How much is your Buddha? Weird question, right? It goes back to January 2011, when I was buying some sculptures in India. I had recently haggled two sculptures- one of Buddha, and one of Ganesha (Lord of Good Beginnings)- from 2000 to 250 rupees. I was pretty satisfied with my find, having only paid the equivalent of $5 dollars for two awesome sculptures. It wasn’t until later that a man told me that I shouldn’t have bought those sculptures because they were “cheap and probably made out of chalk.” This man, who was my faux-guide for the Taj Mahal, kept telling me that I got ripped off, and that I should invest in marble sculptures instead since they were “high quality.” I told him that I actually liked cheap stuff better, and that I was okay with the sculptures I had. I left India, and it wasn’t until a month later that I glanced at these two sculptures and realized the meaning of the experience that had come with them.
What that guide did is something that many of us do everyday. He attributed a price to two things that are priceless. Instead of seeing Buddha and Ganesha, he saw two novelty items that had a dollar sign instead of a spiritual symbol. I didn’t give a shit whether the sculptures were made from dirt or diamonds, it was what they represented that attracted me to them.
How often do we give value to certain things that don’t deserve it? We regard buying the latest kicks, getting the best grades, or even looking the most attractive, higher than things that we truly know deserve our attention: family, friends, love, the world. I’m not sitting here saying that valuing material possessions or something like the latest technology is wrong–not at all. I love technology and a nice pair of shoes! But to rank certain superficial things higher than the things that truly matter is something that you may end up regretting. Just stop once in a while and ask yourself, HOW MUCH IS YOUR BUDDHA?
