Buddha

Alex loves Buddha. L.O.V.E.S.

We have this wonderful hand-carved Buddha head mask carved of one piece of wood that my Dad gave me for Christmas hanging in our dining room.

He points his finger and says "Ba" and that means he wants to go to see Buddha. We pick him up and he points to the nose. Then, points out Mama's or Daddy's nose. Then - eyes, ears and head. Then he touches his head. He is learning so many different words and we repeat them to him a lot. We ask "where is your ears?" and he sometimes points right to them. He gets nose and ears mixed up, but always gets head, bellybutton and toes right. We actually think he is getting downright obsessive. Sometimes we just have to put the Buddha away.

This makes me thing about religion - or lack there of - for us. Neither of us were "raised" with any religion. In fact - I would call us without religion. Yes - we celebrate Christmas, etc but in a very secular way. It's more about the traditions and family getting together. I have some friends that are Jewish and I love hearing about their traditions and rituals.

What I would like for Alex is to get pieces of different religions in a secular or non-secular way for him to understand the people of the world in a holistic way - as much as any kid can.

I guess this is just the beginning. Someday we can talk to him about what Buddha and Buddhism means for millions of people around the world. And remember back to when he was obessed with Buddha.