Relativity of Buddha to America's religious history

This image depicts a statue of Buddha centered in Franklin, New Jersey. Taken as a nighttime picture, the statue seems to emanate a type of brilliance. Not only is this “light” characteristic prominent, but there are other prominent features encapsulating the statue that can be defined by distinct moments in the America’s religious history. Although there may not be a direct correspondence between the association of Buddhism and American ideologies, an indirect relation can be created through the dissection of components of this particular Buddha statue.

One characteristic that should be examined about the statue is the setting. The statue sits in a place of complete isolation yet stands large and firm. This corresponds with the mentality of the American God. The Americans epitomize a sort of “self-reliant social pioneer.” In other words, Americans have a tendency to elevate the human nature while placing God at an arms distance. The people struggle away from authority, in this case being the old tradition of the belief of a tyrannical God, and focus on independence. Even though this new notion of God is similar to the old notion (in terms of having a distant God), the newer idea focuses on the independence of the individual and the older idea concerns itself with an authoritative figure which the individual gravels to. The fact that this statue is set off in an isolated environment helps emphasize the newer version – God is a deity sitting on the sidelines of a fantastic realm and human exist in the tangible realm through their own autonomy. The statue is also represented in a kind and open manner, as by the color choice and serene expression the statue holds. If the people were to ever need guidance, they hold the knowledge to seek out God – hence the known yet isolated location of the Buddha statue. 

Another factor worthy of inspection is the positioning of the statue itself: there is a generous aura erected from the open palms and the relaxed facial expression. This theme can be related back to Dorothy Day and Catholicism.  Dorothy implemented this kindness-for-all attitude – it stemmed from her religious beliefs and expanded to her social order. She emphasized equality for all and charity for those that don’t have. The Buddha statue is positioned in an open and inviting pose to make it appear like a unity of all of civilization. Dorothy carried the same mentality and advocated that everyone do so as well. In The Long Loneliness she explains how there is a constant demand for the transformation of the heart to by being one with the poor – by being there and adopting a similar lifestyle so that everyone is equals and the rigid social structure collapses. Being within the community and not differentiating from their suffering will help create spiritual comfort and a connection for humankind. This deconversion is not only related to the statue by its physical structure but also in its religious context. The poor are considered divine: they are God’s children. One of the routes in the eightfold path in Buddhism that will eventually lead to Nirvana (peace with oneself) is letting go of all desires - through this the human being will no longer suffer. In essence, Dorothy is advocating the stripping of the self from the materialistic realm and can hypothetically said to be practicing this path. In this manner the statue relates to Dorothy Day’s interpretation of Catholicism through it inviting a family of kindness through its architecture and secondarily characteristic of expression of the release of material goods.

Another principal characteristic that can be analyzed from the Buddha statue comes from its sheer magnitude. There is an air of power conveyed by the immensity of this statue.  The white color choice also helps add a heavenly virtue to the structure. It radiates with this sort of divine presence in of itself. This creates a specific kind of environment that the audience can respond to in two ways. Reinhold Niebuhr formats these two reactions in his novel Moral Man and Immoral Society. One of them is self-assertion in the name of the absolute: in other words, people can look at the tangibility of this deity and use it as an excuse to exert their power over others (the others being considered the enemies of their religion). A mentality of I-am-siding with this immense entity and hence my actions are justified is created here. In contrast to that feeling, some people behold this statue and a sense of humility is generated. One realizes his own insignificance when beholding such a powerful figure and hence there is a reduction of the ego. Either reaction can be triggered when viewing this gigantic form depicting a religious figure.

As proven, many features of the Buddha statue can be dissected and explained in terms of America’s religious history. The isolated location is relevant to the new technique of worshiping a God that plays a secondary role to human life, the positioning of the features creates a benevolent attitude that was executed by the Dorothy’s catholic movement, and the scaling of the statue evokes certain response that were examined by Reinhold Niebuhr. What is seen as normative features of religious artifacts can be studied more closely to reveal the ties to variant events in history. America houses numerous relics that, upon inspection, help reveal tidal waves of ideologies in the past.  Such techniques should be adopted so that not only is the matter at hand awarded more credit but the certain features of the religious pasts can be understood.