C'est La Vie

Even though some of these were released months ago, I thought I'd post a few Judith Leiber clutches since I alluded to them in my previous post. These Judith Leiber clutches available online at http://www.neimanmarcus.com/ are deliciously luxe and fantastically detailed!

While I do find the Panther, L.E Strawberry and the Safari clutch positively droolworthy, I don't think that Buddha or Ganesh should be subjected to being some rich woman's statement piece for an evening out.

In Hinduism, idol worship is predominant, and many homes have statues or images of Gods that they worship, pray and perform rituals with. The Ganesh Leiber clutch would be treated with Godly respect by Hindus, yet in America it's something that women might throw in the back of their walk in closets.

In Buddhism, there is no idol worship, and Buddhists may or may not find the Leiber piece to be of any controversy. Although I'm not a Buddhist, I believe that there shouldn't be any images or depictions of Buddha, although I do appreciate and respect effigies of Buddha around the world (for ex. the Daibutsu in Kamakura - Daibutsu means "Big Buddha"). This is because immediately after the death of Buddha, there was basically a taboo against any image of him. This is because a Buddhist's goal is to achieve final Nirvana, and since Buddha had achieved total nirvana there should be nothing of him left behind. This is why for centuries he was represented by his abscence - in depictions of an empty throne, a tree with no one underneath, or even a dusty footprint.

Now, anthropomorphic images of Buddha prevail and one can find statues and depictions of him in places such as Winners, where he is sold as a decorative, household item.