Hey all, new to the boards.
As much as I hate for my first post to a new community be slightly antagonistic, I feel the need to come to JohnBear's defense on this one. It's a quarter, people. A quarter. The odds of a highly immaterialist Buddhist practitioner realizing a) The monetary value of their coin, and b) Deciding to offer up this silver to the Supreme teacher is not only unlikely, it's virtually impossible. So long as he replaced the monetary value of the coin, I see no problem. Personally, whether it's a statue of offering, a wishing well, or a collection plate, I'd have taken that coin. I probably would've replaced it with greater than face-value instead of a straight swap, out of respect, but the principle remains the same.
As an atheist, maybe my opinion is slightly less than objective in this particular instance, but to all those comparing this to the tithings you offer up in your Sunday best, you should perhaps caution yourself on imposing Western idealism on Eastern practitioners. After all, not every religion cares about
hoarding practitioner's money for pedophiles.
Besides, no need to criticize! If you do happen to believe in some sort of celestial dictatorship, take solace in the fact that your personal God will punish JohnBear for the full melt value of that coin! Then again, he may be rewarded for plundering a false idol's offerings. After all, God works in mysterious ways!
To JohnBear: Sweet find!
To everyone else: Get over where he found it, jeez.