We Pick the Buddha We Can Relate To

amorfati@geocities.com wrote: 

>> " maybe we are projecting our own desires about the character of  Shakyamuni on Him. We westerners desperately want a jolly santa claus type buddha, it seems."

>>> So what? Projection is the Name of the Game. ...  I have a 'weight-challenged' friend who has a statue of the  short fat buddha (Hotei) on his altar.  I have an intellectual friend who has only the head of a  greek apollo style buddha on his altar, detached from the body. I have  a sensual friend who has the yab-yum buddha image on their altar.  We pick the Buddha we can relate to. Soon, we will have Buddhas  that look like Elvis, or Buddhas hanging from a cross.

>> We've already had those buddhas. They're called Elvis and Jesus.