Buddha and bodhisattva statues and paintings serve to inspire wisdom and awakening. They are teaching aids, not representations of gods. There is no belief in gods within Buddhism.

Statues and paintings of the Buddha serve to inspire us and remind us of our true nature of mind - Buddha means “awakened.” The many bodhisattva statues and paintings remind us to cultivate virtue.

Each of the many statues or paintings portray a different aspect of thought or action. They remind us to cultivate virtue, wisdom, knowledge and to remind us to be mindful. They are simply expressions of concepts and teachings, they aren’t “prayed” to or believed to be deities or gods.

All the various statues, images, mandalas etc. are simply visual representations of the ideas and teachings of Buddhism - anthropomorphic representations of the aspects of compassion, wisdom, endurance, strength, etc. They are there to inspire, to represent certain aspects of the universe.

Buddhist statues and paintings are never prayed to, rather they are to be studied in meditation. We do not pray to these statues and paintings but rather strive to embody their teachings.