[Opinion] The Poor Buddha Statue of Haein-sa

There are many persons of stature in the history of humanity. Every nation or community has such a person but there are individuals whose significance and wisdom is universal and eternal – namely, the founders of religious movements. Chronologically speaking, Shakymuni Buhdda lived in the sixth century B.C.E, followed by Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammed. They were born in the form of human beings and transcended human limitations. Therefore, we have come to revere these individuals.

The Buddha`s compassion, Confucius` benevolence, Jesus` love – the expressions are different but they all share in common a limitless compassion, tolerance, and love for humanity. Moreover, they all warned against greed and called for self-control. They made us realize the impermanent nature of human life which appears like a dot in the infinite universe and disappears like a morning dew. They showed us the meaning of human life and presented to us the right way to live as human beings.

In a society like ours where the `freedom of religion` is protected by the Constitution and the people respect the diversity of religions, there are signs that these sages` teachings are being abused. Churches in Kangnam were showing off their numbers and competed with one another on how large their church building was. Now, the pastors are even passing down the churches to their sons like hereditary private property and are drawing criticism.

In the Buddhist world, there is intense competition over the size of the Buddha statue. So far Tonghwa-sa, Naksan-sa, Shinheung-sa, Bupju-sa and others were occupied with enlarging their statues of the Buddha, and now Haein-sa is planning to build a 20 billion won Buddha status that is 43m tall. This is higher than a 13-story apartment building. May be they think that their statue should be bigger than the 27m statue in Bupju-sa or hold a spiritual competition by building the larger statue. Some people say that there are cases of building large Buddha statues in Japan and China as well. Yet, the building is not justified just because it happens abroad. We have to use our own common sense and set our own standards rather than follow a mistaken foreign precedent.

The statue of the Buddha came about because the followers after Shakyamuni`s death were curious about his physical appearance and reproduced it from the scriptures. It first emerged in the northwestern region of India where sculpture developed under Greek influence. It was an expression of the wish to be closer to the Buddha as he was in human life and attend to him.

Historically, works of architecture and art become smaller and delicate in peace times while becoming bigger and less refined in war times, as if to display the power of physical force. It is widely acknowledged that while the castle built in Osaka by Toyotomi Hideyoshi is large and ostentatiously colored with gold, the cultural sites from the latter part of the Tokugawa regime in Kyoto are small and delicate. The former chose war, the latter peace.

Traditional Korean society which loved peace and prided in itself as a cultural nation also inclined toward minimization. Although we received new products and skills from China, these became smaller and more aesthetically sophisticated in the Korean context. The Sukgulam and the celadon pottery are examples of this. The royal tombs from the Choson dynasty, which produced its own unique high culture, show stone works that are smaller and subtle for times of peace and scholarship, but become larger and rougher in times of war.

The desire to build colossal statues of the Buddha, which is taking hold here and there today, is an indication of an imperialist mentality. One can catch a glimpse of the imperialist ideology that seeks to strengthen the nation`s wealth and military polluting religion and co-opting the people.

They say that the `teaching of emptiness` is important in Buddhism. Is not the desire to build huge statues of the Buddha actually contrary to the Buddha`s teachings? One cannot understand why they would want to insult the Buddha by making his statue into a colossal monster when the followers should be able to approach the statue with a sense of intimacy and compassion. On top of this, they would be destroying the renowned scenic landscape of Kaya Mountain in the process of building the statue. One must scrutinize this idea for the sake of the common person who will feel a sense of incongruity before this colossal statue.

Even though Haein-sa is building the colossal Buddha statue on its own property with its own money, in a larger perspective it is a nationally catastrophic waste. I hope that this statue-building may present an opportunity for the Buddhist world to receive a refreshing jolt and bring back the original insights that will completely reform the present thinking. It would be nice to be able to express the truth of the Buddha`s teachings in size, but . . . , will it not serve a double purpose of revering the Buddha and following his teachings if the money saved from the project went to relieve the poor?

Chung Ok-Ja (Seoul National University, Professor of Korean History, Director of the Kyujang-gak)