180. Q. But, do not Buddhists make reverence before the statue of the Buddha, his relics, and the monuments enshrining them?
A. Yes, but not with the sentiment of the idolater.
181. Q. What is the difference?
A. Our Pagan brother not only takes his images as visible representations of his unseen God or gods, but the refined idolater, in worshipping, considers that the idol contains in its substance a portion of the all-pervading divinity.
182. Q. What does the Buddhist think?
A. The Buddhist reverences the Buddha's statue and the other things you have mentioned, only as mementoes of the greatest, wisest, most benevolent and compassionate man in this world-period (Kalpa). All races and people preserve, treasure up, and value the relics and mementoes of men and women who have been considered in any way great. The Buddha, to us, seems more to be revered and beloved than any one else, by every human being who knows sorrow.
183. Q. Has the Buddha himself given us something definite upon this subject?
A. Certainly. In the Mahā Pari-Nirvāna Sutta he says that emancipation is attainable only by leading the Holy life, according to the Noble Eight-fold Path, not by eternal worship (āmisa pūjā), nor by adoration of himself, or of another, or of any image.
184. Q. What was the Buddha's estimate of ceremonialism?
A. From the beginning, he condemned the observance of ceremonies and other external practices, which only tend to increase our spiritual blindness and our clinging to mere lifeless forms.