Budai/Hotei Question

[gaurdianaq]

So I'm curious to learn more about Budai/Hotei (not sure what we refer to him here as, though I know in the west he's generally referred to as the fat/laughing buddha)

As far as I'm aware he's associated with Chan/Zen Buddhism (not sure if there is any reference to him specifically in Soto Zen)...

Anyone have any suggestions for where I can read more about him? The general understanding I have is that he wasn't real and more of a folklore legend?

Thanks in advanced!


Evan,
Sat Today!

[Kyoshin]

I don't know a whole lot about him, but I do know he's big in Da Lat, Vietnam [emoji16]
I'll admit that I've been thinking about him more these days, since my lack of exercise during lockdown has made me resemble him a bit more than I used to [emoji23]
Gassho
Kyōshin
Satlah

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Ah! Here is a little information on "Hotei", the "pudgy Buddha" sometimes said to be Maitreya, and that is probably best known from Chinese restaurants and such ...

The image of Hotei is almost always seen carrying a cloth or linen sack. It is usually filled with many precious items, including candy for children, food, or the woes of the world. Sometimes it can be filled with children, as they are seen as some of those precious items of this world. In some scenes he may be found sitting on a cart drawn by boys.



The large, fat belly is a symbol of happiness, luck, and generosity.

The name Hotei actually means "cloth bag" or "glutton." A legend has it that if a person is to rub his belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

The Laughing Buddha, also known as Hotei in Japan, Pu-Tai in China, embodies the ideals of the good life: health, happiness, prosperity and longevity.

[He is traditionally depicted as a fat, bald monk wearing a simple robe. He carries his few possessions in a cloth sack, being poor but content. He would excitingly entertain the adoring children that followed him and was known for patting his large belly happily. His figure appears throughout Chinese culture as a representation of both contentment and abundance. Budai attracted the townspeople around him as he was able to predict people’s fortunes and even weather patterns. The wandering monk was often inclined to sleep anywhere he came to, even outside, for his mystical powers could ward off the bitter colds of snow and his body was left unaffected. https://www.jstor.org/stable/593188?...rossref&seq=1]

Monks and commercial travelers spread the Buddhist message throughout the East, northward into Afganistan and Tibet, eastward to China and Japan, as well as south into Ceylon and Indonesia. As with any religious message, changes in the nature of Buddhist practice and understanding were inevitable as the religion was absorbed within different cultures.

Scholars have long commented on the contrast between India’s penchant for lofty idealisms as against the Chinese focus on the practicalities of the here-and-now. Over the centuries within China, Buddhist notions of happiness based on self-mastery and enlightened insight were fused with popular Chinese life-ideals of happiness through material prosperity.

Iconographers in the 10th century summed up these various elements of happiness in a representation of the fat Laughing Buddha, clutching his prayer beads in one hand and with a bag of gold in the other. The large number of children usually surrounding him illustrates another Chinese virtue - a large family consisting of many children.

Moreover, there is belief, that the Laughing Buddha is in fact modeled on an historical figure, a fat wandering Zen monk named Pu Tai, who possibly claimed to be an incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya (Chinese Mi-lo-fo; Japanese Miroku). One poem attributed to him reads:

Mi-lo, true Mi-lo
Reborn innumerable times
From time to time manifested to men
The men of the age do not recognize you

More here ...

https://web.archive.org/web/20160307194126/http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/hotei_pu_tai_maitreya_all_known_as_the_laughing_buddha/

Gassho, Jundo (who is looking in the shower more like Hotei these days too, need to be careful!)

STLah

[gaurdianaq]

Thanks! It's kind of funny, despite how widespread the image of Hotei is, information in English seems relatively sparse.


Evan,
Sat Yesterday (It's around 12:02AM at the time of posting this)

[Shinshi]

I have posted this before but right when I was starting my Zen journey I ate at a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis and was served a drink in this.



The whole meal I kept wondering how folks would react to a similar glass using Christian imagery instead.

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

[Heitou]

Thank you Jundo, I've recently wondered about his story.

Gassho
John
SatToday

[Kotei]

Hello,
in some versions of the 'ten oxherding pictures' (the metaphor pictures, describing stages in Zen practice),
the final picture, when the ox has been forgotten and practice is integrated into daily living and caring, Hotei is shown.
I always thought of him as a symbol for the wisdom that lies in living our practice out in the world and not behind monastery walls, as everyday's caring about the sentient beings.
Be simple, be good, help others - I have a picture of him hanging in my little 'zendo'.

ochse-tl.jpg

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[gaurdianaq]

This link I found also seemed fairly helpful!

https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hotei.shtml

Evan,
Sat Today!

[Jundo]

This link I found also seemed fairly helpful!

https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hotei.shtml

Evan,
Sat Today!

Yes, if anyone has any interest in Japanese Buddhist art, including detailed looks at all the subtle expressions of the great Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, gods and others depicted in them, that website is astounding and extremely reliable. You will know about Hotei than you ever thought possible!

Gassho, J

STLah