A Thought About
Western Buddha Archetypes
I saw this techno-futurist Avalokitesvara bodhisattva by the South Korean artist Wang Zi Won (왕지원), posted on Facebook. I think it is extremely cool!
I often think about buddha archetypes and the relevance of Asian-looking buddhist deity figures to us who are not Asians. It is interesting that Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mongolian and Tibetan buddha figures look slightly different from each other. In each country buddhas have been made to look like the natives. This has been a development or integration stage in history after buddhist teachings have been brought to each new area. So how about buddhas and buddhist deities without Asian figures? Would it be possible to have deities with Caucasian, Latin or African features? Yes, of course. I'd like to give some examples of this.
During the last couple of years I've become a big fan of bull rodeo (PBR). Bull rodeo is the sport where professional cowboys from US or Brazil ride wild bulls, usually on big arenas. I find the idea of riding a big 800 kg bull fascinating and it has crossed my mind that like Dorje Drollo rides a tigress or Dorje Gotrab rides a boar, how about having gurus and deities ride bulls... wolves... bears... motorcycles or a formula one race car? How about meditating on our buddhanature visualising ourself as the guru in the form of a cowboy... in the form of a doctor (embodiment of Bhaisajyaguru Medicine Buddha)... in the form of a strongman or strongwoman... or perhaps in the form of a virtuoso pianist (embodiment of Saraswati)? Why not? Having Western expression would make it more relatable to Westerners. These are just few examples but really there is no and cannot be an end to enlightened expression. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, according to Heart Sutra.
One crucial thing however. While artists, such as Wang Zi Won, have the freedom to imagine and create anything to express their artistic creativity, it is not like that when it comes to tantric yoga. For any tantric practice to be an authentic tool of enlightenment, it needs to come from a vision or a decision of a mahasiddha. This is a requirement and a necessary standard of all tantric practices. Inventions and imaginations of a samsaric mind are just what they are and therefore unreliable, i.e. something to avoid.
KR, 6.2.2022
