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)
