.

Not long ago, I gave a Chinese miniture Buddha statue to my dear friend Dr.Han Tun(JTN)...he said he put it at the altar. He loves Buddha statue too.

I truly love my Buddha statues,
yawares

[gavesako]

Some reflections from Ajahn Sumedho about the Western tendency to be overly analytical:

One of the factors of enlightenment is devotion, a kind of emotional sweetness and joyfulness. We tend to want everything on the level of intellectual concepts, but we also need to humble ourselves towards the joy and sweetness of loving the Buddha, the Dhamma and Sangha - especially if we find our practice is getting a bit 'dried-up'. This is to advise you not to be frightened of loving and joy, and open-hearted generosity. Human life without this is a dreary desert, isn't it, just like living in a museum. It's all nice and clean with marble corridors, but cold, ordered, catalogued. In museums everything is dusted and put in order, but it's cold!
So religion also gives us this opportunity towards this warmth, the joy, the love, the devotion, the offering, the giving. This is very much a foundation and a necessity for religious life. See our life here in the community as an opportunity to manifest generosity, love and joy, not just as an obsession with looking at our cittas to see what is moving through it at this moment, seeing that it's anicca, dukkha, anattá. We do that in order to reflect on the way things are, to be free from the illusions or the attachments to love and generosity - because if you attach to concepts of love and generosity then that will also bring you to despair.

http://www.purifymind.com/WayItIs.htm

[manas]

Greetings Bhante, yawares,

I agree, and although the Buddha is said to have not advised his disciples to make images of him, I think that in these difficult times, with the living flesh of the Teacher so long gone from the Earth now, that he would understand our desire to have such images, so that we have a physical form to which we can offer incense, flowers etc. (And yes I love my 'Buddhas' as well )

manas

[yawares]

Some reflections from Ajahn Sumedho about the Western tendency to be overly analytical:
http://www.purifymind.com/WayItIs.htm

[/quote]
Dear Bhikkhu Gavesako,

Thank you very much for your comment/the link...I'll read it to the end.
yawares

[yawares]

Greetings Bhante, yawares,

I agree, and although the Buddha is said to have not advised his disciples to make images of him, I think that in these difficult times, with the living flesh of the Teacher so long gone from the Earth now, that he would understand our desire to have such images, so that we have a physical form to which we can offer incense, flowers etc. (And yes I love my 'Buddhas' as well )

manas

Dear manas,

I so appreciate your comment/your love for Buddhas(Buddha's statues??).
yawares

[Bonsai Doug]

http://www.purifymind.com

This is an excellent site. Thanx for the link!

[Sylvester]

I love my Buddha statues too!

Just waiting for the day when I can get my hands on a reclining Buddha (Pang Saiyat) issued by LP Pae of Wat Pikulthong. Serenity embodied.

[yawares]

I love my Buddha statues too!

Just waiting for the day when I can get my hands on a reclining Buddha (Pang Saiyat) issued by LP Pae of Wat Pikulthong. Serenity embodied.

Dear Sylvester,

When You get a reclining Buddha statue, please post the picture so I can see too...nowaday Thai people love to make Buddha statues decorated with colorful rhinestones...so very beautiful!!!

I have one 7" long goldplated reclining Buddha statue. And I saw beautiful white 17" long reclining Buddha statues at HONGKONG MALL in Houston....very very beautiful !!

yawares:candle: