Little Buddha

I was cleaning Will's room the other day, when I paused at the little Buddha we put on his radio:

The little Buddha was given to me just a few weeks after we found out we were expecting Will, a holiday gift from one of my sweet yogi teachers. He found a home in Will's nursery on a shelf, and when we changed his room, the radio seemed to be the place Buddha landed next.

So I stopped dusting for a moment, and stared at Buddha's little open palm, and I wondered to myself, "We have no plans of introducing our kids to any kind of organized religion. Encourage them to explore? Yes. Show them various paths and allow them to choose what they feel in their hearts? Duh...absolutely! So what kind of value do I want Will to take away from being able to recognize Buddha?"

Because honestly, I get a little warm and fuzzy when he points Buddha statues out at the yoga studios, in stores, in our house, etc., so what do I want him to understand about Buddha?

I grew up with a cross hanging in my bedroom and a Bible in my bookcase (Precious Moments edition, to be exact), and something tells me my mom probably didn't get the same warm and fuzzy feelings when I would yell, "Hey, that's Jesus!" or if I even yelled that, because I found my CCD years to be incredibly confusing. This confusion further confused me, because I liked reading, and I liked stories, and I liked lemon cookies and juice for snacks, and wrapping yarn around popsicle sticks to make "eyes." And yet I didn't understand the purpose of doing any of it.

And I've read a few mommy blogs lately that have expressed their gratitude in teaching their kids that God is there for them, because mommy won't always be, and I get that. There's comfort, as a mom, in knowing your kid will have someone to turn to and find comfort in regardless of the situation.

But that doesn't really fly with Buddhism. Or me. So...

"Yes, Will, just look to the cross legged pudgy guy, and he will inspire your way."

Silly, right?

And yet, I want my kids to know something about it.

These lessons, they will unfold as they are supposed to.

For now, I start with and focus on the mudra of the little blue Buddha on Will's radio.

Left palm in lap, right palm open. It is the Abhaya Mudra: symbolizing protection from others, an offering of peace, and a dissolving of fear.

In the end, regardless of religion, isn't that what we all want our kids to know and feel?