EDITORIAL
A bar's bad karma: What's in a name?
For Buddhists, ignorance is the root of all evil. By ignorance they imply no opprobrium, nor do they refer to illiteracy or lack of knowledge, but simply a lack of exposure to the teachings of Buddha.
All humans are blamelessly born into ignorance, they say, but this explains the tragedy of existence. We haven't yet learned that giving way to our instinctive cravings is the cause of all sorrow and suffering.
This sort of unmindfulness, we think, explains, if not excuses, the unhappy — and perhaps short-lived —name for a new watering hole on Waikiki's Lewers Street, the Buddha Bar, with its trendy Asian motif.
It seems more than clever, and it mirrors the theme of similar establishments elsewhere.
But consider a not-unreasonable parallel: How would the drinking public react to a Western-themed saloon, the Jesus Joint, with a crucifix adorning the entrance?
In all likelihood, Buddhists might be less offended than Christians, because for most of them Buddha is not a deity but an enlightened teacher who taught them compassion and open-mindedness.
And the jolly figure displayed conspicuously at the Buddha Bar is relatively inoffensive, given that he is Hotei, one of the seven lucky gods of Japan, known as a patron of children, fortunetellers, bartenders and politicians.
Still, the name Buddha Bar is likely to spell bad karma, even if no disrespect is intended for one of the world's great religions — or its founder. As the Japanese Zen master had it, "From the very beginning, all beings are by nature Buddha."
Also, the Eightfold Path leads Buddhists away from intoxicating drinks, which leaves the choice of this theme at least mildly odd.
The point here, we believe, is that this particular bar is striving for an atmosphere of Asian mystery, intrigue and excitement.
Which is fair enough. But for the tens of thousands of Buddhists in Hawai'i, the choice of this particular image for a bar is less mysterious and exotic than plain perplexing.
Surely, another theme can be found.
