The other day I was talking with a friend about home decor.   She told me that she just bought a $400 Buddha statue, and told me how she loved the way it looked, and what it represented. Going on about how it brought about a Zen feeling, and some shit about chakras, spiritual energy and what not.

I went into "yeah, uhuh, coooool" mode soon thereafter, to avoid calling her an idiot.  Obviously she didn't see the hypocrisy in what she was saying, let alone the true meaning behind Gautama's teachings.   I'm not calling myself a Buddhist by any means... but I did look into it.

Long story short, there was a guy who was raised by a very wealthy family.  After a while of living the privileged life, he didn't feel as fulfilled or as happy as he thought he would by having all that stuff.  He saw suffering in the world and wanted to know what caused suffering, and how to make it go away. He did a lot of meditating and observing. Amongst his findings was the theory that DESIRE AND IGNORANCE was the root of suffering. Desire being an unquenchable thirst that can only ultimately result in suffering.

Basically, wanting to have a buddha statue, is a desire.  Material desire goes against the teachings of buddha and, you're ignorant to not know that before assuming you know what any of these symbols mean.

Today I bought a bhudda statue that I saw at the dollar store... it's happy bhudda sitting on a pile of Oriental looking gold coins.   It was so funny, I just had to get it.  Hey, I never said I was a monk.