news: buddha blasphemy?!

Times of India had this right up on the front page, but later removed it: Footwear store in Geneva uses Buddha statue to hang shoes

PATNA: Sight-seeing in Switzerland does not leave a vacationer horrified, but Patna’s Prabhat Choudhary, his wife and daughter were shocked to see a Lord Buddha statue garlanded with a pair of shoes at a footwear shop in Geneva.

Comments for this are pretty interesting with plenty of sensible people wondering why instead of discussing with the shop owner, this is being made an international issue with request for government interference. Some of the saner comments…

KNG,Mumbai,says:Now we will have people burning buses and looting shops with this news. Great news reporting and the person who saw and photographed the picture, would be triggering unrest in India. The person could have written to the police and informed them about the mistake and request for correction since Buddha is respected as God by several people in the world. I am sure the authorities would have acted instead creating all this sensation.
[26 Jun, 2009 0837hrs IST]

Saratchandran,Australia,says:Ignorance may lead to contemptuous deeds. Enlighten the ignorant first before any punitive reactions are sought. In one of the Kabir Doha he says, the ignorant ‘jungly’ woman uses the sandalwood to cook her food!! Such may the case here.

But a majority of the comments had expressed a lot of dissatisfaction about this, so I was wondering why.

I’ve seen plenty of shops even in Germany, where it seemed to be a fashion to use Buddha’s statue as an ornamental show piece. Often the Buddha statue is decorated with items being sold in the store (though I haven’t seen any shoes). This perception that “shoes are inauspicious” are a cultural aspect of India. But its unknown to them as they wear shoes even indoors -and for them a shoe is just another item. My guess is that they never imagined they’re causing any disrespect etc, in the first place they don’t even know why he should be respected. And an irony is that this is something that is in common even with the Indians who are protesting about it as well!

But even in India, though there are groups of fellow human beings who like to label themself as “Buddhist” (just like other groups label themselves with other religions) – And though there are people who consider him as some avatar of God – even in India, Buddha is in most places merely an ornamental piece in a show case! 🙂 Hardly any Indians even identify him as an Indian – he seems to be more Tibetan to them because they associate him with the religion “Buddhism” prevalent there 🙂

What the Buddha essentially advocated was simply the same as every other saint on the planet in his own way advocated – common sense for any common man. To go beyond colored perceptions, and see things as they really are, not as they appeared to be.

So in this case, the question is – would the Buddha himself really mind? 😉

——-

Some Zen Koans:

Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?

If You See The Buddha, Kill Him!

For 300 years after Buddha’s death there were no Buddha images. The
people’s practice was the image of the Buddha, there was no need to
externalize it. But in time, as the practice was lost, people began to
place the Buddha outside of their own minds, back in time and space.
As the concept was externalized and images were made, great teachers
started to reemphasize the other meaning of Buddha. There is a saying:
“If you see the Buddha, kill him.” Very shocking to people who offer
incense and worship before an image. If you have a concept in the mind
of a Buddha outside yourself, kill it, let it go. . . . Gotama Buddha
repeatedly reminded people that the experience of truth comes from
one’s own mind.

~ from Trycycle magazine