When It Comes To Buddhism, Where’s the Line Between Appreciation And Appropriation?
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(OPINION) Nestled in New York City’s ritzy Tribeca neighborhood is a restaurant dedicated to opulence, decadence and pleasure. You can make reservations on their sleek website, which also boasts three separate menus for dinner, dessert and drinks.
On the dinner menu, for example, you can indulge in the restaurant’s most expensive dish: a Szechuan-style tomahawk ribeye, a 36-ounce aged prime beef, for $215. Afterward, if you’re a member of a party of eight, you can sample the most costly dessert of BBNY tiramisu, consisting of Thai tea, vanilla wafer, chai granola and mascarpone for $120.
And don’t forget a bottle for the table. If you have enough to splurge on the restaurant’s most extravagant alcohol, then drop $2,850 on a Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, a French red wine.
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If you have the means to satiate your luxurious taste buds, then what’s the problem with such a high restaurant tab? For one, this restaurant is called Buddha-Bar and features a 16-foot glass Buddha, worth approximately $1 million, seated serenely in the middle of the restaurant as visitors gorge themselves.
Some could argue that since Siddhartha Gautama was a prince born into wealth before he became the enlightened one, there should be no problem with this place. But that’s not what’s inherently wrong. The issue here, for some, is that this restaurant is using “Buddha branding” with no connection to the actual practice of Buddhism.
This appropriation, or what some might deem appreciation, can be seen as disrespectful to practicing Buddhists. This “Asian fusion” restaurant is not new. In fact, Buddha-Bar has more than 20 locations in cities across the globe, including London, Dubai and Prague. This luxury restaurant and hotel chain was created in Paris in 1996 by Raymond Visan, who was not a Buddhist but someone who admired the culture. His wife, Tarja Visan, has run the operation since Raymond’s death as a result of a heart attack in 2010.
The couple were married in 1986 and traveled together to many countries, where they grew to admire different cultures. One of the cultures they admired most was that of Japan, which led them to draw up a concept that blended Eastern and Western cultures and eventually led to the creation of Buddha-Bar.
On Buddha-Bar’s website, the restaurant proudly states, “Since its creation in 1996, Buddha-Bar has been a precursor of a true concept of the Art of Living, with converging influences from the Pacific Rim movement.” In addition, Buddha-Bar has its own acclaimed series of compilation music albums, colorful Buddha covers and a resident DJ.
A Buddha head from the 10th century on exhibit at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. Photo via Wikipedia Commons.
How do Buddhists feel about all this? My plan was to find out.
A few miles north of New York’s Buddha-Bar, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, there’s a temple that looks like a regular townhouse with a sign outside that reads, “Chogyesa.” It is the Chogyesa Zen Temple of New York, a Korean Buddhist temple. Founded 30 years ago in the New York City borough of Queens, Chogyesa relocated to its current location in 2003.
The temple is an inviting place. Once you step inside and remove your shoes, you come face-to-face with a gorgeous golden Buddha — smaller than the one inside Buddha-Bar. Warm tones of orange and yellows flow around the room producing a feeling of sacredness.
After bowing three times as a sign of respect, visitors can walk downstairs to the Dharma Hall, where there is another golden Buddha with intricate green and white dragons adorning above where he is seated.
Everyone in the temple was very kind when I visited recently — both warm and welcoming. It was here that I met SooAh Lee, a 26-year-old former cook from California’s Bay Area. Lee currently lives at the temple with others, where they will begin their studies to become monks this summer.
Lee had never heard of Buddha-Bar but noted right away that the restaurant broke with the precepts of the Buddha.
“I am uncertain what the founder of Buddha Bar’s intentions were,” Lee said. “It is unclear to me what relation to Buddhism this chain has.”
The first precept in Buddhism says to “refrain from taking life.” While not all Buddhists are vegetarian, if they do eat meat it is not for sensual pleasure. According to the Buddha, it is possible to eat meat with a compassionate, pure and gentle mind, but it is the killing part that is strictly forbidden.
The third precept says to “refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.” Again, not every Buddhist abstains from alcohol. However, Lee emphasized that different sects within Buddhism may use alcohol within their practice. Again, it is never imbibed for personal pleasure.
Buddha-Bar was not founded by a Buddhist — yet a giant statue of the sacred Buddha sits in the middle of the restaurant. From what I learned, naming the restaurant after the holy teacher and using him as branding is appropriation, not appreciation.
Brianna Jacobs is a student at The King’s College in New York City majoring in Journalism, Culture and Society. She is the social media editor at The Empire State Tribune, the independent student newspaper at King’s.