Can you identify this object?

[retrofuturist]

fwborupa.JPG (53.56 KiB) Viewed 1270 times

Indeed... larger than life.

Metta,
Retro.

[PeterB]

Thats the one.

[retrofuturist]

Yeah, I didn't know if it was bad form or not to take a photo in the shrine room, but I did it anyway (respectfully, of course)



Metta,
Retro.

[PeterB]

I didnt know that it was bad form either...as long as there is no one in there meditating at the time of course.

[Mawkish1983]

I didn't think it was bad form either :S Uh oh...

[retrofuturist]

Maybe it's not... I don't know.

Metta,
Retro.

[Ben]

No, I don't think so. Though I think it is very disrespectful to climb onto or pose in front of the Buddharupa.
And no, I wouldn't take a photo while someone was in the shrine room meditating.

B

[mikenz66]

Hi Ben,

No, I don't think so. Though I think it is very disrespectful to climb onto or pose in front of the Buddharupa.

Certainly I wouldn't climb on a Buddharupa, but surely having your picture taken is normal?
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2730#p57192

And no, I wouldn't take a photo while someone was in the shrine room meditating.

I recall Suguno back on E-Sangha posting his experience at a retreat where he kept perceiving flashes of light, and wondered if they were some deep experience. After a while he figured out that it was someone taking flash photos of the participants...

Mike

[Mawkish1983]

I recall Suguno back on E-Sangha posting his experience at a retreat where he kept perceiving flashes of light, and wondered if they were some deep experience. After a while he figured out that it was someone taking flash photos of the participants

And then he brought his wandering mind and attention gently back to the breath? I have to admit it'd be tough maintaining equinimity with such irritating distractions!

[Maitri]

I always get the FWBO Buddha style and the Shasta Abbey Buddha mixed up. They look similar, but have a major difference. The Shasta Abbey Buddha has a tiny (mini Muni?) version of himself standing on his knee. I read that the founder dreamed of this image and had it made for her temple. But I thought it look kind of like an alien on his leg.



Sometimes you never know where things come from in the Buddhist world

[jcsuperstar]

its two different Buddha's that way there are two. one (the small one i believe) is our own Sakyamuni the other is Vairocana Buddha

[mikenz66]

I recall Suguno back on E-Sangha posting his experience at a retreat where he kept perceiving flashes of light, and wondered if they were some deep experience. After a while he figured out that it was someone taking flash photos of the participants

And then he brought his wandering mind and attention gently back to the breath? I have to admit it'd be tough maintaining equinimity with such irritating distractions!

Well, it's just more stuff to observe rising and falling. Like traffic, or those bells that chime in the wind... Ajahn Tiradhammo (an Ajahn Chah student) sometimes mentions a time when he was a young monk in some remote monastery in Thailand. A new monk (Western I think) turned up for a few days, but left because the frogs were too noisy and he couldn't concentrate...

Mike

[jcsuperstar]

that's one reason i like being a part of a Thai sangha without being fluent in Thai, when people are chatting it up and I'm meditating it is just noise to me since i cant understand it, might as well be a passing car or a ceiling fan.

personally though i've found that getting upset or annoyed while meditating is a great practice if you can use it and not be carried away by it.

[Maitri]

its two different Buddha's that way there are two. one (the small one i believe) is our own Sakyamuni the other is Vairocana Buddha

Ah, ok that makes sense then. Thanks for the info!

[mikenz66]

personally though i've found that getting upset or annoyed while meditating is a great practice if you can use it and not be carried away by it.

You mean when this thought arises?
"Those unthinking fools! They're ruining my chance to awaken with their infernal racket... OOPS..."

Mike

[Ben]

Hi Mike

Hi Ben,

No, I don't think so. Though I think it is very disrespectful to climb onto or pose in front of the Buddharupa.

Certainly I wouldn't climb on a Buddharupa, but surely having your picture taken is normal?
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2730#p57192

Indeed, thanks for the correction, Mike!

And no, I wouldn't take a photo while someone was in the shrine room meditating.

I recall Suguno back on E-Sangha posting his experience at a retreat where he kept perceiving flashes of light, and wondered if they were some deep experience. After a while he figured out that it was someone taking flash photos of the participants...

Naughty! I think I would have tarred and feathered the offending person before realizing I should have just maintained my awareness and equanimity!
kind regards

Ben

[mikenz66]

Naughty! I think I would have tarred and feathered the offending person before realizing I should have just maintained my awareness and equanimity!

Well, perhaps, but in Asia people seem to always be taking pictures of everything that moves (or doesn't move), so I don't think anyone really notices cameras going off all over the place anymore...

A few places do ban photography inside (such as in the Emerald Buddha Temple in Bangkok), presumably to prevent crowds of people clogging up the place taking pictures of each other (which can get a little irritating) and there are occasional places I've been to that ban photography completely, but those seem to be rare exceptions.

Mike

[PeterB]

I recall Suguno back on E-Sangha posting his experience at a retreat where he kept perceiving flashes of light, and wondered if they were some deep experience. After a while he figured out that it was someone taking flash photos of the participants

And then he brought his wandering mind and attention gently back to the breath? I have to admit it'd be tough maintaining equinimity with such irritating distractions!

Well, it's just more stuff to observe rising and falling. Like traffic, or those bells that chime in the wind... Ajahn Tiradhammo (an Ajahn Chah student) sometimes mentions a time when he was a young monk in some remote monastery in Thailand. A new monk (Western I think) turned up for a few days, but left because the frogs were too noisy and he couldn't concentrate...

Mike

Until recently I lived in the depths of the Devon countryside a lot of the time. When it was quiet you could have heard a pin drop..but we were about a mile from the sea so at various times of day the Herring Gulls would be active..this including them running all over the roof while shouting at each other in Gull..
We now live most of the time on the outskirts of London near the River Thames. A few hundred yards away is a bridge with traffic flowing over it about 18 hours a day....this gives a constant low traffic sound which can be heard from most rooms. and which doesn't bother me at all. The distinction between "natural" and "unnatural" sound is another example of aversion/attraction.

[Kim O'Hara]

Well, it's just more stuff to observe rising and falling. Like traffic, or those bells that chime in the wind... Ajahn Tiradhammo (an Ajahn Chah student) sometimes mentions a time when he was a young monk in some remote monastery in Thailand. A new monk (Western I think) turned up for a few days, but left because the frogs were too noisy and he couldn't concentrate...

Don't assume he was being too easily distracted just because your frogs don't make much noise. I'm in the tropics, similar climate to Thailand, and frogs in the wet season can be really loud. I remember one concert in a hall next to a lagoon, where we couldn't hear the (acoustic) instrumental groups on stage because the frogs were way louder.
The same goes for cicadas, at times - you just about have to shout to talk to the person next to you.
As you say, it's just more stuff to observe rising and falling, but it can be a really intrusive sound.


Kim