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4 armed female buddha?
Not very long ago my Mom went to see my sister in Oregon (we live in Kentucky). My sister is buddhist and apparently has some buddhist art in her home. Today I went shopping with Mom and she mentioned that she saw the buddha statue I had on my dresser. LOL I'd been trying to keep that out of her sight, but I guess since her other daughter is also buddist she wasn't too shocked :thumbsup:
Anyway, she asked me if I knew anything about a four armed female buddha that she saw in my sister's house. She says my sis said that the figure was a zen buddha. Does anyone know what she is talking about?
Anyway, she asked me if I knew anything about a four armed female buddha that she saw in my sister's house. She says my sis said that the figure was a zen buddha. Does anyone know what she is talking about?
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Comments
It is a common mistake for Buddhas to be gendered.... There are indeed some specific statues of Tara, for example, who made a vow to always come back in Female form - but most Buddhas could almost be said to be androgynous.... because they are not necessarily depictions of Buddha Himself, but merely a solid representation of Buddha-Nature, which is to be found in everyone, regardless of Race, Sex, Creed or Colour......
Someone else may come back with something more concrete than I.....
*Just editing to add the following link;*
http://www.khandro.net/deities_Tara1.htm
where mention is made of the four-armed red Tara....
"Red Tara as Kurukulla, a deity whose primary activity is described as magnetizing or as subjugating.
The Drikung Kagyu Four-Armed Red Arya Tara is less common. Her activity
is described as "overpowering" in the sense of overcoming obstacles. "
Hope all of this helps.
I liked your Audrey Hepburn avatars better. They are more becoming of you than Santa slammed into a wall. That is more BF or me. Please don't let us rub off on you.
I wanted it to be permanent. I liked associated the label and image of Audrey you.
Why oh why must everything change!?!?!?! Why can't it be like I want it to be!!!?!?
-bf
Ya happppppy now???!!!???
(until tomorrow....
That's not a permanent, it's an urchin cut!
She's my favourite...!!:ukflag:
That's exactly what I thought!!!
Man, was I disappointed.
Oh well...
Jason
What's like "Charlie's Buddha's" or something?
:hair:
I just went to www.do-not-zzz.com and thought it was fantastic. Thanks for having the link on www.snafuzafus.com. By the way, what is up with Beliefnet? I get their daily Buddhist reading but don't go to the site much.
The problem with Beliefnet is that they have consistently discriminated against the Buddhists on the boards. Several have been suspended or expelled for objecting to fundamentalist Christian prosletyzing for example and in one case, after physical threats were made on Beliefnet and Buddhists complained, those who complained had their posts deleted and their accounts suspended, whilst the person making threats had absolutely nothing done to curb his activity. Also, several of the Dark Zen group after trying to bully their way onto the Buddhist boards, resorted to harrassing emails and threats and not only were they not suspended, they were given their own board, where Buddhists are not allowed to post, whilst they are still allowed to post on the Buddhism Debate board. On another occassion, when a Buddhist put forward a logical and reasonable objection to a post that maintained that last year's Tsunami was God's punishment of the non Christians in the East, that member had his posts deleted and he was suspended. Objecting to the idea that non Christians were being punished by God was seen as 'disruptive' by Beliefnet.
Several of the members, both Buddhist and non Buddhist have repeatedly asked Beliefnet to explain these actions to no avail and if they have continued to ask, their email accounts have been blocked by Beliefnet and they too have been expelled or suspended. This has happened even to some of the forum moderators, who objected to such groups as Dark Zen and fundamentalist Christians being allowed to attack Buddhism without any fair recourse being given to Buddhists. At present, some of the Buddhists on the boards are gathering material for an upcoming lawsuit and a series of articles, investigating Beliefnet's active discrimination against Buddhists and thus the statement on the website was to help draw attention to the the state of affairs, as even mentioning any of Beliefnet's actions in regard to this situation has been deemed grounds for suspension there.
HH
Thanks for the information. I hadn't been to the site in ages as it was in a period of intense questioning I was going through. I was actually almost convinced I was a total atheist which wouldn't hinder being Buddhist, but decided that I couldn't be so absolute.
One thing that is getting a tad scary to me in America is that Christians think it is okay to say whatever they want about any topic in any manner and that is okay because "Jesus" backs it up. If the Bible is what they say it is, most of them would be much more afraid to open their mouths. But to find out a site that is supposed to be for every faith, not just the bibliolaters is scary. I suspended their emails but I guess I will have to go and see what is happening and decide whether I want to be part of it at all.
I haven't resigned yet. Just want to look at the situation for myself. I don't know what a Kanzeon is.
When I get around to putting a picture up of myself you will be able to imagine this. But I used to carry a 10 pound Bible around and preach at people. I never talked to them but told them they were going to HELL for their sins and needed to repent. Never thought I'd get rich, cept "Riches in heaven".
That bozo who claimed a demon overcame him should totally renounce the demon and give up all the things that the "demon" bought with the said 12 million bucks and serve the time for being so spiritually lazy as to let a demon in. I'm sure he wouldn't be willing to do that. Darn, I need to work on this attitudinal problem I have toward televangelists. They really frost my cookies.
I really didn't completely realise what a diverse and varied range of viewing there is....boy, there's the full gamut there....!!
So what changed your mind, given that by your own admission, you were pretty fervent yourself?
Just curious.... you know i'm not throwing down a gauntlet or anything....
What changed my mind? Well, when I realized that no matter what I did, most Christians would reject me on site was tough to swallow. Then I totally stayed away from church, bible, christian music and such. A few years ago after I overcame a major bout of depression, I realized that I didn't care what Christians thought. Then I realized I needed to check out what the Bible had to say and see whether I still believed. And then I thought "Whaaaa? This doesn't even make logical sense. I beat myself up over this?". Letting it go was quite easy then.
I learned how to meditate as a stress reduction device. Working in ICU is quite stressful and it can drive you nuts sometime. Many people had their opinions about learning how to meditate online but since I worked full time nights, it was near impossible for me to get to a meditation class. I also read some philosophy and kept running into statements made about Buddhism and being a person who is curious, I checked some things out. I ran into some of the mythology of Buddhism which I don't subscribe to and stopped everything. I was still in the black and white mode.
Then I fell down a flight of stairs and the whole ensuing nightmare of almost dying. As I recovered, I realized I missed what meditation had done for me. Everything I had read regarding meditation came from a Buddhist background. I still don't believe in the mythology of Buddhism but realize they are used to convey truths in a way that is more palatable to some. I realize that I agree with the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path at this time. Things may change but I think this is a superior way to live compared with what I had been doing. I find life better as I practice the Noble One's way to live.
I still can jump on a bandwagon when I want. That's why I have my teacher and some of the more experienced members of the eSangha to point me back to the path. I'm just enjoying it today. Which is a very cool way to live.
V.I.S.A.B.E.A.M.? I know it's about the Eightfold Path but it's ordered differently. Please tell me which letter is which. Tried to think about it and see if I could figure it out and then I realized I was being a typical male and refusing to ask. So tell me.
Right:
View
Intention
Speech
Action
Business (livelihood)
Effort
Awareness
Meditation.
I'm being very remiss then by not starting with that. Kanzeon is the Bodhisattva who is the embodiment of compassion, also known as Kannon or Kwan Yin, an aspect of Avalokiteshvara. Her name means 'Hearer of the Cries of the World'. Sojun Roshi reminds his listeners in a talk on one of the most frequently chanted Zen texts, the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo, that,
"Kannon manifests in many forms to help people. Sometimes as a prostitute, sometimes as a bartender or a taxi driver, a minister or statesman. If you try to pin Avalokiteshvara down to one form, you can’t do it. Avalokiteshvara is always being called forth from emptiness. So you can say that Kannon or compassionate nature has no beginning or end. That’s endless dimension."
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/Lectures/january2003.shtml
Commentary on the Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo