The fact that so many people think the woman was “praying to Shrek” shows how little people, even people who call themselves religious or spiritual, understand spirituality. Many churches and mosques were converted from pagan temples; were those people “accidentally” praying to the gods those temples were built to? In north Texas I used to pass a small Baptist church converted from a gas station; were those folks “accidentally” praying to Exxon? Physical objects don’t determine spirituality; the intent of mind and heart do. If the woman had Buddha in mind, it doesn’t matter whether the statue was of Buddha, Shrek, blonde-haired Jesus, Casper the Friendly Ghost, or Oliver Hardy; she was still praying to Buddha because her thoughts were directed toward Buddha. An idol or other symbol of a deity is not the deity itself; it is merely a focal point for meditative thought, in other words prayer.
Praying to Shrek?
May 4, 2023 by Maggie McNeill
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Did she spend 4 years and not notice the tube ears? If she did notice, I want to know what she thought the Buddha had on his head.
Not much different from the horns that Moses used to have.
With the exception of the “tube ears”, the figure does bear a striking resemblance to depictions of Budai (Chinese) or Hotei (Japanese) as noted by Markm below.
Budai was a wandering mendicant. In folklore he came to be associated with abundance.
He carried a large sack, into which he put various interesting things he found, and gave them to children who were delighted by them.
An interesting example for thoughts of the philosophy of language. Names do seem to possess a special power to refer to the originally dubbed referent.
It gets a little complex with controversial fictional entities.
Some religious people who believe their god is the one true God, can sometimes be heard saying that people of other religions are accidentally praying to the Devil. 😈😅
By the way, the “Fat Buddha” statues do not depict the Indian founder of Buddhism around 500 BC, but Budai, a Chinese monk around 1000 AD.
Which rather proves my point, no?