Big temple, big statue is not equal to kindness!
(Baonghean) - Most major religions consider the worship of the statue of their founder to be important. Buddhism worships Shakyamuni Buddha and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as a major ritual in the process of propagating the Dharma. The Buddha statue always holds a central position in the temples.
As Buddhist temples around the world are built larger and larger, the Buddha statues are also larger and more magnificent.
Actually, Buddhists only worship one Buddha. That is Buddha Shakyamuni. Southern Buddhist temples, mendicant monasteries, some Zen monasteries, monasteries, and Northern Buddhist temples all worship Buddha Shakyamuni. In addition, most Northern temples (following Mahayana Buddhism) often worship many other relic statues. One reason is because of the faith of Buddhists, offering many Buddha relic statues to the temple, forcing the abbot to worship them so that the disciples will be blessed and happy.
Second, the Northern Buddhist temples in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, in addition to worshiping the statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, also worship the statue of the Three Saints of the West, Maitreya Buddha, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra at the Three Jewels, worship the successive patriarchs, the abbots, the Mother Buddha Chuẩn Đề, and the Supervising Envoys. Ancient temples in China and Vietnam also worship the Mother Buddha Địa Mẫu, the Jade Emperor, the Southern Heaven, the Northern Dipper, the Ten Kings of Hell, etc.
A few pagodas worship the Three Jewels of Avalokiteshvara, some pagodas worship the Three Jewels of Maitreya Buddha (the Three Jewels of the Ten Directions), and indigenous religions in Vietnam are related to Buddhism, such as Tu An Buddhism worshiping the "red cloth", Hoa Hao Buddhism worshiping the "brown cloth", and pagodas of Tu An Buddhism worshiping Buddha Shakyamuni but without a statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, and the same goes for other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (called worshiping the void).
A brief overview shows that in Buddhism, the role of Buddha statues is very important. In developed Buddhist countries, temples are often museums of Buddha statues. This is clearly shown in India, Nepal, Laos, etc.
Buddhists consider Buddha statues to be sacred. Because when they make offerings to cast or build Buddha statues, they put all their thoughts, feelings, and wishes into them. For them, seeing a statue means seeing Buddha, standing in front of a Buddha statue means standing in front of Buddha. Offering and building Buddha statues is a way for Buddhists to show their devotion to the religion they follow.
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| The statue of Bodhisattva Guanyin with 12 arms is considered one of the oldest statues of the pagoda, reflecting the story of the pagoda's formation, as well as the close relationship between Ba But Pagoda and Qua Son Temple worshiping Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang in Boi Son Commune (Do Luong). Photo courtesy of the pagoda. |
Also from this concept, the number of newly built pagodas is increasing, the pagodas built later are always larger and more magnificent than the ones built before. Along with that is the birth of equally large Buddha statues, towers over a hundred meters high worshiping Buddha relics, with the ambition to turn these places into spiritual centers of regional stature, achieving this record, that international record...
Casting statues and building temples are good deeds in the true sense of the word for religious practitioners. But “Buddha is in the heart”. The teachings of Buddhism have been like that since the beginning. It has remained so for thousands of years.
“Big temples and big statues are just means. The important thing is the virtue of the practitioner. The most important thing is the mind of the practitioner…”.
However, that truth has somewhat faded away when somewhere, the temple builders now all have the ambition to create the "largest temples in the world" and the "tallest towers in the world"!
They are clearly not monks. Nor are they Buddhists who have developed the Bodhi mind, making offerings to build temples and statues for the development of the cause of propagating Buddhism. They are simply wealthy businesses, taking advantage of government policies, investing in building temples and making the “biggest” statues to attract customers for their spiritual tourism business projects.
These temple construction projects almost always have the shadow of investment enterprises behind them. They are so engrossed in building record-breaking temples to attract tourists that they forget the roots of the religion. Pilgrims do not go there to study Buddhism, but only to visit and travel to satisfy their curiosity and see what those records are like. Among the millions of people listening to the sermon, how many understand the Buddha's teachings and then become devout Buddhists, or do they come back from the ceremony still full of greed, anger and ignorance...
We are fascinated with Buddhist records, busy renovating and building new big temples and big Buddhas, we are only focusing on beautifying the body and forgetting to nurture the soul. The origin of Buddhism is to spread the true Dharma and guide people to practice according to the Buddha's teachings.
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| The temple is also where teenagers and children register to participate in summer retreats. At the temple, the trainees are arranged places to eat, sleep, and live according to regulations, all completely free of charge. Every day, the children wake up early to do many activities such as listening to Dharma talks, meditating, practicing sports, etc. Photo: Documentary |
Buddhism is a religion of compassion and wisdom, and the temple is a place to spread the true Dharma. But many temples today only focus on worshiping and performing rituals rather than preaching and organizing retreats. Such as praying for the dead, praying for the dead, offering prayers, offering stars to dispel bad luck and grievances... have inadvertently turned Buddhism into a religion of worship and the religion of the dead. Many abbots play the main role of a shaman, a person who keeps incense, and a person who manages the donation money. While the main duty of an abbot is like a ferryman, releasing the boat of compassion to save those who are lost.
Therefore, building a big temple with a big Buddha is fine. But let's focus on cultivating compassion, which is what all living beings need!