Buddha – a Symbol of Awakening and Enlightenment

The Buddha, on the one hand is said to be a man, Gautama Buddha, or Siddhartha.  He was an ascetic and spiritual teacher of ancient India who lived during the 5th or 6th century BCE.  However the Buddha nature, the essence of the Buddha, or what the Buddha represents is a symbol of Awakening and Enlightenment.  With this deeper looking, Buddha is our own True Self.  

There is much misunderstanding about ‘The Buddha’ that can seem to divide our one human family, and prevent true understanding and the ability to really see the depth and breadth of divine inspiration through humanity across the ages.

What is this misunderstanding?  That the Buddha is simply a ‘false idol’ rather than a symbol of the enlightened or awakened one.    

Bowing in reverence to the Buddha is perhaps seen by some as idolatry.   Is this really true?  What is the deeper significance of this reverence for and honouring of this symbol of the awakened one?  This belief, if really explored deeply, is perhaps misleading and even robs people of the opportunity to see the amazing depth and breadth of Gods grace and light pouring through this universe in so many diverse and beautiful ways, including through the particular manifestation of compassion, truth and peace that we see from the original transmission of Gautama Buddha.

If faith, belief or the expression of truth, is seen as a rainbow of many colours, each representing a religion or faith path or even a path of science and nature.  To say only Christianity, for instance, is the one true religion is like choosing yellow ONLY and perhaps rejecting all the other beautiful vibrant colours of the rainbow, emanating from the one pure absolute source.

The limitless, unmanifest pure light of God hits the prism of this world/universe/mind and all the radiant ‘colours’ of the rainbow emerge through the prism as rainbow colours, each different colour representing different faiths or beliefs, each matching the temperament and psychological makeup of different beings and cultures and minds.  But if each is traced back to the source, all are rooted in the one white pure light of God.  The absolute, called by many names and beyond any of them, both transcendent and immanent.

They all come from the one Source. 

It is magnificent the way that truth and insight flows through humanity in a way that can reach every nation, culture and land across the span of so many ages.  

Here is what the Dalai Lama has to say about ‘Is There only one True Religion’ 

Are we courageous enough to really look, beyond the bubble of our own religious, cultural, scientific and secular conditioning (as both Jesus and Guatama Buddha did actually) with a broader perspective, with an open heart and with a genuine enquiry into a deeper universal truth or reality?  There is no doubt that prophets manifest at certain times on this precious and sacred earth to aid humanity and bring an opportunity to say ‘yes’ to a deeper truth that brings a lasting peace and joy.  

Here I simply offer the perspective that flows through this vessel.  

‘Idol’ means ‘an image or representation of a God used as an object of worship’

Many people of course simply have a Buddha statue as a symbol of peace or tranquility but for some the Buddha is to be highly revered as a symbol of the Enlightened One who shows them the way to peace and perfect understanding and love for all beings.

So – is it really true that the Buddha is not a false idol?  Why do I say that?

And if it is so  – what false idols are we to be wary of in our modern age?  That is an important question I will return to.  

Let us turn for a moment to scripture.  

The Bible says….

‘How foolish are those who manufacture idols.

These prized objects are really worthless.

The people who worship idols don’t know this,

so they are all put to shame.

Who but a fool would make his own god—

an idol that cannot help him one bit?

All who worship idols will be disgraced

along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—

who claim they can make a god.

They may all stand together,

but they will stand in terror and shame.’  (Isaiah 44:6-48:11) 

‘You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.’ ( Ex 20:2-5; cf. Deut 5:6-9)

Strong statements indeed!  

  If anyone makes a statue or ‘graven image’ which they claim to be their ‘own God’ and worship it simply as a phenomenal physical object in itself, then I agree – it is worthless – other then perhaps some fine craftsmanship to admire. 

We often spend much of our lives worshipping or loving various objects and chasing what only eventually turns to dust – don’t we?  Chasing phenomenal things which rust and perish in time, but the invaluable treasures of ‘Heaven’ or ‘Nirvana’ or Life itself, are infinite, beyond time and yet invisible and intangible.  

The statue of Buddha is NOT to be ‘worshipped’ as an inert lifeless object!  

It is a SYMBOL of the awakened being in each of us, the embodiment of truth and freedom.  It is an invitation to WAKE UP, to enter into communion in Nirvana (or the Kingdom of Heaven) right here and now.  

Now – THAT is worthy, beautiful and true and also in harmony with the supreme infinite absolute oneness.  The source of all Life.

Similar to the cross as a symbol, the Buddha image or statue is a symbol of universal truth, peace, love, compassion, forgiveness, freedom and heart transformation, in essence.  Of course the cross is a representation of Jesus crucifixion, resurrection and later ascension.  The portal of salvation and redemption and revelation.  There are so many layers of meaning and depth to the cross that it is impossible to summarise in just a few words.  But essentially through the cross is ‘Heaven’ and another name for Heaven in the Buddhist world is ‘Nirvana’.  Immense love, peace, freedom, rest and communion with the divine.  

Even though Buddhism can be seen almost as a ‘science’ or devoid of any creator or ‘God’, I see that the enlightenment or awakening continually pointed to in the teachings of the Buddha result in the same heavenly state.  I have even heard Thich Nat Hahn describe Nirvana as the ‘Kingdom of God’, when I was in Plum Village. He very much emphasises the peace and immense freedom of the present moment.

Peace and love is the perfume of God, the divine beingness that we are, regardless of if we call it God, reality, Nirvana, enlightenment or just LIFE.   Peace is Every Step.   This is a book that transformed the life of a dear friend of mine.  It brought much light into his life.  

Here is a short but astonishing film about the similarities of Jesus and Buddha 

In my experience some Christians appear to assume that people honouring or bowing to a statue of Buddha is false idol worship  ie worshipping and giving reverence to something that is made of clay or wood, that is not alive.   Therefore Buddhists appear to be on the wrong path.  

At best, with the deepest of respect and love for the church, this is a very superficial and limited understanding and it is a symptom of what Richard Rohr refers to as ‘immature religion’.  Richard Rohr who is one of the most influential writers on The Universal Christ today has this to say about Buddha and Jesus.  Having said that I am not blaming anyone.  I understand totally as this is what many people have literally been conditioned and taught to believe.  Also threatened perhaps if they don’t believe this.  But is it really God who threatens them – or ‘religion’ that has been corrupted by man over the years?

At Monte Sahaja, where Mooji lives, there is a huge beautiful Buddha

The ‘Sahaja Buddha’   Sahaja means ‘natural state’     Here there is a sign that says

‘This sculpture of the Buddha – the awakened one 

Is not an idol that we worship 

The Buddha is a symbol of the perfectly awakened being in each of us – our true nature and Self which is beyond divisions of class, gender, race or religion 

The awakened one is the embodiment of the spirit of truth 

The Buddha represents the one who awakens from the sleep of ignorance into the timeless perfection of unborn awareness 

May all who come here in search of truth discover themselves as the timeless and unborn awareness 

Om 

Amen’

I first encountered Buddhism in my Religious Studies CAPS course during my B Ed degree and spent time in Buddhist monasteries.  I also spent time in a Theravadan Buddhist Monastry (Hartridge) in Devon for retreats.  I have visited Samye Ling and Plum Village in France.  I stayed at Plum Village several weeks in deep meditation as well as talks by Thich Nhat Hahn.  What struck me so powerfully from Thich Nhat Han’s presence is power of resting in the present moment – to wake up fully in the present moment of life and to be free from the mind that tends to cling to past or future.  The simplicity of this is beautiful.  

So I have been attracted to Buddhism for many years and we also studied and deeply immersed ourselves into Buddhist spiritual practise and teachings during my training as a Onespirit Inter- faith minister.  

But more than that, in satsang over the last two decades, experientially in the heart, this deep enquiry into my own true nature has given me the keys to unlock the profound realisation of what ‘I’ cannot not be – and this unexplainable discovery I see pointed to by all the saints, sages, prophets and mystics for thousands of years.  

So for me this is not words and ideas.  They are dead essentially.  This is living spirit.  Words combust into living Holy spirit when the attention moves from the head to the heart.  

So – the teachings of the Buddha have touched my heart deeply – essentially because the of the truth and wisdom and loving compassion that radiates from these teachings.

Who was the Buddha?

Gautama Buddha was born in Nepal as a prince 2,500 years ago and lived in the palace with his father and was protected initially from suffering.  Later in his life, he saw with shocking revelation the suffering, dis-ease and death in this phenomenal world, outside the life of the palace and this sent him on a search, as an ascetic monk to discover peace, and to attain full enlightenment.  

He discovered, through deep contemplation or meditation, a deep and profound peace and emptiness from which the teachings of Buddhism emerged.  Here is a brief summary.  Also here is a beautiful website on Zen Buddhism.  A peace that is possible to discover as it is our own true nature and is accessible to all.  

Find out more detail about Buddhism here.

This awakening has undoubtably had such a powerful influence in this world that I feel a deep sense of respect and reverence for such a complete realisation of the truth. 

Is this truth and peace really different from the peace and truth of Christ?   On the surface as religious expression  – yes!  IT IS DIFFERENT in the manifest world of duality. However, in essence, a deeper inner seeing reveals it IS the peace, love freedom and truth of the Christ light, simply called by another name!  

Essentially it is the same non – dual, universal, unmanifest one truth that it is absolutely possible for us all to awaken to.  

I know that is challenging to the Christian faith as it has developed over the years with apparently such an aversion to eastern religion.  But, may be the unusual journey of the three wise men visiting the Christ child in the bible is much more significant than we realise?  Why did these eastern scholars follow a star across so many lands to discover and meet this child?

 It is possible (I am not saying it is true) but some believe it is possible that Christ journeyed in the ‘missing years’ (between age 12 and age 30 when nothing in the bible is documented about this life) further east to Kashmir or Tibet to investigate more deeply this connection with these wise men from the east who obviously revered and loved this sacred and enlightened son of God?  Something to ponder on!  

‘A Russian doctor, by the name of Nicolas Notovitch was traveling through India, Tibet, and Afghanistan during the 19th century and it was said that he spent time at a monastery in Tibet with the name of the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, which was in Hemis, in Leh in India. He is said to have translated a document that tells the story of Jesus, aka Issa, which means son of God. The story said that he had been born during the first century into a family who was poor in Israel.

The tutors in the monastery called him the son of God from aged 13 to 29. It was said that Notovitch went on to translate 200 of the verses out of the 224 that were in the document.

A Lama explained to Notovitch the scope, along with the level of enlightenment, which Jesus had managed to achieve during his time at the monastery and this was said to be an extreme level. The Lama said that Jesus was a great prophet and he went on to say that he was greater than all of the Dalai Lamas as he constituted the spirituality of the Lord.’   A BBC Documentary

Whilst this may sound far fetched to some, it is intriguing to me that there is no documentation on Jesus in those missing years and this also gives a possible explanation as to why I feel there is such a strong correlation between Buddhism and mystical Christianity.  Not so much in its outer religious expression today, but in the inner, non dual, mystical knowing deep in the sacred heart. In the awakening to spirit. There is no doubt that the teachings of both Buddha and Jesus are strikingly similar.

What are the ‘false idols’ of our time which appear innocent but in fact do come before the love and true peace, light and freedom of the divine, time and time again?  Have a look here and see what you think.

Perhaps we can literally become slaves to chasing the phenomenal things of this world and missing the real treasures that lie within?  Have a look at this article about greed as a false religion 

Also Martin Luther King had something to say about False Gods We Worship

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