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How to make a Buddha

How to make a Buddha

Last updated on: March 16, 2010 at 4:54 am by Justin Whitaker

How to make a Buddha 2010-03-16T04:54:00-06:00 Justin Whitaker

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(Intense Zen voice): Do not make a Buddha…. Be a Buddha.

(Nice Western Theravadin Teacher – think Gil Fronsdal): Well, to make a Buddha, you first, you cultivate generosity. Then you meditate (a lot). Then you study like crazy (A Masters is proffered, but BA is okay). Gil has a Ph.D. but assures us that that isn’t necessary. And presto, you’ve made a Buddha.

(Tibetan pragmatism): Come up to Missoula or Arlee, Montana to make some out of good ol’ concrete.

Have a look:

This is the door to the “Buddha Barn” here in Missoula. Shop hours 1-3pm Saturday and 6-8pm Wednesdays.

Nice pictures inside.

Nice people too.

This is Allie, a fearless leader, pulling a fresh Buddha – four days after pouring – from a mold.

A group of volunteers. We had four from our local Vipassana group and two of us from the UM Campus Sangha come out to learn about the Tibetans big project.

They don’t always come out perfect.

But after some refinishing they get there.

Inside the Buddha-mold, ready for tonight’s pouring of concrete.

Mixing the concrete according to a time-tested recipe. A lot of hard work goes into each one of these. Even with a team of 8 or 10 helping out to make just four Buddhas, we were pretty pooped by the end of our short volunteer stint.

A key part of the pouring process: vibrating out the air-bubbles. As Brandon explains: too little vibrating and you leave air bubbles in, too much and you actually start creating new ones. It truly is an art making these Buddhas.

Next, Brandon described the significance of the blessed sog shing, ‘tree a life,’ (thanks to Konchog Norbu on what this was called) to be inserted into the Buddhas. Each was filled with prayers, sacred/blessed objects, and pleasant-smelling plants.

After saying that it is the intent that matters, Brandon showed us the insertion of a sog shing into a Buddha statue, chanting prayers in Sanskrit as he did so.

And finally a moist towel over our four new Buddhas to prevent them from drying up un-evenly.

For more pics, some video and some background info, see John’s blog Sweep the dust, Push the dirt. And for even more background, and even more pics -many eerily similar to mine- see my neighbor, the Bitterroot Badger’s blog.

I personally look forward to many returns to the Buddha barn and a visit to the one in Arlee before too long. I just got a message that I’ve been conscripted as a semi-official photographer for the Rinpoche’s return visit this weekend. That is, if I’m not on a road-trip toward Yellowstone taking pictures of Montana’s other awesome national park with Julie and friends. Oh, the good-karma cup runneth over.

Please join us if you can. We have about 500 more statues to make, plus stupas and those halo things that go behind them before His Holiness the Dalai Lama visits next fall (2011). Hit me up or contact Ewam directly (smarter) for info on how to help out. As our Badger friend well states:

Hey! Did you know you could sponsor one a these buddha statues for only $200? Swear it’s true, and here’s where you do it. That’s some mighty good karma, helpin create sacred images that the Dalai Lama’ll bless, don’t you think? You can also sign up for Ewam’s mailin list, get on their Facebook page, all that. I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch the progress a welcomin the Dalai Lama to Montana with 1000 buddhas and 1000 stupas?

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