5. Buddha's statue is only an instrument

Totally revealed but invisible Truth has been said not to have a shape; thus, it has been said to be huge and also to be minute. Since it is shapeless, it cannot be said to be big or to be small. But it has been said, "it moves lively".

You need to learn and understand Buddha's teaching correctly until you can realize the Truth by yourself. If not, you will make foolish mistakes time and time again by taking a Buddha statue as the real Buddha since you do not understand what Buddha is.

The statue of Buddha is an idol made of wood, bronze or clay. But there is a reason why the idol came to be a focus for belief. It is definitely not true, though, that the statue of Buddha was set up to be an idol for worship.

The idol is a necessary tool through which a beginner can improve gradually up to a certain higher level.

As a general analogy, if students at the elementary school level are directly promoted to a middle school without adequate knowledge, they  will, with a few special exceptions, be perplexed and become more foolish. If the elementary school students finish their level properly before being promoted to the middle school level, then the students will be properly prepared. Likewise, the statue of Buddha is a convenient instrument to help lead beginners to a correct faith in the religion.