Respecting to the Buddha

"Buddhists respect the Buddha and we bow to the Buddha image," said Bro. Foong in tonight Dhamma talk at BMBMC, "But to what degree do we respect the Buddha?"

During the Buddha's time in Rajagaha, a group of brahmins were discussing the respect gained by teachers of 7 different sects including Buddha's. All of them agreed that 6 of the teachers of the sects do not command any respect from their followers because they had observed that their disciples questioned the authorities of their teachers or found that the teaching of their teachers is inadequate. They declared that the Buddha's disciples did not did dishonoured the Buddha. On contrary, they had respected the Buddha and listened with earnest the Teaching of the Buddha.

When asked by the Buddha on what are the reason His disciples respected him, one of the brahmins replied that it could be due to the fact that the Buddha only partake very little food, not fussy with his robes, stayed in any types of shelter, always go for alms and prefered a secluded solitary life.
These reasons were refuted by the Buddha.

Then the Buddha explained that the reasons why He commanded the utmost respect from His disciples.
They are

1.  The Buddha holds the Highest Sila in the speech, action and thought at all time
2. The Buddha command the Highest Knowledge and Vision
3. The Buddha has Supreme Wisdom
4. The Buddha had explained the Four Noble Truth clearly and comprehensively
5. The Buddha is able to teach and guide His disciples in the 37 Factors of Enlightenment.

These are the reasons why Buddhists should realised when we respect the Buddha even though at this present time is only the Buddha's image.

It had been a very interesting one and a half hour talk (in Hokkien/Mandarin/English) Dhamma talk shared with us by Bro Foong.

Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu