Comments on: Sleeping Buddha

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:46:39 +0000

Huh. Very interesting stuff, Dale. Physical imagery is of course the best kind. (That’s why I love the Old Testament so much – all the intensely physical imagery, and the virtual absence of theology.) Thanks for weighing in.

By: dale

dale — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:50:05 +0000

There’s an intense physical imagery that helps me approach the idea of nirvana with emotions other than dread. It tends to come to me in high places, on windy days: suddenly I can feel the wind blowing through me — I’m transparent to it, as glass is transparent to light — and everything stuck, adhesive, and restrictive melts away in the wind. It’s pure joy.

It’s just an image, of course, just a representation of something that can’t really be represented. But a useful corrective to the dread of nonbeing — which is also a representation of something that can’t be represented, but one we that we usually take dead seriously :-)

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:25:20 +0000

Well, whatever you do, don't watch Life During Wartime.

By: sylph

sylph — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:07:50 +0000

that song is a chant…now it’s in my head and I’m singing as this day goes by.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:14:28 +0000

Well, Maitreya is a Messiah of sorts. You might be interested in a piece I wrote about a Japanese-Korean sculpture of Maitreya, here. I imagine that the sort of longing these world religions tap into has been part of religion in one way or another for a very long time.

By: Brett

Brett — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:59:13 +0000

I wonder if absence appeals to any messianic group. Of course, “messianic” is probably a little strong for Buddhists, though some of the Pure Land folks express expectation pretty well. Interesting about the Hazara minority; I hadn’t heard this reason for destroying those statues, but it sounds totally feasible. Absolutlely atrocious either way.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:57:15 +0000

Lorianne – Well put as always. I think a lot of Americans’ impressions of Buddhism have been shaped by the mainly philosophical writings of Japanese Zen types – most notably the two Suzukis – and they have little or no idea of Buddhism as a religion. That said, I do see an interesting tension within Buddhist aesthetics historically, between the proliferation of devotional images on the one hand and iconoclastic gestures toward Emptiness on the other.

Also, I don’t know whether to be pleased or frightened that, in a song full of good lines, you like the same one I do. :)

Brett – You know, I was going to put this one into my long-neglected ‘via negativa’ category, but for some reason I didn’t. Maybe I’ll correct that.

One tangential idea I had as I wrote this was the similarity not only with Christian devotion but also with the Shiite longing for the departed Madhi. The Taliban destroyed those standing Buddhas not so much out of Islamic iconclasm – though that was their claim – as from hatred toward the Shiite Hazara minority, who, as residents of the Bamiyan valley, benefitted most from tourism. The Hazaras themselves seem to have retained the cosmopolitan openness of their Buddhist predecessors:

“Hazaras are open to change,” says Sultani, who is himself a Hazara. “They are open to new ideas and are not very fanatical.”

The head of the Clergy Council of Bamiyan agrees. “I have been to four or five big seminars of all the religious scholars from all parts of Afghanistan, and our clergy are more open,” says Baba Mohsini, noting that Hazaras have even followed Sunni rules for prayer in the past simply to keep Sunni rulers happy.

By: Brett

Brett — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:09:36 +0000

You can’t stay away from the via negativa! The story of Xuanzang’s response to the Buddha’s absence was quite moving. To me, the remarkable part of the story is that absence moved Xuanzang to greater practice rather than to a certain mindless forsakenness. Also, I love the way you move from the dream to the later discussion. Very mindful.

By: Lorianne

Lorianne — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:44:10 +0000

On a purely personal level, I’ve always been a bit annoyed by non-Buddhists’ common assumption that Buddhist teachings regarding non-attachment mean that Buddhists “don’t care” when someone dies, as if a cognitive recognition of impermanence changes ones emotional response to death. The short answer is “it doesn’t.”

When Zen Master Seung Sahn (the Zen Master who founded my school) died, it was hugely illustrative to see how his closest students, themselves Zen Masters, responded. There was no steel-visaged, pseudo-Stoicism; instead, the tears flowed naturally. Buddhist isn’t about forcing yourself not to feel human emotion; it’s about recognizing that everything, including human emotions, will eventually pass away. But that doesn’t mean those emotions, or anything else impermanent, aren’t real, powerful, and valid while they last.

And on a completely unrelated note, that line from the Talking Heads is my favorite from that song.