The image of Jesus Christ is everywhere, from renaissance-period paintings and sculptures to stained glass windows, on rosaries dangling from rear-view mirrors to votive candles lit on special religious holidays, even miraculously charred on pieces of toast. On the other end of the spectrum, Islam generally prohibits the drawing of sentient beings and, most especially, of the divine prophet of the religion, Mohammed. This “breathing of life” into living creatures, even in rudimentary paintings, is the domain of Allah (God) and not man.
Buddhism is not as restrictive as Islam or as freewheeling as Christianity about depictions of their central figure. The Buddha (“The Enlightened One”) is not considered God and reverence to him does not elevate the practitioner’s chances of attaining enlightenment, the end goal of the religion. In fact, “worship” of Buddha’s image is considered a hindrance as it runs counter to a major tenet of the Buddhist faith, detachment. It also further distracts on the internal spiritual self-journey that are asked of followers.
Partly because of the esoteric nature of Buddhism, the numerous interpretations and re-interpretations of its founder’s teachings, and basic human fallibility, statues of the Buddha have still been erected all over Asia. One of the most jaw-dropping was housed at Wat Pho (“Temple of the Reclining Buddha”) in Bangkok. Maybe the reposed figure was built to serve more as a reminder and less of an object of veneration.
