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Jeremy Lin as a Deity
Sile
Veteran
(I hope that wasn't too sacrilegious, but I'll explain).
It has been occurring to me a lot that sports can be a good tool for translating Buddhism, maybe especially in the west where sports is literally almost a religion.
For example--why do we make a big deal about Jeremy Lin? It's not because we worship him literally, or think that kids should worship him literally. The current level of appreciation for Jeremy certainly borders on worship, but we all know that's not the point. The point is that he's an inspiration. The point is the kids could be inspired to be more self-confident, to strive harder, to believe in themselves, to reach greater heights, to not let race be an issue, from Jeremy Lin's example.
So I think when we're dealing with the issue of deities in Buddhism, sports heroes (or any heroes) are a very clarifying example. We don't literally "worship," let's say, Blue Tara (Ekajati), though again, in many ways it looks as if that's what we're doing. But the real point is to be inspired by her attributes, her story, the good qualities that are historically ascribed to her. In some Buddhist examples the deity is a literal human; in others we may not know, or the deity may be said to be an emanation of this or that. The point isn't to get obsessed with a single historical being, where they came from, what costumes they wore, or what language they spoke; the point is to be inspired, by their story, to achieve good things.
I think in the west we don't have nearly as much problem with the peaceful forms of deities, but boy do we get hung up on wrathful ones (all my Christian friends need to see is an image of wrathful Blue Tara to be convinced I am the Devil's own handmaiden). But the "wrath" is not regular anger or any kind of meanness; the "wrath" is generally there to represent strength. For women, especially, I think this is a helpful meditation (if your cultural experience allows; if it's too much of a turn-off, then the image of a wrathful female deity obviously won't help). Blue Tara's "wrath," for example, is there for the purpose of destroying obstacles on the path; not for the purpose of harming anyone or being caught up in selfish anger. She's not weak and submissive, she is extremely powerful. This can be a perspective-changing concept, and meditation, for so many women, and for anyone plagued with feelings of helplessness.
Again, we can think of the sports hero: how many kids have posters on their wall right now showing a sports hero in the middle of some great basketball play, or gymnastics move, with a look of determined anger or what might even be mistaken for rage on their face - the point isn't that they're "angry," the point is that they're exerting all their effort.
Again, if the imagery is just too much, and causes negative feelings in you, then you definitely want to find something else. Some people would far prefer a poster of smiling Jeremy as their inspiration. But I do feel at least some of the negative feelings are a result of misunderstanding the point of deities in Buddhism. At the very least, if we understand the issue better, we can be more comfortable with those who do use deities in practice, even if we don't use them ourselves.
It has been occurring to me a lot that sports can be a good tool for translating Buddhism, maybe especially in the west where sports is literally almost a religion.
For example--why do we make a big deal about Jeremy Lin? It's not because we worship him literally, or think that kids should worship him literally. The current level of appreciation for Jeremy certainly borders on worship, but we all know that's not the point. The point is that he's an inspiration. The point is the kids could be inspired to be more self-confident, to strive harder, to believe in themselves, to reach greater heights, to not let race be an issue, from Jeremy Lin's example.
So I think when we're dealing with the issue of deities in Buddhism, sports heroes (or any heroes) are a very clarifying example. We don't literally "worship," let's say, Blue Tara (Ekajati), though again, in many ways it looks as if that's what we're doing. But the real point is to be inspired by her attributes, her story, the good qualities that are historically ascribed to her. In some Buddhist examples the deity is a literal human; in others we may not know, or the deity may be said to be an emanation of this or that. The point isn't to get obsessed with a single historical being, where they came from, what costumes they wore, or what language they spoke; the point is to be inspired, by their story, to achieve good things.
I think in the west we don't have nearly as much problem with the peaceful forms of deities, but boy do we get hung up on wrathful ones (all my Christian friends need to see is an image of wrathful Blue Tara to be convinced I am the Devil's own handmaiden). But the "wrath" is not regular anger or any kind of meanness; the "wrath" is generally there to represent strength. For women, especially, I think this is a helpful meditation (if your cultural experience allows; if it's too much of a turn-off, then the image of a wrathful female deity obviously won't help). Blue Tara's "wrath," for example, is there for the purpose of destroying obstacles on the path; not for the purpose of harming anyone or being caught up in selfish anger. She's not weak and submissive, she is extremely powerful. This can be a perspective-changing concept, and meditation, for so many women, and for anyone plagued with feelings of helplessness.
Again, we can think of the sports hero: how many kids have posters on their wall right now showing a sports hero in the middle of some great basketball play, or gymnastics move, with a look of determined anger or what might even be mistaken for rage on their face - the point isn't that they're "angry," the point is that they're exerting all their effort.
Again, if the imagery is just too much, and causes negative feelings in you, then you definitely want to find something else. Some people would far prefer a poster of smiling Jeremy as their inspiration. But I do feel at least some of the negative feelings are a result of misunderstanding the point of deities in Buddhism. At the very least, if we understand the issue better, we can be more comfortable with those who do use deities in practice, even if we don't use them ourselves.
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Comments
In which case, it would be a "planet-ist" statement, but in a good way...
In much Buddhist deity practice, it seems there's an even more direct sense of personal responsibility -- you are striving to have the good and compassionate qualities of the deity, rather than sitting and asking the deity to do something for you. So you really can't assign blame to "God," in the Buddhist case, because it is understood from the start that the "doer" is yourself.