RECLINING BUDDHA /> Shinnyo-en's main buddha image, through which Buddhists find inspiration for their practice, is a 16-foot (5-meter) statue of a reclining Buddha about to enter nirvana. The original one was sculpted by the Shinnyo-en founder himself after being inspired by a passage in the Nirvana Sutra about the significance of buddha images and symbols. The Founder often warned against idol worship and hoped that this "nirvana image" would link people to their own buddha nature and invoke the feeling that, as a person sits in front of it, he or she is receiving teachings directly from the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is as if one becomes part of the assembly of people who gathered around the Buddha to hear his last teaching and see him off just before he passed away. Followers of Shinnyo-en can also individually "enshrine" the nirvana image by making their own home altar using a picture of the reclining Buddha.

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