Even before the T'ang dynasty, Ch'an monasteries had Buddha statues. We can see how important Buddha statues are from the Yun-kang and the Lung-men, two famous Buddhist sites which have many Buddha images carved in the walls. These sites were built in the third and fourth centuries. Statues were important for general practitioners after the T'ang dynasty as well.

STUDENT:

I assume that T'ien-jan burned the wooden Buddha statue in order to teach a lesson to his disciples. But, if I burned a Buddha statue in order to demonstrate my understanding of Buddhism, would it make a great deal of difference? In other words, would burning a Buddha statue be an act of desecration if the right understanding were not there?

SHIH-FU:

You must understand that the story of T'ien-jan is a kung-an. Every kung-an that is described can only happen once. They cannot be repeated. If someone repeats or imitates a kung-an later on, it is false. It cannot be a sign of enlightenment. If anybody hears a kung-an and then tries to recreate the scene, it will definitely be an act of creating bad karma, not a sign of enlightenment.

STUDENT:

But what if an individual truly believes that something which can be burned cannot be the Buddha? What if the person truly believes that he or she is burning this wooden statue to get warmth? It is not showing disrespect. Why would this be creating bad karma?

SHIH-FU: