What Would Buddha Do?

[camerata]

What would Buddha do?

The lights are so dim at Tao Asian Bistro, a Manhattan restaurant and bar, you can barely read the menu to see the ingredients in your $12 Tao-tini cocktail. Above all the flirting, drinking and spending looms an illuminated 16-foot Buddha statue. In the past year, Buddhism-themed restaurants and bars have proliferated; there are now at least 20 in about 13 cities. This spring, four bastions of serene extravagance--Buddakan, Buddha Bar, Megu Midtown and Moksha--opened in New York alone. Om, in Cambridge, Mass., just opened its doors, with aromatherapy cocktails and specially commissioned Buddhist art from a master painter in Nepal. Tao opened a Las Vegas playground last September.

What would Buddha do? Drinking liquor, eating meat and, in general, spending huge sums on sensual indulgence would seem to conflict with the core Buddhist tenets of simplicity, vegetarianism and moderation. The Buddha wasn't all that into cruising, either. "Men and women meeting each other without pure intentions violates mindfulness trainings," says True Virtue, a fully ordained nun in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen tradition, at the Green Mountain Dharma Center in Vermont.

Full article at Newsweek.

[awakened]

What would Buddha do?

The lights are so dim at Tao Asian Bistro, a Manhattan restaurant and bar, you can barely read the menu to see the ingredients in your $12 Tao-tini cocktail. Above all the flirting, drinking and spending looms an illuminated 16-foot Buddha statue. In the past year, Buddhism-themed restaurants and bars have proliferated; there are now at least 20 in about 13 cities. This spring, four bastions of serene extravagance--Buddakan, Buddha Bar, Megu Midtown and Moksha--opened in New York alone. Om, in Cambridge, Mass., just opened its doors, with aromatherapy cocktails and specially commissioned Buddhist art from a master painter in Nepal. Tao opened a Las Vegas playground last September.

What would Buddha do? Drinking liquor, eating meat and, in general, spending huge sums on sensual indulgence would seem to conflict with the core Buddhist tenets of simplicity, vegetarianism and moderation. The Buddha wasn't all that into cruising, either. "Men and women meeting each other without pure intentions violates mindfulness trainings," says True Virtue, a fully ordained nun in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen tradition, at the Green Mountain Dharma Center in Vermont.

Full article at Newsweek.

I'm not a Buddhist as you know. I do recall reading Hesse's 'Siddhartha' a few years ago, which I thought was terrific. If the book is based on true aspects of Buddha, then this section (from Wikipeia) would lead me to think Buddha may not be too fazed...

'Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding. Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves – Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and Siddartha’s immersion in the world of love and business do not lead to nirvana, but yet they cannot be considered detractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.'

-------------------------

Isn't it fair to say, that for the young, the world of the senses is far more appealing than dry ascetism and it's only when we reach a degree of maturity are we ready to take up the spiritual path? Ergo the saying... 'We spend the first half of our lives looking for excitement and the second half trying to avoid it!'

Might Buddha also consider that, although it is not the ideal for way for him to be remembered, at least he is still remembered?

[camerata]

The irony is that these restaurant owners adopt the Buddha because he looks cool and serene, but the coolness and serenity were achieved by giving up sensual pleasures.

Isn't it fair to say, that for the young, the world of the senses is far more appealing than dry ascetism and it's only when we reach a degree of maturity are we ready to take up the spiritual path?

It's generally easier to practise Dhamma when one is older, but in any case being a lay Buddhist is always a compromise and very rarely amounts to dry asceticism.

[cobra]

The irony is that these restaurant owners adopt the Buddha because he looks cool and serene,...

It's almost become a brand,

Another example is the Buddha Bar music label cd series, which are ever present in the chill section of music stores and of course the bootlegger stalls,

Each cover depicting some Buddha image in various form, slick and eye-catching, though the content has nothing to do with Buddhism, just playing off the perceived mysticism of it all, just another promotional hook,

Edited July 3, 2008 by cobra

[PhilHarries]

I am not Buddhist although I like to think I lead my life according to at least some of the principles of Buddhism. In Kuala Lumpur there was a bar in Jalan Doraisamy (Asian Heritage Row), the name escapes me, that had Buddha images all around inside and out. I often thought it was a bit incongruous sitting drinking beer in such a place but the atmosphere was very serene (until later in the evening by which time I was gone).

But alternately what would the Lord Buddha make of the proliferation of Buddha images, was he not anti the worship of any kind of mystical image?

[camerata]

But alternately what would the Lord Buddha make of the proliferation of Buddha images, was he not anti the worship of any kind of mystical image?

Yes, but Buddha images can fulfill a legitimate role by inspiring people and reminding them to be mindful.

[Yamantaka]

Wouldn't Buddha just look at the bars and smile?

[pampal]

All the Buddha images I have seen are ones depicting a very fat man. They do not depict an emaciated man, so he must have indulged in some of the things that are served by these modern day restaurants(meat & alcohol), unless all these Buddha images are wrong.

I don't know either way.

[Samuian]

... he would probably ask what are these serenity expressing statues are all about and if there is some artistic meaning behind it and then would laugh his head off!

[camerata]

All the Buddha images I have seen are ones depicting a very fat man. They do not depict an emaciated man, so he must have indulged in some of the things that are served by these modern day restaurants(meat & alcohol), unless all these Buddha images are wrong.

I don't know either way.

Those images are of Budai, a Chinese monk who some claim to be the Buddha of the future. He is known as the Laughing Buddha, but has no relation to the historical Buddha.

[jumnien]

With obesity rampant in present day China, it's probable that the Chinese buddha of the future would be obese as well.

[IMA_FARANG]

What would Buddha do?

The lights are so dim at Tao Asian Bistro, a Manhattan restaurant and bar, you can barely read the menu to see the ingredients in your $12 Tao-tini cocktail. Above all the flirting, drinking and spending looms an illuminated 16-foot Buddha statue. In the past year, Buddhism-themed restaurants and bars have proliferated; there are now at least 20 in about 13 cities. This spring, four bastions of serene extravagance--Buddakan, Buddha Bar, Megu Midtown and Moksha--opened in New York alone. Om, in Cambridge, Mass., just opened its doors, with aromatherapy cocktails and specially commissioned Buddhist art from a master painter in Nepal. Tao opened a Las Vegas playground last September.

What would Buddha do? Drinking liquor, eating meat and, in general, spending huge sums on sensual indulgence would seem to conflict with the core Buddhist tenets of simplicity, vegetarianism and moderation. The Buddha wasn't all that into cruising, either. "Men and women meeting each other without pure intentions violates mindfulness trainings," says True Virtue, a fully ordained nun in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen tradition, at the Green Mountain Dharma Center in Vermont.

Full article at Newsweek.

It's just the current fad for those with too much money and no real life to live.

Everything has it's time and purpose. Now it is just psuedo-asian mystic blather to those who don't know any better.

Don't worry about them.