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Budai the Laughing Buddha
Skeeterkb
Explorer
Why are representations of Budai so common (in my experience) as compared to Gautama Buddha? Also do they signify differing meanings? Budai seems to always be laughing and smiling where as Buddha is almost expressionless.
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SOmeone can probably beat me to the punch...but I'll see if I can find a quick reference/info for you.....Are you looking for something other than the general Wiki info?
http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddha/a/laughingbuddha.htm
What settings? Peoples homes? Or asian restaurants?
More than Wiki please Vastmind. As for settings Jeffrey I primarily mean statuary I have seen here in the USA, A little self bio, I am a former Christian pastor and chaplain with a masters in theology. I also have worked with comparative religious studies (huge Joe Campbell fan) and have had a strong interest in Zen Buddhism for some 30 years. Don't know what to label myself except maybe truth seeker. LOL
The link I gave above is some quick info....He was a Monk....It's Chan/part of the Ox herding pics.....Are you wanting a discussion on their different expressions/face wise? I tend to think Gautama was a pretty happy guy....maybe not as happy as a Monk giving candy to kids...but....
Most americans think Buddha was fat. LOL I used to hang out at aol Christian chatroom.
The difference in facial expression strikes me. In particular the laughter. Years ago I did a search/study of the usage of laughter in the Christian Canon and discovered it was firstly relatively rare and secondly usually in the form of mocking, scornful laughter. I was horrified. I'm hoping positive laughter is common in Buddhist expression.
My teacher is hilarious, @Skeeterkb. Try Pema Chodrons Pure Meditation CD. She punctuates with humour constantly.
AOL chat, my we both are a might older... lol
Wow...this could be an interesting thread....Buddhist circles can be pretty serious crowds....yet...understanding and liberation can really put a light step in someones walk and not take all this life stuff serious....I look forward to reading what others here have to say.....I'm bias though....I've been called Pollyanna around here and I even think someone has called me a unicorn/pony...but I'll leave that person unnamed..
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Yes actually I was pretty messed up and the Buddhist room was a vessel for exploring the teachings. (to the extent that it wasn't talking about food etc) The Christian room was also interesting.
You can see my teacher, Shenpen Hookham, on youtube. She jokes around a lot.
I shall later Jeffrey, sleep is calling me. Vastmind I do hope this thread is fun, as I think that fun, play and laughter are wonderful ways to engage reality with creativity. Goodnight my new friends.
Yes, when I've showed them pics of statues of the fasting Buddha, they've been stunned.
The Budai representation is as widespread as the Chinese population will take it.
Representing the Buddha with a huge belly and a big smile is the ultimate symbol of wealth and prosperity in Feng Shui.
Chinese people have increasingly become more adept to Feng Shui, and therefore it is very common to see the Budai in Chinese restaurants or in Feng Shui shops. And virtually everywhere, since more people every day are becoming interested in Feng Shui.
Name them and shame them. I bet it was me.
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I consider the smiling hotty as a manifestation of Maitreya.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai.
In fact this is the only Buddha I have on my shrine. Some foolish Cushion keeps giving all my authentic statues away . . .
I consider Nasrudin and Father Christmas as appropriate Boddhisattvas . . . but their dharma usage is barely emerging as yet.
Some people say that, whilst uttering what seemed madness, he was, in reality, divinely inspired, and that it was not madness but wisdom that he uttered.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin
One reason the Buddha is expressionless and the Future Maitreya expressive might be thought of as the difference between emptiness and form. In reality they are no different.
Here is something funny whilst we await the Maityreya . . .
http://www.lechantier.com/jodorowsky/wisdom1.htm
I don't think Shakyamuni is really expressionless...there is a built in design feature in many Buddharupas..if you put yourself below the image, which might mean lying on the floor, they are smiling.
But only when you look UP at them . Try it.
Its a gentle , Mona Lisa smile.
@Skeeterkb -- The above caught my eye because it refers to a topic I too find interesting. No one in the lilting litanies of the Bible ever intoned, "And Jesus laughed" and the same is pretty much true in other canons of other religions ... "and Gautama laughed" or "and Mohammad laughed" ... scorn is OK, but having a good laugh is ... well ... beneath the 'superior' man.
I don't mean to derail the thread (Budai was a Chinese folkloric deity who was so popular that no one dared NOT to proclaim him a Buddha, I suspect ... good press is one of the central keys to holiness) but I wanted to pass along my own thoughts about laughter and "religion" or whatever you want to call it. I couldn't duck a sense of serendipity. .
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Two of my favorites in my collection....
My suspicion is that it's because he's become somewhat of a gimmick. He's the "Buddha" that you're supposed to get good luck from by rubbing his belly. I also think that they often sell little statues of him as "good luck charms." In America, many people probably assume he is the "Buddha" simply because "Budai" is so close and it has become common misinformation. (Like the shirt I've seen many times: "I have the body of a God, too bad it's Buddha! [Insert Image of Budai/Hotei]" <<There's several points wrong with that statement, and yet, it persists.)
But of course, people like laughter. On a psychological level, seeing people smile/laugh is likely to arouse the same feelings in ourselves. Shakyamuni is so often depicted as stern and severe, but Budai brings a little more levity. On a somewhat unrelated note, just today, I had been thinking about how the majority of the reason that Morimoto is my favorite Iron Chef is because he's so damn jolly.
Buddha statues often depict Buddha in the somber lotus posture, actively adding the serious possibility of enlightenment. In other words an active truth exemplar or teacher of the means.
The laughing Buddha has nothing to do, nowhere to go. Job done.
:clap: .
@lobster -- I like that.
Your taste is impeccable
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Kia Ora,
Also do they signify differing meanings? Budai seems to always be laughing and smiling where as Buddha is almost expressionless
No....When the Laughing Buddha saw the joke he laughed out loud... The serene looking Buddha just chuckled within (Inner smile)...
Metta Shoshin
To be honest I don't know how much of it comes from Buddhism or is shared by it but in the Chinese tradition related with qigong and TCM joy is one of the seven feelings that must be cast aside or minimized for self cultivation and health. Laughter being a consequence of extreme joy.
Stage 10 of the Ox Herder! He's in the world (as a comical statue), bringing a sense of humour to everything and laughing with you, not at you...
@Shoshin --- And you know this, how?
Kia Ora,
Because I was there of course, how else would I have known this.... .
..
Metta Shoshin
One of the stories go, that there was once a monk called Ho-tai. He wandred about with a bag filled with treats and toys slung over his shoulder. When he'd enter a village, children would come out to greet them and he'd give them presents from his bag. Seeing the shildren overjoyed at their good fortune made him so happy he laughed out loud. Thiswhy hes portrayed laughing, carrying a walking stick aa traveling bag over his shoulder.
I think I read or heard somewhere that those treats and toys were really trash that he collected, and gave back to the kids, and they loved them. In fact give a kid a large cardboard box for christmas and see how much it delights them. I remember when our kids were very young buying something for christmas (which has now been lost to memory!) which came in a box that could take all three of them. I remember the grandparents trying to encourage them to play with the toy, but no, the cardboard box was all they wanted. Think on that for an austerity gift!
Everyone I know that's not familiar with Buddhism makes no distinction. I think people just like a big round jolly Buddha figure. I do. _
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Kia Ora ,
I remember when travelling around poverty stricken India and seeing big posters with "plump" actors advertising certain products...Plumpness was seen as a sign of wealth, happiness/contentment- physical, mental and material, especially in Asian countries where famine and starvation are/were common place...
So it's possible the "Jolly fat Buddhas" of China came about as a visual way of expressing the tremendous happiness that comes from being enlightened-But I could be wrong....
However you might find this of interest, it would seem that the Greek influence had a lot to do with how the Buddha images evolved over the centuries...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhist_art
Greco-Buddhist art is characterized by the strong idealistic realism and sensuous description of Hellenistic art and the first representations of the Buddha in human form, which have helped define the artistic (and particularly, sculptural) canon for Buddhist art throughout the Asian continent up to the present. It is also a strong example of cultural syncretism between eastern and western traditions.
Metta Shoshin