This Is What I Call Double Happiness!

The Laughing Buddha/Maitreya (弥勒佛) pendant is the first Lotus jadeite pendant that I encountered when I came to Lotus on Water. The pendant reminded me of a sutra that I constantly recited when I was a child—Buddha Maitreya's Sutra for Salvation (弥勒救苦真经). Even though the sutra is catchy, I can only remember a line from it now: “Buddha Maitreya's Sutra for Salvation was told by the Buddha. Descending to the world, Buddha Maitreya's reincarnation should not be overlooked (佛说弥勒救苦真经，弥勒下世不非轻).” This line meant that Laughing Buddha came to this world to salvage all beings from misery and death. Just ponder on this and you will realize that Laughing Buddha is truly great!

The Laughing Buddha jadeite pendant is arguably one of the most sought after jadeite pendant in Lotus on Water and it comes in numerous styles within the Lotus exquisite collection alone. The Laughing Buddha appears in three forms: Laughing Buddha (弥勒佛), Bag-Carrying Laughing Buddha (布袋和尚/大肚弥勒) and Laughing Buddha in Arhat image (布袋罗汉).

But the piece that has garnered the most attention is this Lotus exquisite jadeite Laughing Buddha, belonging to the fire element.

Why do I say that this has garnered the most attention? Why did I choose this image of Laughing Buddha when there are so many other standing Laughing Buddha jadeite? Why?

The reason is simple: I have a preference for the Laughing Buddha in his standing form. The standing Laughing Buddha looks more spirited (精神), which has the connotation of greater prospects and greater wealth (晋升金升) in Chinese! Haha!

The back of this pendant was where I noticed it stood out from the other pendants—this was the only Laughing Buddha in the Lotus collection that was accompanied by a bat (蝙蝠). All blessed clients who have been to Lotus on Water would know that all Lotus jadeite pendants are unique, whether it belongs to the Auspicious or Exquisite collection.

Bats represent “full of prosperity” (遍地有福)! Laughing Buddha is the personification of the liberated soul—being able to bear the hardest of the world and laughing off the ridiculous (大肚能容，容天下难容之事; 开口便笑，笑天下可笑之人). So what do we get when we put these two - Laughing Buddha and bats - together? Bats are intelligent animals, they are attracted to places of intelligence and good luck; so when they are attached onto the Laughing Buddha, you get Double Happiness [双福(佛与蝙蝠)临门]!

If you want to have the company of the Laughing Buddha and the bat on your Lotus journey, then this Lotus jadeite is just what you need!

— Ruyi

(Translated)