Thanks for your postedBen wrote:I think the discussion is interesting.
Where would we be without incredible monuments of devotion such as Shwedagon, Pagan, Kamakura and Borobudr? I think we would all be a little poorer as a result. So I think monumental devotional structures certainly have their place.
On the other hand, I agree with Bhikkhu Pesala that we should look at whether the money could be more wisely spent on something like a meditation centre, the sponsoring of a Buddhist University or even something more mundane such as medical research.
Personally, the world's biggest Buddha rupa doesn't do it for me. I grew up at a time when many communities along the east coast of Australia invested their municipal funds in building 'big' things, such as the big pineapple, the big banana, the big cow, the big sheep, the big lobster. And I believe that destructive introduced species that is so emblematic of coastal queensland, the cane toad, may have already been immotalised by a giant hollow fibreglass statue.
In fact, the list is almost endless. Those structures that are prefixed by 'the big' usually invite interest, not because of what they represent, but because they have become icons of kitch. I also live in a culture where buddha rupas are valued as up-market garden gnomes, so I wonder whether such a massive statue would in-fact devalue the Dhamma in the minds of non-Buddhists.
kind regards
Ben
I would like to compare this Giant thing with the children books (or A B C book) with many beautiful pictures inside.
If we stop to put or add many color pictures in the children books.
This would make these books cheaper.
But...all children will not interest to read the books.
If the children don't want to read. Then, they can not write even read... A B C.
So, in the future...We will not have any good Thesis from the next generation because they are not good writers enough.
Although we collected the money from stop color printing to build many library instead.
But no one will go to the library because they can not read and no good Thesis from the new generation.
Finally. the libraries that nobody uses.
So, please see the giant thing not to be a "Pra-bhud-dha-roop"...
But please see this thing and think it would be an "A B C book"
At least, we still need ...many color pictures inside.
(This is my opinion ...it might be right or wrong)