Who is the Fat Laughing Buddha?
Who is that fat laughing Buddha we often see depicted sitting in a relaxed posture? Many people gets confused with this image of a fat monk, totally incongruent with the enlightened and meditative Buddha. For a lot of people who come to the study of Buddhism for the first time, this actually is the Buddha, this chubby guy who has a smile on his face sitting in a relaxed posture. In fact, we see that figure around us quite often in this world. Well, here is his story. He is called Budai. It is said, specially in China and Japan, that this image of a chubby monk is that of a real monk who lived and wandered through this world. It is told that he carried a bag full of things which he distributed to people. He was almost like a Buddhist Santa Claus. He had everything that anyone needed to remove their suffering. In a happy and jovial way he will simply provide this to people. In a more profound way, it is understood that he was not merely a human being. He was a manifestation of Maitreya.
