"Google Image Result for Http:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b_hTM7GKyZR8FUTD5m6zATZGyPpdvP2E2w74fxxQ_mgnQDpBuw_wnPL3TTtasPRQa3fothqXuLeKdw-16lCBjY66n5aB68-ZNLwenVi-vRtZS-oSA0ucT8WXdyxJ47r5-nFi-1yNbdM/s400/Simpsons She of Little Faith Episode.jpg." Google. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b_hTM7GKyZR8FUTD5m6zATZGyPpdvP2E2w74fxxQ_mgnQDpBuw_wnPL3TTtasPRQa3fothqXuLeKdw-16lCBjY66n5aB68-ZNLwenVi-vRtZS-oSA0ucT8WXdyxJ47r5-nFi-1yNbdM/s400/Simpsons+she+of+little+faith+episode.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2010/09/lisa-becomes-buddhism simpsons.html&usg=__fxymuKIu9eGCZZKu1RRw4DHQZd0=&h=377&w=338&sz=27&hl=en&start=11&zoom=1&tbnid=xwc6JaFB0V6MPM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=104&ei=djV0TbmHCM-ctwf6op2DDw&prev=/images?
The stereotype here is that Buddhists meditate with incense and flowers and that it is such a fun thing to do. The truth is that Buddhists are not supposed to use incense or flowers at all when they meditate. This is one of the ten precepts, which are like rules of Buddhism. Also meditation is a state of deep concentration. In this picture they are opening their eyes, in my opinion it is to see if the other is keeping their eyes closed. So, therefore they are focusing more on each other than there meditation. When you are meditating you should not be thinking about anything besides your focus, which should be on God. Another thing is that meditation is hard work. It is not easy to sit there and breathe right. It is also very challenging to hold that posture for such a long time. Meditating is not something that you do for a short time; you meditate for long periods of time and concentrate on your focus, and only your focus.
First of all, Brad Warner talks about how he moved to Japan to become and became a Zen Master. When he did this people started to look up to him and worship him; he said “People began to expect me—of all people—to be the thing they envisioned a Buddhist master ought to be.” From this picture we can see that it is the Simpsons. This is showing that they are trying to show other people about Buddhism, by making fun of it of course, but in a false manner. By putting it on television they are making Buddhists seem like “spiritual celebrities” as Brad Warner Says. You could also look at this in a different light though because they are making fun of Buddhism. By having the flowers and incense and by opening one eye to look at the other one is making the religion look bad in my opinion. Buddhist masters and teachers were people that wanted to be detached from the world. This meant that they did not want to be looked at any higher than a regular person.
