Grab a pencil and a blank sheet of paper (8 1/2 X 12" is best).
Ready?
1. Draw a circle in the center of the page. Size doesn't matter...just make it as perfect as possible. Colour it in.
2. Draw small horizontal lines around and through the circle. Don't get too crazy with this one.. Simple is better.
3. Draw some sort of border around steps 1 and 2.
4. Put your pencil down, take a deep breath, and realize a true Buddha has no form.
I am fascinated by how much form is misinterpreted and the importance is overestimated. How often do non-Buddhists know only Budai and Gautama Buddha to be Buddhist figures? Even more so...how many think they are the same?
Now take a look at what you've drawn.
Should be something like this.Wasn't what you expected, was it? It obviously has form, but it also doesn't have form, when you are thinking you are drawing a preconceived notion.
This is the perfect way for me to illustrate Progressive Buddhism. It is not what I thought it was going to be. I let the illustrations fall away, and learned what the true teaching was.
I realized the Buddha has no true form. Buddha became personal.
So personal, in fact, that I may actually become one.
Be well!
-Ryan
Great point Ryan, I like how you demonstrate the concept of attachment to form, as well as the form 'I' takes on.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of this old saying;
"If you see the Buddha on the road, kill the Buddha."
Kill the Buddha because Buddha nature has no form, and can not be held as an object of mind.
Thanks!