2010年12月9日 星期四

He's a Deity. He's a Pitchman.

A Buddha-shaped handhold hangs on an elementary school climbing wall, and the children are taught to rub his belly for luck.Are you looking for Discount airmaxss Shoes ?

A plump Buddha candle purchased at Whole Foods has basset-like ears and a chubby smiling face that melt away as it burns.

From Gotama skis to the guitar-playing Buddha on the waistband tag of True Religion Brand Jeans (made in the U.S.A.), Buddha makes a heck of a pitchman -- ironically so, since the world's 400 million Buddhists believe that self-denial is one of the steps enabling the soul to reach nirvana.

Since today is Bodhi Day, commemorating the day that the historical Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gotama, experienced enlightenment,Mens suitbloggerzus need to be purchased carefully. AOL News decided to take a look at the commercialization of Buddha.The guards hold up a wholesale shoes in interrogation, demanding to know what it is.

Buddhism isn't the only religion being used to hawk wares. There are "Jesus Hates It When You Smoke" ashtrays, "What Would Moses Do?" beer steins, "Proud to Be Muslim" baseball caps and Joseph Smith gym bags. But unlike those, Buddha is marketed to all religions, not just to the 1.2 million self-identified Buddhists in the United States.

"What's happening with Buddhism is very much like what was happening on Madison Avenue in the '60s and '70s," said Rod Meade Sperry,a website that focuses on Buddhist pop culture and subculture. Just as advertisers jumped on the flower child bandwagon and worked to "keep selling them the revolution even if it is a car or a can of paint, the revolution now is Buddhism," Meade Sperry said.

Although Buddhism has been around for 2,600 years, it's relatively new to the United States. "It's exotic, so it has a cultural cachet," he said.

You don't hear a lot of Buddhists complaining about the exploitation, in part because many practice acceptance and thus don't judge such issues. Commercialism "is just a way of life in our system. To get offended by it doesn't make any sense to me," said Meade Sperry, himself a committed Buddhist. "Who should say culturally what should or shouldn't happen?"

But there have been murmurs.Codex is a weekly music podcast hosted by jeansblogqrobojp Snow. An online petition called "Please Do Not Desecrate the Buddha's Images" originated out of Myanmar and has about 1,800 signatures from around the world,Clothing can reflect status and situation for men and women.clothingslkut including many from the United States. Use of Buddha "to contradict the essence of Buddhism" is "an obscene mockery," the petition says.

The website run by the organizers of the petition lists the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas as the worst offender for using an image of Buddha next to a naked woman on billboards to promote its hip Tao restaurant and nightclub. The sign reads, "Spiritual Dining-Religious Nightlife." 

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