Bentleys to Buddhas: Vintage-car shop restores temple statue

MCCANDLESS, Pa. – The large branches of Buddhism are often known arsenic “vehicles,” oregon ways of spiritual practice.

So it’s lone fitting that erstwhile the monks of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center needed a large restoration of its outdoor statue of the Buddha, they turned to an car restoration store specializing successful classical cars.

This concern of past Asian spirituality and modern American craftsmanship came to fruition precocious with the reinstallation of the recently refurbished, gleaming achromatic statue astatine the center’s temple.

Eyes closed and sitting successful the lotus position, the Buddha underwent weeks of painstaking enactment astatine Exoticars successful the municipality of McCandless, northbound of Pittsburgh. The statue sat amid an array of vintage vehicles from Bentleys and Corvettes to Porsches and a 1951 Ford pickup.

Workers stripped aggregate coats of deteriorating overgarment and primer — a task that required precision tools arsenic they worked connected the Buddha’s hair, depicted successful elaborate curls.

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They besides repaired cracks successful the fiberglass, added a metallic portion to fortify the statue's basal and enactment connected a caller overgarment of achromatic car assemblage paint, giving it a glasslike sparkle successful the sunshine.

The repair occupation fascinated customers and besides the classical car enthusiasts who bring aged blistery rods and sports cars of their ain to Friday evening blessed hours hosted by the shop, according to Exoticars co-owner Dave Ley.

“There’s ever thing present that radical travel the advancement on,” Ley said, and for a fewer weeks this fall, the Buddha “was a large hit.”

The Pittsburgh Buddhist Center practices the Theravada conveyance of Buddhism communal successful Sri Lanka, wherever the monks are from and wherever the statue was manufactured. Paid for by a donor, the Buddha was archetypal installed successful 2006 astatine the temple’s erstwhile determination successful Harrison Township, different suburb.

After the archetypal overgarment started going atrocious years ago, monks applied caller coats connected apical arsenic a impermanent measure, said Bhante Soorakkulame Pemaratana, abbot of the temple.

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But erstwhile they moved earlier this twelvemonth to their existent determination successful West Deer Township, besides northbound of Pittsburgh, they began seeking a much imperishable solution. A carpenter who had done immoderate erstwhile enactment for the temple recommended the car shop.

The result, unveiled astatine the temple Oct. 24, is “so great” and “beyond my expectation,” Pemaratana said. He expressed gratitude that Ley and his unit stripped the overgarment by manus alternatively than utilizing a powerfulness sander, which could person damaged the statue.

“I besides admit his courageousness to instrumentality this job,” the abbot said. “It’s beyond his comfortableness zone.”

Buddhists usage specified statues to assistance absorption their devotions and to contemplate the virtues of the religion’s founder.

According to Pemaratana, this peculiar 1 depicts the Buddha successful a airs symbolizing samadhi, oregon stillness. The monks regularly instrumentality it to an yearly festival celebrating the commencement of the Buddha, a gathering that brings unneurotic Pittsburgh’s assorted Buddhist groups.

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Pemaratana turned retired astatine Exoticars for 1 of the Friday blessed hours, delighting galore determination who helium said had ne'er earlier travel face-to-face with a Buddhist monk.

“They person seen monks successful the movies, but not a existent monk,” the abbot said. “I’m truthful blessed for the narration we built.”

So is Ley.

“We figured we’re getting immoderate bully karma,” helium said.

Ley besides tried retired what could go a slogan for the shop: “We enactment connected everything from Bentleys to Buddhas.”

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