[Buddha-l] Maitreya statue discussion

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Sally McAra schreef:
> My work hasn't been about passing judgment on their project, but rather
> to explore what it means to them and how locals who aren't buddhist make
> sense of it. Another thing that came up is the split between Buddhists
> who like that approach (the idea that holy objects can save all kinds of
> sentient beings by giving them positive karmic imprints) and those who
> think that approach is "superstitious" or something similar. I noted
> that Donald Swearer labels a similar division in Buddhists in Thailand
> as "iconism" and "aniconism" and think that for my purposes these terms
> might be more useful than the common analogy people make between a
> "Catholic" vs "Prostestant" approach to relics, texts etc. (as with the
> so-called "Protestant Buddhism" discussion... and other labels like
> "modernist buddhism" - perhaps "aniconic Buddhism" might provide another
> facet to such discussions. Judging from what people on this list have
> said about holy objects in the past, many of you, tend more towards an
> "aniconic" approach where the veneration of holy objects and the vast
> amount of resources that some Buddhists pour into them seems puzzling.
> I'm being a bit vague here, but will read the rest of the discussion
> before saying more...
>   
There is something else involved as well: the question of the relation between intensity and meaning. Is the meaning of a big statue different form a small one? Does the big statue give a more lasting karmic imprint? Is retoric connected with meaning? Or perhaps does a big statue express a different meaning: like megalomania? Are the proponents of the project aware of the difference between form and meaning and the problem of perspectivity? I can understand why people do mantras or make manistones, but is that the same as the wish to construct a huge statue? (I remember the loudspeaker war that goes on between the big mosque and the main monastry in Leh.)

Erik

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