Im so blessed to have been introduced to the teachings of Buddha through my aunt, Dr.Khalida Ghousia Akhtar. When i was maybe around ten years old (1990?) she made a visit to East Asia and brought us 2 statues of Buddha. Before that i had no idea who Buddha was and what it symbolized. We are muslims and in Islam statues are prohibited, but i think my parents were open to the idea for as long as we believed in the teachings of Islam and didnt worship the statue in any way; worshipping any form of a statue or idol would be against our belief in one God, Allah.
For me, the statue just reminded me of suffering in life...suffering in the world... and would remind me that there other religions in the world as well that we can learn from , care for and respect...and how in a way we all are one. Later on when i was old enough to understand things better, my aunt would often sit with me and we would have long sessions over tea talking to each other about Buddha and his teachings. When i look at this statue, I think a big part of it also reminds me of my aunt and her sufferings...her struggles ....and all the good times we have spent together...i love her so dearly and feel so lucky to have her in my life!
When we migrated ten years ago and moved to NYC we had to leave most of our belongings back in Pakistan, so we dont have those statues with us anymore. But, after i got married in July 2010 and moved to Chicago i bought myself this statue to place into my new house to carry on the same tradition :)
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