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laughing buddha

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msanjay

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Laughing Buddha

One can see this statue called the Laughing Buddha in almost any gift shop in Malleswaram/Bangalore… a statue of a man with a huge hearty smile carrying a bag on his shoulder.

Here’s his story…

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HAPPY CHINAMAN

Anyone walking about Chinatowns in America will observe statues of a stout fellow carrying a linen sack. Chinese merchants call him Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha.

This Hotei lived in the T’ang dynasty. He had no desire to call himself a Zen master or to gather many disciples around him. Instead he walked the streets with a big sack into which he would put gifts of candy, fruit, or doughnuts. These he would give to children who gathered around him in play. He established a kindergarten of the streets.

Whenever he met a Zen devotee he would extend his hand and say: “Give me one penny.”

Once as he was about to play-work another Zen master happened along and inquired: “What is the significance of Zen?”

Hotei immediately plopped his sack down on the ground in silent answer.

“Then,” asked the other, “what is the actualization of Zen?”

At once the Happy Chinaman swung the sack over his shoulder and continued on his way.

source: 101zenstories

Comments

2 responses to “laughing buddha”

  1. Sanjay Mysoremutt ಸಂಜಯ » Blog Archive » simplification by travel

    […] So a question is – is it possible to live like the happy chinaman… […]

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  2. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    Zen stories are usually very abstract and each reader forms his own impressions – and usually there’s no right or wrong one. So here’s my interpretation – its just one interpretation… please continue reading this only after you form your own first (it would be nice if you could post it as a comment here as well).

    [In the first place – one small clarification – Zen is nothing but the Japanese derivative of the Sanskrit word “dhyan” – meditation. Inspite of all the vast Zen literature available, the actual practice of meditation is the foundation for all of them. Though Zen may have various meditation techniques and approaches are different (some Zen masters may hit their students with a stick!), there are a great many ideas that are common – one of the key ones is ending up gaining a more holitsic, non-selfish perspective.]

    So in my opinion, the reason Hotei fines a devotee with one penny is that in Zen, there’s no such thing as a devotee, because one who’s really seen the point would keep his devotion entirely within himself, and not make a show of it by outwardly acting as a devotee! 🙂 The only expression of the devotion would be to serve the world – contribute in any way possible, as Hotei himself does. Imagine if the whole world would do this irrespective of their religious background, we’d probably have a lot lesser religious riots in the world! 😉

    By dropping the bag, he indicates that Zen by itself has absolutely no significance. The only thing that makes sense is its actualization… Hotei demonstrates these words… “The perfection of Zen is thus to live one’s everyday life naturally and spontaneously -When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep.”

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