One of my Hospice patients used my Buddha statute as a door stopper. She did not know Buddha, nor was she aware that this was a religious statue.
I picked it up without words, placed it back, and offered a flower saying: “The Buddha is the Awakened One. Sometimes the Buddha is a door stopper, sometimes a door opener.” She was overcome with shame because of the ignorance, at the some time delighted to face the Buddha. And we both cracked up laughing.
Sometimes the Buddha is a door stopper sometimes a door opener. One thing follows into another, nothing to grasp.
Mushin Sensei
Prison Ministry Team