My Little Buddha

      The Buddha forbade any likenesses of himself during his life time. Throughout the Theravadin Suttas the Buddha repeatedly forbids his disciples to make Buddharupa (Buddha Image).
      One story says an old Disciple of Buddha Vakali was so eager to see Buddha before he died he created a Buddharupa . One day Buddha came and said to him “O vakkali why do you crave to see this body of impure matter, one who perceives Dharma Perceives me. One who perceives me perceives Dharma” On different occasions through dialogues and sermons Buddha spoke against adoration of his Rupakaya or Buddha Rupa.
      For the first 600 or so years after his death, the Buddha and his teachings were represented in art by symbols such as the wheel, footprints, or empty thrones. But of course as Buddhism spread along the Silk Road various cultures had traditions that lead to the creation of Buddha images.
     The Oldest know image of Buddha was found in Afaganistan. Two monumental statues of standing Buddha are carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan. The Taliban held it for ransom and destroyed it when the United Nations refused to pay the ransom. So they were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
       I think Buddha saw himself as a human role-model to be followed but not idolized. Of himself he said, 'Buddha's only point the way'. He didn’t want to become an idol or a god to be worshipped.
      So for 600 years a few images were used to represent him and his teachings. There were six images most commonly used By Buddhist.

1. The Buddha's footprints which were often created at a place where he was know to have walked.

2. The Bodhi-tree which is symbolic of Gotama's enlightenment at the age of thirty-five.

3. The Lotus Flower which symbolizes both purity and enlightenment.

4. The Wheel which is a reminder of the Buddha's First Sermon. 'The Turning of the Wheel of the Law" delivered at Sarnath in Northern India.

5. A riderless horse which recalls Prince Siddhartha’s renunciation of worldly life for the ascetic life and the beginning of his search for the path to Enlightenment.

6. An empty throne which serves as a reminder of his passing away and attainment of Parinibbana.

      All of these images should have been enough you would think,  sufficient images or a symbols  that help people to recall the qualities of the Buddha.

      I have a little Buddha about 4 inches tall that sits on my desk. I have had it for years and used it as my point of focus when I was training for single pointed concentration in meditation.
      I know for me this little Buddha is like Linus van Pelt’s baby blanket. In the cartoon "Peanuts" Linus Perhaps paradoxically, given his advanced intellect,  is almost never without his blue blanket. He holds the blanket over his shoulder while sucking his thumb. It was in fact he who coined the term "security blanket”.
      My little Buddha  gives me hope in showing me clearly that Buddha was a man, not a god. That he had hopes and fears and in-laws. When I feel at odd’s with all things I can summon this little Buddha and tumble him in front of my face and I become calm.
       I am not sure if those other images would have worked as well --- but then Buddha gave us the 3 jewels in which to take refuge and in his last moments advised us to find our salvation within ourselves – I think Buddha would forgive me for my use of his likeness, but then kick me in the ass for doing it.