WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Who Is The Laughing Buddha?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogebaum here with another classic episode for you.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we're talking about the deities sometimes depicted

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<v Speaker 1>next to cash registers in Chinese American restaurants, The Laughing Buddha.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bogle Bam Here. You've probably seen

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<v Speaker 1>him seated next to the cash register at your local

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese American restaurant, A shiny bronze statue of a bald,

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<v Speaker 1>p bellied man with a laughing grin on his face.

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<v Speaker 1>The same jolly fella immortalized in key chains and other

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<v Speaker 1>trinkets sold in Chinatown tourist shops all across the US.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not the Buddha, but it's in the right religious ballpark.

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<v Speaker 1>He's called the Laughing Buddha, and the story behind him

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<v Speaker 1>is complicated. We spoke with Denise Lady, currently the Curator

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<v Speaker 1>of Asian Art at the Yale University Art Gallery. She

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<v Speaker 1>held the same position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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<v Speaker 1>for twenty two years and is no stranger to Westerners

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<v Speaker 1>can fusion over the Laughing Buddha statue. She said, in Christianity,

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<v Speaker 1>there's this one guy. So when people see this fun guy,

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<v Speaker 1>they think that's the Buddha. But it's not. The Buddha

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<v Speaker 1>in the singular is Saddarka Gultma. But the Buddhist religion

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<v Speaker 1>over time has added multiple layers of deities, many of

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<v Speaker 1>whom have multiple avatars, and so it's gotten mind bogglingly complicated. Buddha,

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<v Speaker 1>the story goes, was a man named Saddarka Gultma who

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<v Speaker 1>lived around the sixth century b c. In India. Born

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<v Speaker 1>a wealthy prince, he chose to live an ascetic lifestyle

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<v Speaker 1>in search of the meaning of existence, which he found

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<v Speaker 1>while meditating for forty days under a fig tree. After

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<v Speaker 1>achieving nirvana, which is the escape from the endless cycle

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<v Speaker 1>of suffering, death and rebirth, he became the Buddha, or

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<v Speaker 1>the awakened One. Over the centuries, his teachings spread throughout India,

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<v Speaker 1>into China, across Asia, and eventually around the world. Today

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<v Speaker 1>there aren't estimated three hundred and seventy six million followers

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<v Speaker 1>of Buddhism worldwide, But so who is the laughing Buddha.

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<v Speaker 1>Buddhism has expanded over the millennia to include a pantheon

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<v Speaker 1>of deities. In addition, to Gotma Buddha. Those include numerous bodhisatva,

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<v Speaker 1>the term for sage like individuals who work for the

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<v Speaker 1>enlightenment of all sentient beings. In Thetavad Buddhism, practiced mainly

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<v Speaker 1>in Southeast Asia. Guttma Buddha is only the most recent

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty eight Buddhas described in holy texts. And then

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<v Speaker 1>there are avatars, humans believed to be incarnations of deities.

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<v Speaker 1>The Laughing Buddha was one such avatar, a tenth century

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese monk named Buddai. According to accounts written centuries later,

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<v Speaker 1>but I was a gregarious, pot bellied monk who wandered

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<v Speaker 1>from village to village carrying a large sack over his

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder Buddhai meaning cloth sack. He was beloved by children

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<v Speaker 1>and the poor, to whom he would give rice and

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<v Speaker 1>sweets from his sack. On his deathbed, bud I penned

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<v Speaker 1>a poem in which he revealed himself as the avatar

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<v Speaker 1>of Maitrea, a deity also known as the future Buddha.

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<v Speaker 1>Lightie explains, in our lifetime, this great cosmic era you

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<v Speaker 1>and I are sharing, there's a teaching Buddha named Suddarta Gotma.

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<v Speaker 1>The world will ultimately destroy itself. I don't know when,

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<v Speaker 1>but when the world is reborn, Matreo will come back

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<v Speaker 1>as the teaching Buddha of that era. Over time, Buddhai

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<v Speaker 1>became the subject of popular devotion in Zen Buddhism, both

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<v Speaker 1>in China and Japan. His large belly and sack are

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<v Speaker 1>believed to represent abundance, and he's included among these seven

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<v Speaker 1>Lucky Gods of Japan as a harbinger of abundance and

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<v Speaker 1>good health. At some point, he also became the patron

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<v Speaker 1>deity of restaurants and bartenders, hence his prized location next

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<v Speaker 1>to the cash register. Lightie isn't sure of the exact

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<v Speaker 1>historical providence of today's laughing Buddha statues, but she believes

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<v Speaker 1>the Boddhai imagery in Chinese art and sculpture started popping

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<v Speaker 1>up in the fifteenth century. She said. As global trade

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<v Speaker 1>begins to expand in the late sixteenth and seventeenth century

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<v Speaker 1>and porcelain is totally transforming global ceramics, there's probably some

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<v Speaker 1>imagery of this guy that snuck in it got picked

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<v Speaker 1>up in the West, turned into the laughing Buddha and

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<v Speaker 1>made into this kitchy thing that you can buy anywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>Although rubbing Buddhai's belly for good luck is not Buddhist

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<v Speaker 1>teaching and generally considered impolite, devotees of Buddhism don't seem

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<v Speaker 1>to have a problem with the spread of the icon.

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<v Speaker 1>Barbara O'Brien, a journalist and zen Buddhism student, wrote, it

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<v Speaker 1>is indicative of Buddhism's broad tolerance of diversity that this

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<v Speaker 1>laughing Buddha of folklore is accepted into the official practice

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<v Speaker 1>for Buddhists. In equality that represents Buddha nature is to

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<v Speaker 1>be encouraged, and the folklore of the kind laughing Buddha

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<v Speaker 1>is not regarded as any kind of sacrilege, even though

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<v Speaker 1>people may unwittingly confuse him with gultma Buddha. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article that fat Jolly Fella Isn't

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<v Speaker 1>Buddha on house Stuffworks dot com, written by Dave Bruce.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain stuff In's production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with house stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit

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