I was sat in a meeting of men yesterday and someone raised the story of a local hairdresser, who had used an image from the buddhist centre in their city for their flyers.  The image was one of Aloka's paintings and the buddhist centre had the copy rights for it. The hairdressers had not sort permission to use the image and well we talked.

We threw ideas around the lunch table and there is alot to consider really. There of course was the obvious issue of copy right and using something that was not freely given, though this in its self caused some heat, as it was not seen the same by all. Some saw the lawbreaking and lack of ethics, some saw the spreading of buddhist images and its positive effect on people.

how could buddhists really bring the leagle system to bear on this situation, when really its a matter of increasing our positive influence in the world?

But then comes the biggy, does having buddhist images spread every where really improve the world and buddhisms cause? seeing the buddha on posters and hairdessers flyers, t shirts and tv adds for vacuum cleaners really help or hinder?

It raises issues of how we look at scared/holy art. if its a good idea to spread the message wide but dilute it ? but also how we as buddhists relate to the images we have of the buddha and other  buddhist figures.

one of my issues over the years practising in three different centres in the uk, has been shrine room cupboards! haha. theres something about them that really says alot about were we are as western buddhists in relation to buddhist art.

Its not uncommmon to find images of the buddha or bodhisattvas (beings dedicated to enlightenment for all beings), and other ritual objects jumbled up together, mabey stacked up in one or two broken frames, collecting dust or damged and broken.

of course the shrines often change and some of those images get brought out again cleaned up and placed for all to see for a festival day or a perticular ritual. ''on show'' for us to prictise with and reflect on and feel devotional towards. but the cupboard is still waiting.

one of our problems (at least in my eyes) is in the modern westernised world, we have so much there are so many images made so cheaply posters and post cards reproductions of actual paintings and resin casts of statues, its almost impossible to know what to do with them all??   so its really not suprising that what we place on the shrine one week can be collecting dust and propping up the candle boxes the next.

But of course we also have to hold this next to our devotional practise, are we comfortable raising up our trust/faith/devotion in these objects these symbols of enlightenment, then after the festival or puja popping them back in the cupboard?

And yet, heres one of the things, they are after all just objects no? representations of the symbols of enlightenment. So that beautiful statue of the buddha on the shrine, is after all just a lump of wood or clay or metal, shapped by an artist to try and represent the images we hold in our hearts, or develop in our hearts of the buddha. they are not the thing in its self. All our devotion and love and respect, our worship which we direct at these images is not really for those artistically formed lumps but for the symbols they represent.

it would of course be so easy to literalise the situation, fail to see the distinction, but then we would be no better or enlightened than those the buddha talked of when he said ''there are those who go to sacred trees or groves shrines or rocks seeking a safe refuge, but in truth this is not a safe refuge, this is not a true refuge.

so what do we do? should we just scrap the lot as a waste and focus on the direct perception of truth? well the buddha was always clear you need to test things out against your exprience and listen to the words of the wise. so maybe if you want to try it, let me know how you get on?

my concern though is its such a major leap from where we are to seeing the full reality of things. we need to develop so much clarity of thought and purpose, and great depths of emotional positivity, and to be honest I dont see how you can side step the whole issue of devotion and sraddha, of building confidence in the buddha and his teaching.

So we are left walking the tightrope between literalistic belief in false refuges, becoming 'dogmatic devotionals'  or on the other side 'hard nosed truth seekers' reaching straight for 'reality' and struggling to avoid the huge empty space between.

Any thoughts?