"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.
I like how you looked at this picture as a falsification of Buddhism simply because they have their eyes open and are looking at each other. It's true that during meditation, one should be focusing on themselves and the world around them, not necessarily God because they tend not to believe in any, to understand the deeper meaning to life and all it encompasses. And by paying more attention to someone or something you should be trying to detach yourself from certainly is not going to help.
ReplyDeleteI think you picked a great thing to focus on. The images that American's see that represent Buddhism are often skewed from reality. We see a happy Buddha who is well over weight or in the image you picked we see 2 people meditating. Buddhists are often seen as people who sit around and only do one thing, meditate. Now, we all know that not to be true. They are people just like you and me that carry on every day lives and function in the modern world. It is funny/interesting/concerning to see how Buddhism is represented in popular culture since that is probable the most exposure the majority of the American population gets to the faith.
ReplyDeleteI liked the example you used and agree with you that it is a typical stereotype of Buddhism. They are poking fun at the concept of enlightenment and basically doing it just for fun. Obviously this completely differs from the real process of enlightenment in Buddhism. While meditating and trying to reach enlightenment one is only focused on their goal and separates themselves from the world around them which is clearly not the case in the picture above.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of "spiritual celebrities" is not foreign to Americans. Televangelists and other well-known religious figures have made fortunes telling people they're going to hell if they don't do x, y, and z. Unfortunately, I think it is more often about the money and fame than the religion itself. This completely goes against the Buddhist way of life. I have to wonder, though, if Warner is writing books for the money and the fame or because of his love for Buddhism and desire to teach it to others. I'd like to think it's the latter.
ReplyDelete