there is a zen story of a man, who although he was the best wrestler in all japan, never won an official contests. he went to a zen master for advise: the master told him to sit in the temple by the ocean: he should not move and image to be a wave. he sat there for a long time staring at the waves. the waves became bigger and bigger. an enormous storm had started…. finally a huge wave smashed all the way in the temple breaking all the vases and dragging the wrestler into the sea. he got almost smashed on the rock, but he manage to go back to the temple and sit quietly till the storm subsided. it is said that since then, he never lost a fight; he changed his name to ocean wave. a ‘fighting’ buddha seems to us a paradox; buddha is laughing, he is not fighting, a game is going on winning or loosing are meaningless… buddha just plays and laughs.. the image of buddha is taken from the chinese tradition: not the serious meditator, but a man of cosmic laughter…

11" x 9" x 9" 2005, series of 12, 18 lbs