Why were Buddhas statues created throughout the world while I heard that Buddhists don worship…?
First, there is little or no worship of anything in Buddhism, at least as “worship” is commonly understood. The point of Buddhism is not to worship the Buddha, but to become enlightened, just like the Buddha. For the first couple of centuries after the Buddha’s death, he was only represented by footprints! Later, under Greek influence, statues were made. In fact, the early statues look an awful lot like Apollo! Anyway, in East Asian Buddhism, statues are sometimes used as what the Japanese call a honzon — an object of focus during meditation and rituals. Again, the intent is not to worship any external entity, but rather to use that object as a help to find the Buddha-nature within.
