We stole this guy from my mother. She was between apartments and asked if we’d hold on to him. He never got returned. We put him up over the fake fireplace along with the Shabbat candlesticks under the Bridget Riley print. The first time we lit, I instinctively went to move him off the mantle; and then just as instinctively put him back. I’m not sure I would have wanted to a more conventional sitting Buddha. But this reclining Buddha hit the right Shabbat repose. I haven’t turned into a Buddhist, nor do I take this to be a sign of assimilation. If anything, he’s the one who has assimilated.