Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

Jeremy Lin as a Deity

SileSile Veteran
edited February 2012 in Faith & Religion
(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.

Comments

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited February 2012
    Is this a new branch of Buddhism called TibetLin Buddhism? :D
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Wow! That is too interesting. Funny though. When I was watching him play I thought to myself "ALIEN". HAHA!
  • Pretty racist, Leon.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Wow! That is too interesting. Funny though. When I was watching him play I thought to myself "ALIEN". HAHA!
    Pretty racist, Leon.
    Is that what you meant by alien @LeonBasin ? A non-white American? I didn't think so, but maybe it would be good to clarify.

  • SileSile Veteran
    edited February 2012
    I'm guessing he meant along the lines of having extra-terrestrial powers ;)

    In which case, it would be a "planet-ist" statement, but in a good way...
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Pretty racist, Leon.
    Nah, not like that. More of supernatural human being.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Wow! That is too interesting. Funny though. When I was watching him play I thought to myself "ALIEN". HAHA!
    Pretty racist, Leon.
    Is that what you meant by alien @LeonBasin ? A non-white American? I didn't think so, but maybe it would be good to clarify.

    No, I meant a super natural. Not in a racist terms.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    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.
    .........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.
    what, like...... Ric Santorum?

  • 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.
    .........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.
    what, like...... Ric Santorum?

    I meant in Buddhist deity practice, but I guess without knowing more about how Rick Santorum practices religion, that's hard to answer! However, let's say he invokes God as a way to embarrass someone, or even as a way to justify harming someone (say, bombing Iranians). Because I also know many Christians who invoke God as a way to encourage their children to be kinder, I can't say it's the invocation of God which is the problem; it's the intent of the person doing it. There's nothing inherently negative about the invocation of a deity.

  • 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.
Sign In or Register to comment.