This is another Indian Buddha from a temple store. To me the gesture of this one resembles images of Krsihna.
Simply put, Buddhism or perhaps better, the Buddhism of Shakyamuni (Gautama Siddartha, the historical Buddha) ), is about “personal enlightenment.,” and not about social reform, or understanding the universe or being a good person.
Christianity also is about personal salvation, he/she who accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savour will enter into heaven—nothing else matters. At some point (probably circa Jan Huss, Martin Luther) the notion of Heaven on earth—that earth could become a place where treated other better) became associated with Christianity, and social reform became the notion that good Christians were concerned about a better life here on earth. However I think that is a more US liberal effort , a revisionist view of history which attempts to suggest that God cares about people. supports efforts here on earth and looks favorablly on people that help bring this about.
(NOTE: For a well written presentation on this see Idealogy and Utopia by Karl Mannheim.)
Perhaps in a similar way Mahayana Buddhism and the Bodhisattva are also associated with social reform, i.e. having consideration and care for others, however the Bodhisattva is only postponing personal enlightenment to help others find their personal enlightenment. Historically Buddhism is about personal enlightenent just as historical Christianity is about personal salvation and it is in that historical setting which Daruma lived.
In Buddhism there are different ways to realize enlightenment and Zen is one of them. Many may think of Zen as something in and of itself, seperate from other forms of Buddhism, but it is still Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths, the Eight FoldPpath and the Triple Jewel—Darma, Sangha and Buddha— these are the basic foundation of all Buddhism.
My wife is from a small town in Japan and the local temple there, which functions like most local country Buddhist temples, is associated with Eihe-ji, a Soto Zen Temple located in western Japan and founded in 1274 by Dogen, a Japanese Buddhist priest who visited China and returned with Zen. At the scheduled anniversary of a death in the family the priest will come over, lead a ceremony with some chanting sutras, drink some beer, eat some food, conversation and take a donation.
In the history of Zen there are three main characters: Shaka Buddha, Daruma and the Sixth Patriarch (his name was Hui-neng but rarely do I see him referred to by his name). Daruma or Boddhidarma which means the person who brought the Dharma (the teachings of Buddhism), however I have also read in Denkoroku that upon his enlightenment, his teacher, Prajnatara, gave him (Bodhitara) this name saying Perhaps Bodhi and Dharma were combined at that time.
ught this special form of Buddhism called “Direct Pointing to the Buddha MInd” from India to China and Dogen brought it to Japan, but in both China and Japan, Buddhism had been introduced and had developed/evolved before his arrival.
My understanding is that much of the history of Zen was not written until about the eighth century by the Chinese, and it may well have been written to reflect itself as a history of Zen. This thing of “Direct Pointing to the Buddha Mind” was called Dhyana in India, Ch'an in China and Zen in Japan. Red Pine has published a book on the writings of Daruma so there is some stuff that is claimed to be his writing and that would be before the eighth century. It is also not uncommon to see brush drawings of Daruma in Chinese kung-fu centers as Daruma has also been associated with bringing kung-fu to the Shao-lin temple.
But whatever of this historical accounting of Daruma might be factual, whatever is story or myth, when you visit Japan you will see Daruma images everywhere. One interesting thing is that the image of Daruma in Japan is not like a religious image, say like Muhammad or even an image of Christ on the Cross. No matter what form he takes, no matter how he is treated, no matter how he is represented, Daruma is not afraid to be anything, to go anywhere or to be seen with anybody. He will not be intimidated by anyone—I have seen Daruma toilet paper.
Business, new ventures and the New Year often begin with the purchase of a Daruma head and as a part of the opening ceremony a wish is made and an eye drawn in. I have seen Daruma erasers for school kids, Daruma toys for children that you pound and beat, Druma toilet paper, Daruma glo-in-the-dark bumper stickers, Daruma hand-held fans, even Daruma “sex toys”—whatever form he takes, he just becomes more popular, more ubiquitious and more meaningful in Japanese society. This section will be a little bit of his story.
This photo from a Japanese popular tv program shows a work scene where you can see the daruma, often a standard prop on TV and film, in the right hand back corner of the room.
My purpose here is not to convert people— I am most certainly not an “awakened person.” But I so often hear the title of a book or blog article using “The Zen of This” or “The Zen of That” and it has nothing to do with enlightenment. Usually its some person or business trying to market themself was having a "bare bones, “only the essentials”, the“ real insight” , the “true nature” of the basic elements of something. That is simply not what Zen is about and it is just marketing hype. The basic thing is that in Zen there is no seperation, no distinction, and if according to the "Zen of this or the Zen of that” books implies there is a better way which means there is a “not better” way. This is the kind of intellectual distinction which, in Buddhism is artificial and prevents the individual from experiencing enlightenment.
But the story of Daruma is interesting, true or not, and he played and continues to play, a basic role in the development of Zen.
