[Buddha-l] "The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum"

[Richard Hayes]

On Thu, 2008-07-17 at 14:40 -0400, Curt Steinmetz wrote:

> I am a big fan of Siva - and I am always looking for sneaky ways to 
> co-opt Him into the Buddhist pantheon (if for no other reason than to 
> see the looks on people's faces at the very idea of a Buddhist pantheon 
> at all - let alone one populated with - horrors! - Hindu Deities).

Cripes, there's no need to sneak anyone in. Buddhists welcome pretty
much everyone into the pantheon as long as every now and then they have
problems so thorny they have to ask the Buddha to solve them. Hell, even
YHWH would be welcome in the Buddhist pantheon if he would just ask the
Buddha from time to time how to get those headstrong disobedient
Israelites under control.

One way of working anyone you want into your own personal version of a
pantheon is to put a picture of statue of him or her on your own
personal altar at home. My wife and I maintain a pretty crowded altar
with tastefully arranged Shakyamuni and Amitabha figures, a Guanyin
figure, photographs of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna and George
Fox, a Russian Orthodox icon of Christ, a Saint Francis figure, a Virgin
of Guadalupe figure, a Nataraja figure, four calling birds, three French
hens, two turtle doves and the Partridge Family in a bare tree.

One of my favorite things to hum is Um, Manny paid me.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico