Beware the lying Buddha

 

I was at an Antique Mall this afternoon with my daughter. We had actually been there Saturday afternoon, too, but my daughter saw something and thought about it all night and wanted to go back and get it. That is the way with antique malls. I had seen something as well that I decided I wanted, too, so I was happy to return.

My daughter was overjoyed that the Princess Diana Wedding doll was still there (don't ask) and I was happy to find a small figure of the reclining Buddha that I'd seen. I have been collecting Buddha figures lately and I still didn't have a reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha represents the Buddha in his last moments before entering Parinirvana, the final state of enlightenment (which obviously isn't one of the United States of America). Anyway, I didn't notice what the description was the dealer had written on the sales tag until the person ringing us up started laughing. She showed me the tag. It read, "Lying Buddha."

I thought that was a pretty good one as well. It is hard to imagine a lying Buddha. But it did make me think of the Zen koan, "If you meet the Buddha by the side of the road, kill him." I always thought of the statement as speaking to the concept that a real Buddha would not all themselves a Buddha so the one by the side of the road claiming to be Buddha is lying. This is my interpretation of it. ChatGPT went on about killing the Buddha means to transcend the conceptual understanding and direct experiences, and not rely on external teachers or symbols, but to look inward for true insight.  I like my interpretation better and a koan is supposed to make you think on your own.

I tried having Artie, my ArtAI pal create a design based on the koan but apparently Artie's AI moderator thinks killing a Buddha violates their community standards and wouldn't create anything. I'm not sure what it would create if I said to design a lying Buddha. Artie can create stereotypical images of Jesus, but it doesn't do well with Buddha, lying, laying, reclining, weeping, laughing, sitting or standing.

What he said. And technically we are all always dying.