They said that Buddhism is not a religion but a way of life...and they have Buddha as their follower, leader and teacher. I actually have a lot of shots of buddha in Thailand, with different pose, color and costume. But this picture is the biggest so far, and I am not sure if its pure gold or plated. But it was all inside a temple all by himself, dressed with yellow silk. There were silks piled on the sides that were offered by adorers, and it seems like every minute, they change his silks so that the piled offerings can be wear by buddha during their adoration.
The buddha were being prayed with an incense, candles and flowers, not far from a traditional catholic reverence to religious statues and images. However, a buddhist concept is different from a catholic. In buddhism, there is karma as the law of cause and effect, and the rebirth or the incarnation. That is why they spare the life of an insect believing that it must be someone's life incarnated. The popular terms I heard from buddhism are Zen, meditation and nirvana. So far, buddhism is the major religion in India, China, Thailand, minor in other countries in Asia.
Photo: Taken 2/19/2006 in Bangkok, Thailand