Since finishing my 2nd Christmas book, the Quiz One, I have been taking time off to declutter, rationalize and update my office. Making good progress. Layout the same, BUT major new look.
I got rid of over 400 books & a LOT (& I mean) a LOT of toys. Sold, very successfully, over $500 of N-scale & Z-scale train stuff! Wow.
This is what it looked like last night, when I turned my desk lamp off — when I was leaving for dinner.
Yes, there is a Buddha lamp above a picture of a nude. That is my office, my life.
Chinese restaurants tend to be the worst when it comes to desecrating images of the Buddha — mainly because so many feel obligated to have images of the Buddha to somehow justify their Chinese authenticity.
The staff, at this restaurant, is 99.9% American — & local to boot. They have no appreciation as to what the image is about or who the Buddha was. They were tasked with decorating the place for Christmas & they, obviously, thought that this was cute. Alas.
Just for the record the Buddha predates Christianity by about 2,500 years!
So, he could not have been Santa. SMILE.
What can I say?
I just wish Buddhists, & I have not been a Buddhist for 50-years, would try to rectify some of this inappropriateness.
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
MODERATION. MODERATION. MODERATION.
Moderation was Buddha’s byword. He advocated moderation in everything — the Middle Path. Overeating was one of the indulgences that he often railed against.
So, forget everything else. Do you think the Buddha would eat 9 Donuts in one go. Remember, he was the Buddha, NOTDonald J. Trump.
This is so INSULTING.
Insulting to the Buddha, insulting to Buddhism & insulting to the Buddhist who know something about Buddhism.
I am not even going to harp on about the ignorance of making food offerings to a person who made it extremely clear that he will cease to be — cease to exist — in any form — after his death. I have already done multiple posts on that — quite recently too. See here & here.
This post is about stupid, mindless EXCESS.
What we see in this picture is VANITY. Pride. The need to show-off. Extravagance. A love of food, i.e., gluttony. ALL things that the Buddha was AGAINST.
Ironically, a few minutes earlier I had see this post also on Facebook. This one made me VERY HAPPY (& humble).
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
The Buddha would have been so happy with that. That is all so much in line with HIS teachings.
This post talks about 100 hungry kids. In a country of 22 million (& yes, they can’t keep it in their pants either), undergoing severe economic hardship, there has to be tens of thousands of kids going HUNGRY.
Don’t make stupid food offerings to an image of the Buddha. Use that money to feed hungry kids. Jesus!
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
Click image to access my earlier post from this August.Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google’. Do your own search.
The Buddha would be aghast. He would have realized that he failed, failed miserably.
They, i.e., the Sri Lankan Buddhists have failed to grasp the most basic concept in Buddhism.
The Buddha does NOT exist in any way, shape or form. Other than his legacy there is NOTHING. There is NO Buddha in heaven. There is NO spirit of Buddha. No Holy Ghost. NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. But, that is what HE wanted. NOTHING. No rebirth. State of NO EXISTING. Jesus Christ! Can’t they get this into their skulls.
Don’t WASTE food offerings to something that is NOT there. Jesus wept!
Making any offering to the Buddha is beyond pointless! Unlike the Abrahamic God, the Roman/Greek gods or the Hindu gods, the Buddha does NOT exist in CURRENT TIMES. He is gone. Gone forever. No spirit, no sign, no life. NOTHING. GONE. Poof. That was his goal. The attainment of nirvana he cased to exist — utterly & completely. NOTHING. He is GONE. GONE. Poof. No Holy Spirit. No spirit in the sky. He is GONE. NOTHING. You can’t interact with the Buddha. He is gone. Yes, there are supposedly relics but the relics can’t do much IF there is NOTHING behind them (or above them).
So, making a food offering to someone (or something) that no longer exists seems ‘funny’. I could use stronger words BUT these folks are genuine in their … (SMILE). Hey, when I was a kid I subscribed to all of this.
[[Offering flowers to the Buddha is different! The flowers are NOT for the Buddha per se. The flowers are really for US. They are to show us — to remind us — of the impermanence of life. The fresh flowers offered, will in time wilt & die — just like all of us. That is what offerings of flowers is all about. Time to think about the impermanence of life.]]
So, there is that. This is also why it is so crazy to pray to the Buddha. He is NOT there. You are praying to NOTHINNESS. [[My mother, a QUEEN of Prayer, at least had this part right. She never prayed to the Buddha. She, though a Buddhist, prayed to the Christian God. She believed that he existed. But, her go to ‘guys’ were the Hindu gods. They are supposed to be around. So, she prayed to them shamelessly & incessantly. But, at least there was some logic to that. She was praying to gods who never said they were going BYE-BYE for good.]]
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
The above appeared on my ‘Facebook‘ timeline this morning because ‘relative’ had liked it. It cracked me up — I find it amusing & SAD, in equal parts, on so many different fronts & levels.
Leaving the whole sad issue of idolatry aside, there are two things here that just do not square up — & I will cut to the chase.
1/ Making any offering to the Buddha is beyond pointless! Unlike the Abrahamic God, the Roman/Greek gods or the Hindu gods, the Buddha does NOT exist in CURRENT TIMES. He is gone. Gone forever. No spirit, no sign, no life. NOTHING. GONE. Poof. That was his goal. The attainment of nirvana he cased to exist — utterly & completely. NOTHING. He is GONE. GONE. Poof. No Holy Spirit. No spirit in the sky. He is GONE. NOTHING. You can’t interact with the Buddha. He is gone. Yes, there are supposedly relics but the relics can’t do much IF there is NOTHING behind them (or above them).
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google’. Do your own search.
So, making a food offering to someone (or something) that no longer exists seems ‘funny’. I could use stronger words BUT these folks are genuine in their … (SMILE). Hey, when I was a kid I subscribed to all of this.
[[Offering flowers to the Buddha is different! The flowers are NOT for the Buddha per se. The flowers are really for US. They are to show us — to remind us — of the impermanence of life. The fresh flowers offered, will in time wilt & die — just like all of us. That is what offerings of flowers is all about. Time to think about the impermanence of life.]]
So, there is that. This is also why it is so crazy to pray to the Buddha. He is NOT there. You are praying to NOTHINNESS. [[My mother, a QUEEN of Prayer, at least had this part right. She never prayed to the Buddha. She, though a Buddhist, prayed to the Christian God. She believed that he existed. But, her go to ‘guys’ were the Hindu gods. They are supposed to be around. So, she prayed to them shamelessly & incessantly. But, at least there was some logic to that. She was praying to gods who never said they were going BYE-BYE for good.]]
And then we come to my SECOND point.
2/ The ONE thing that I still like about — & believe in — when it comes to the Buddha’s teaching was his advocacy of MODERATION. Bar three (at MOST four) exceptions, red wine being one of them, I try to lead a life of moderation. I believe in moderation. So, what has moderation got to do with this?
Look at that picture. 4 muffins! 4 muffins, strawberries, some type of cake & an expensive looking cappuccino. Does that look like moderation to YOU? 4 muffins. No wonder most Sri Lankan’s always look extremely well nourished — food shortages or no food shortages. 4 muffins. All those carbs. I am sure the Buddha would not consider that moderation.
