Why we should not cast the Buddha as a clown in order to entertain audience and to show inappropriate roles as a monk

When Prince Siddhartha decided to become a monk and started his journey to find true happiness, he devoted his whole body and mind to it and practiced seriously. He even risked his life along the path to Enlightenment and was not afraid to do so. Eventually, he rid his mind of all impurity and became the Buddha. The Buddha was self-disciplined, calm, dignified, and a role model for His disciples and followers through the centuries.

These days, however, some people use the character of the Buddha in animations, movies, and TV series, and cast Him as a clown and make Him say and do inappropriate things to make the audience laugh. This is unacceptable and inappropriate for the following reasons:

1. It defames and devalues the Buddha to have Him perform and act in a manner contrary to how a monk should act.

2. It makes the audience disrespect the Buddha when they see Him do foolish things. Often the audience only sees the entertainment and fails to grasp the impropriety.

3. It offends Buddhists because using the character of the Buddha in this way doesn’t respect their beliefs.

4. It creates conflict in society because, while some people might think that it is an individual’s right to create such content, others are deeply hurt by it. And disagreement follows.

5. Some people invoke the Buddha’s teaching to “let things go” and say we should not be troubled by misuse of the character of the Buddha. However, the teaching refers to letting go of the emotions of love, greed, anger, and lust. We should not let go if we see something that needs to be fixed. If we see something that needs to be fixed and fail to fix it, it means we are negligent.

6. It erodes belief in Buddhism because misuse of the character of the Buddha leads people to think that the Buddha never truly existed and is only a fairy tale. Eventually believers will fade away and Buddhism will decline.