Why We Shouldn’t Dress to Mimic the Buddha, Monks, or Priests

Before Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, He sacrificed many things including a luxurious lifestyle. He practiced extreme asceticism on the way to finding a way to end the cycle of rebirth. After He attained enlightenment, He began teaching people to end their suffering and to reach Nirvana. He continued this until the end of His life. His kindness is infinite. Although He went to Nirvana more than 2,500 years ago, Buddhists still pay respect to Him and the symbols that represent Him, such as Buddha statues, pagodas and the monk’s robe.
The monk’s robe was the dress of the Buddha and His disciples during His lifetime, and it still is now, so it is sacred. Even if the robe is not being worn by a monk, is simply lying on the table, or has never been used by a monk, it still reminds people of the Buddha and His disciples. So, when we carry the robe, we must do so with respect as if the robe belonged to the Buddha Himself. If one desires to wear the robe, one must first be ordained.
Therefore, wearing a monk’s robe or a hat that looks like Buddha’s hair in order to attend a costume party or for any other mundane purpose is inappropriate for the following reasons:
– It disgraces the Buddha because dressing to mimic the Buddha shows disrespect.
– It devalues monks because the robe is their sacred dress. Using the robe for entertainment or any other reason means disrespecting monks.
– It creates further misunderstanding because people who see such mimicking might do the same.
– It undermines belief in Buddhism. People might think that someone who mimics a monk is really a monk and so it leads to the erosion of people’s belief in Buddhism.
– It causes Buddhism to decline because mimicking monks makes people disrespect them and that can lead people to believe that Buddhism is just philosophy instead of one of the world’s major religions.