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?
Buddha Beer.jpg
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
ZenDesk Logo.png
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