Not Idol Worshipers

Not Idol Worshippers.

1.    The Buddhist are not idol worshipers, they are ideal worshipers.

2.    The devout Buddhist feel the living presence of the Master when they think of Him or when they are in front of the Buddha image.

3.    The Buddhists keep the images or representations of the Buddha in the same way as people keep the photographs of their parents and grand parents.

4.    The recollection of the Buddha produces joy and invigorates the mind.

5.    The Buddha image is regarded as a symbol, not as a person of the Buddha.

[Adapted from “What Buddhists believe” Ven. Dr. Sri Dhammananda]

The Buddha is like:

·       A Master

·       A guide

·       A physician

1.    He is a Master or Teacher who taught us the way to end all sufferings.

2.    He is like a guide who shows the right way to the traveler that is lost his way in the forest. The beings – humans and divine – are wandering in saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and they cannot find the way to get out of it. The Buddha showed the way leading to the Liberation from the sufferings of saṃsāra, i.e, Nibbāna. Dhamma, His Teachings, is like a pay for the travelers.

3.    The Buddha is like a skilled physician who can cure the serious diseases, and the Dhamma is like the medicine. The beings are like patients who are afflicted by the defilements which are caused by ignorance and craving. The Buddha gave us the medicine (The Dhamma) that can cure the serious diseases (the defilements) in the beings.