Farewell to the Buddha in the Civic Center

Buddha's hand, mudra. @ Nancy Ewart, 2011. Drawing - charcoal, conte crayon on Arches paper

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

The colossal "Three Heads Six Arms" sculpture at the doorstep of City Hall will be gone come Tuesday. Its one-year lease from the Chinese government is up. Now it's going back to artist Zhang Huan's studio.

"We tried to borrow it for a longer period of time, 18 months, but we were not able to," said Luis Cancel, the Arts Commission's director of cultural affairs. "They were afraid that it might not come back.

Maybe they feared that it left its heart in San Francisco? 

When the statue was first installed,  I had fantasies that the it would break loose and demolish city hall and all our useless/idiotic supervisors but no such luck. It didn't eat any of the denizens who hang around the library either and can make life difficult for those not up to dealing with SF's entitled and cocky street people. All it did was sit there and poss endlessly for photos. Do you suppose that many of those people realized that it was supposed to symbolize the destruction of Tibetan culture? In an even more idealistic mood, I hoped it would inspire embracing the Noble Eightfold Path - "right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."

Alas no. But I will take a note from the Buddha and pray for compassion for all sentient beings.

http://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/2010/01/many-armed-several-headed-buddha-statue.html
http://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/2010/05/buddha-has-landed.html