Question
How come Buddha does not have beard like all other sages? After all the was in the forest?
Answer
One has to realize the difference between actuality and religious imagery, or representation as it's often called. People ask similarly, "why is Christ often depicted like a nice, tall, white American college student when he was probably a coffee-colored man, short in stature?"
Answer: People tend to make representations of religious figures and ideas according to their current cultural patterns. This makes it easier for them to focus the mind on what that image represents (i.e. supernatural realities). But a danger lies in falling into a kind of childish, fantasy love affair with the cultural image, and losing sight of what it is intended to represent. It seems that many adherents within various religious organizations fall into this clannish kind of boy-scout/girl-guide style of religious devotion and practice.
MWC
