CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Scott Winn ("Hip Hop Father's Day in Slow Motion")
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| Budai or Hotei, the "fat happy monk and bodhisattva" behind the Buddha (Khorsani/flickr) |
The Buddha's my Dad
CC Liu and Dhr. Seven (COMMENTARY)
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| Budai, Laughing Buddha (Melo Man/flick |
Budai (Chinese 布袋) or Hotei (Japanese) is also known as the Laughing Buddha (or sometimes the Fat Happy Buddha).
He is not a
buddha. In China he is called
Budai the Luóhàn (
arhat). But he might be Maitreya (Pali,
Metteya; Hebrew/Aramaic
Messiah), the person who will become the next
buddha/"light of the world" after
Gautama Buddha.
Maitreya means "friend." This is significant because the Buddha famously said that friendship is the most important thing to gaining enlightenment. And of all friends, it is the "noble friend" (
kalyana mitta) who is most important. And though we have many good friends and many people who help us over many lives, no one is more important than the Buddha. Why? Such a person is the ultimate friend -- that person best exhibiting
maitri (
mettā, friendliness, loving-kindness). He's kind of like my dad, my heavenly Father. Of course, my Father has limits. For all his love, He cannot enlighten me so as to save me from all suffering, for he has not attained it himself. The Buddha attained it and led his family to that attainment
-- notably his 7-year-old son (Rahula).
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| The Buddha's father, Suddhodana (enasha.com) |
His wife Bimba (a.k.a. Yasodhara, Bimbādevī, Subhaddakā, Bimbāsundarī) went on to become one of the most notable nuns, certainly one of the greatest preachers and disputants anywhere in India. Why so many names? To hide her significance from history? Her star rose to dizzying heights: She came to be known as
Bhaddakaccānā (
mother of the Buddha's son). But this father did not stop with his nuclear family; he made it possible for his mother (Maya), his stepmother (Prajapati), his sister (Sundari-Nanda), his brother (Nanda),
his father (Suddhodana), his cousins (Ananda, Anuruddha...), and countless others, both humans and
devas to also find freedom. The Buddha lives on in that sense through his dispensation (
sasana): His established iteration of the timeless truth (Dharma) is still resulting in enlightenment (
bodhi) and freedom-from-all-suffering (nirvana) for ALL who practice it.
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Shakyamuni Buddha, guardian nagas, Budai/Hotei, and Kwan Yin on a Chinese-inspired altar in Thailand (thailandinformation.de)
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Budai/Hotei/Laughing Buddha, as seen in this short video, has become incorporated into Buddhist, Taoist, and Shinto
culture -- based on a beloved Chinese monk, a kind of Buddhist Santa Claus figure who carried a big sack and gave candy and trinkets to kids.
He is seen in many temples, Chinese restaurant, and Asian businesses. Sadly, he is so famous that he is often confused for "the Buddha" even by the restauranteurs, business owners, and altar keepers!
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| Budai, Money Buddha (Abraham-Hicks/Law of Attraction) |
Budai has become a god (deva) of happiness and
abundance, something suggested by his exaggerated belly, when taken in by Taoism and Buddhism.
In Japan, Hotei is one of the
Seven Lucky Gods (
Shichi Fukujin). He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, sometimes pointing at the Moon, leading to his nickname (笑佛) in Chinese, the "Laughing Buddha."
The world is waiting for the Bodhisattva, the Buddha-to-come, Maitreya. The popular embodiment is Father Budai.
