riding the waves of consciousness on the surfboard of wisdom and compassion

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Today is the Buddha's Birthday



"Non-Buddhists often ask whether or not Buddhists worship images. The images we pay homage to are only representations of one to whom we pay respect in gratitude because he, through his own efforts and wisdom, discovered the way to real peace and made it known to all beings. The offerings we make are but symbols of our reverence for the Buddha and are a means of concentrating our minds on the significance of the words we are reciting. Just as people love to see a portrait of one dear to them when separated by death or distance, so do we Buddhists love to have before us a representation of our teacher, because this representation enables us to think of his virtues, his love and compassion for all beings, and the doctrine he taught."

-- origination of quote unknown




HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDHA!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this! The images are provocative.

Where's http://www.katinkahesselink.net/boeddha/boeddha-2.jpg
come from?

Vajra Surfer वज्र said...

If you doubleclick on this or any of the other images of the Buddha, that will take you back to the original web site. I got all of these images just by a search on "Gautama Buddha."

About Me, the Vajra Surfer वज्र

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Los Angeles, California, United States
Hi! ✌ I am a flower-picking ❀ redwood-tree-hugging, ♻ green-party-progressive, 21¼-century reincarnation of John ☮ Lennon from the ♆ spiritual vortex of Santa Cruz, California! I'm a Egytpo-Grecian☥, Neo-Platonic⊿, Gnostic☿, Buddhist⎈-Hinduૐ-Daoist䷀䷁ mystic⁂ and ϕhilosopher-king. 兡 Beyond my preternatural affability there is some acid and some steel.™ I've sober for ⨦20 years. 兡 I like to sing 吉 in my car like I am ☆ live onstage. I chant, which is kind of like singing, except more introverted. I pray for peace 平 and for the enlightenment of all beings. 曰月

Vajrapani, Holder of the Vajra

Vajrapani, Holder of the Vajra
om vajrapani hung phet