Later in the “Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet sequence, Eliza prays to Buddha for a miracle when she is being pursued by hounds and he sends a miracle (“snow”), for which he demands a sacrifice of Eva.
A minor point, but something I’ve always wondered:
I know that this is a musical based on a non-musical based on a novel based on a memoir that was exaggerated to begin with and therefore not to be taken seriously as a treatment of Thai theology in the 1860s, and I know that the plot of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is as mangled as the Elephant Man’s kid with an octopus and therefore unworthy of your interest, but…
Would most Buddhists actually ask Buddha for favors? I always thought he was more of an “inspiration” from whom you sought wisdom and guidance rather than more tangible needs, or, in other words, if you were starving you’d pray for him to help you accept your starvation rather than for food. Do the devout also pray for divine favors?
There are so many denominations of Buddhism and many cultural influences that affect it.
I don’t pray to Buddha or anyone else, but there are Buddhists who do pray to Buddha (Gautama), other buddhas such as Maitreya and Guan Yin, and other beings called dharma protectors. So some do, and some don’t. I secretly roll my eyes at Buddhists who pray.
I think it is some urge in some people to want to pray for things from parental beings.
I do prostrations in front of Buddha and bodhisattva statues but more as a sign of respect. I don’t worship or pray to them. I don’t think of them as deities. Also the prostrations are a form of moving meditation.
To answer the question about what do Buddhists pray for, I have heard they pray for the usual stuff that christians tend to pray to god for such as food. I am not sure what you meant by “divine favors”. I doubt they would pray to accept starvation. I am not sure if you meant that as a joke.
I just wanted to add as a side note that I know it’s bad karma to roll my eyes at praying Buddhists, but I’m still working on my spiritual practice so haven’t gotten there yet. That reminds me of another digression, in the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, there is a bodhisattva named “Never Disparaging Bodhisattva”. Whenever I think of his name I smile.
Ideally a B prays to express gratitude and asks to become less. But there are so many sects the question has no meaning. How do you compare a Medieval Monk fasting in a cave to Joel Osteen? My teacher wanted his every breath to become a prayer, but I have no idea if he ever achieved that goal. I’m a major backslider but I can reveal a Koan to you, the sound of one hand clapping is what I do when I watch videos on XHamster .com.
This doesn’t really relate to the musical but it may give some perspective. I’ve met a few Buddhists in Malaysia and I was surprised that a couple of them were asking Buddha for lottery numbers. One of them was also using a medium to talk to his dead father.
Many people do not understand the vast variety of religions and philosophies that fall under the rubric of “Buddhism”.
At one end of the spectrum, there is “philosophical Buddhism” - the philosophy of life based on the four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Arguably not a religion at all, more a prescription for the perceived ills of existence (in some text, the Buddha likens himself to a physician). To this philosophy, gods and indeed religions are simply irrelevant; or better yet, orthogonal (gods may exist or they may not; if they exist, they are simply bound to the wheel of existence just like humans!).
At the other - there is Buddhism as a religion remarkably similar in many ways to Catholicism, complete with a variety of heavens and hells and saints to pray to for intercession and favors spiritual or material; and even a messianic figure somewhat similar to the second coming of Jesus (the future Buddha Maitreya). There have been revolutions inspired by the messianic hopes raised by Maitreya.
Very true. It’s like pointing and laughing at born-agains and snake handlers while we still enjoy reading Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross, even though they’re all ostensibly Christians.
Any relation between the king in The King and I and the real Rama IV (or Mongkut) is almost coincidental, but the real man entered a Buddhist monastery as a young prince for what was to be a temporary and traditional sabbatical, but following a palace coup by one of his half brothers he remained a practicing monk from the age of 20 until he was in his mid 40s. He was also, in one of few parallels to his Yul Brynner alter-ego, a passionate student of what we would call STEM. I’m wondering if it would have been an all in character for him (either as a real man or as a historical fictional construct), a man educated in both whatever form of Buddhism was practiced by the Siamese royal family in the early 20th century and a self educated voracious reader and (at least in many issues) a critical thinker.