Buddha Statue attacked again
Posted on May 17th, 2018
Asoka .Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1
17 May 2018
The Editor (Letters)
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
Ottawa
Dear Editor:
The anti-Buddha witch-hour happened again sharp at 12:45 this morning, when a man carrying about a 6-foot long 2″x 4″ crossed the road opposite the Heron Gate Senior Community Center and entered the Buddhist Temple property at 1481 Heron Road, jumped over the short fence which was installed just two days ago, and wacked at the neck a few times. It couldn’t do the intended task, to decapitate it again.
In frustration he left the piece of wood and sauntered away.
However he managed to take a slice off the chin off the newly restored statue.
It is unfortunate that Ottawa is a home for one anti-Buddha vandal, which has started to become and expensive nuisance for this Buddhist community. On Tuesday (15 May), another man was protesting the presence of the Buddha statue, walking up and down along the side-walk from 11:15 AM until 1:15 PM ,when I left the premises after Meditation. With the intention to speak to him I approached him who was carrying the placard which read “God’s 1st Commandment. thou shalt have no other Gods before me. ThroneofDavid.ca”. When he was close to me I stretched my hand to greet him and expressly tell him that “Lord Buddha was no God, What is that you are trying to tell me.” He wanted nothing of that and as I approached he turned around and continued his protest walk.
It is a pity. This Evangelical Christian could have learnt one thing from me, that the Buddha was No God.
Now we have to decide to do, what I think is rather silly, to place a large interpretation panel in front of the statue saying – The Buddha is not a God!. to keep off these uneducated vandals attacking the statue.That is the rub.
Asoka .Weerasinghe
Coordinator of Outreach Programmes
Hilda Jayewardenaramaya.
May 18th, 2018 at 7:29 am
Asoka,
These evangelical scum bags brainless stupid monkeys. We have them in Sri Lanka too. Rosy Senanayake and children of Premadasa are few of them. They keep insulting Buddhism every chance they get.
May 18th, 2018 at 7:49 pm
“Nahi Verena Verani—Sammanti dha Kudachanam
Averenacha Sammanti—esa dhammo Sanantano”
—The Dhammapa
“Hatred never ceases through hatred, but through love alone it ceases”.
As Buddhists, it is paramount to explore the pros and cons of our own practices. As Buddha showed in the Kaalama sutta, nothing should be accepted just because it had been a practice of the past, carried out by our parents, teachers or proposed by a priest or any other leader.
It appears that this Buddha statue displayed outside the Ottawa temple with no cover/shade to protect it from the elements, is arousing animosity in the minds of some passersby, somewhat in a similar manner to the antipathic feelings of some people when they see for example a women in a strange garb like the hijab, which is a strange dress in this part of the world. Wearers of such garb may wear them with pride of their roots, but some others feel threatened as they consider it as an unwelcome and forcible exposure of foreign culture.
Buddhists are very different to followers of all other religions in that they are asked and expected to question everything before accepting it or rejecting it, only when once they have convinced themselves. Further, they are very tolerant human beings, following Lord Buddha’s teaching “nahi verena verani” from the Dhammapada quoted above.
So, here are a few relevant questions to ask oneself.
• What purpose does this Buddha statue placed in the front yard of the temple serve? Do we have to show it off as an exhibit?
• Does the current location provide as an unguarded location and an easy target for ignorant vandals and haters to attack?
• Is there a better place to keep it, better covered from the elements and away from being a target and an “eyesore” to the haters of Buddha statues?
With metta.