Laughing Buddha (mid-week)

 

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

November 12, 2015

Laughing Buddha

When I first moved to China, I was surprised by the popularity of the fat, happy “Laughing Buddha.”  Maoism was just ending, and the fact that these images showed up so often in family homes and places of business was a sign of the new devotion to supreme leader Deng Xiaoping’s creed, “to become wealthy is glorious!”   Only later, when I had visited many temples, monasteries, and retreats was I told the real reason of the popularity.  “This Buddha is so fat because he is able to eat whatever is given to him, no matter how bitter or sour!”  The laughing Buddha, it turns out, is an abstracted symbol for acceptance of the difficult things in life:  no matter what life dishes out, he keeps laughing, eating, and growing fat.   The values behind such an iconography are readily apparent in many Buddhist nuns and monks:  a smile almost always present on a face that regularly breaks into gentle laughter.

Jesus told jokes regularly; many of his more challenging parables draw their strength from the clever wit of some joke in the telling or the logic of the stories.  He teaches that his followers, though rightly expecting hardship and persecution, should remain joyous in their life and witness: “rejoice, and be glad, … so also did they persecute your ancestors” (Matt 5:12). 

Acceptance, the ability to “eat bitterness” as the Chinese say, is a key element in remaining in joy even when (or >>especially<< when) difficult things happen.  Jesus calls us to follow him.  He regularly sought out quiet times, and thin places, to recharge and commune with his heavenly parent.  Though at times cranky and touchy given all the stresses he faced, he generally remained happy and calm.  He was able to do this, I think, precisely because he accepted all his emotions as well as the hard events.  

I hope that we all can show joy in our daily lives, and accept.  May we all be Fat Buddhas following the way Jesus led. 

Grace and Peace,   Fr. Tony+

Note:  The Diocese of Oregon is holding its annual convention this Friday and Saturday at the Ashland Hills Hotel.  Please remember to pray for us: church councils can be trying and stressful.  I am hoping to be a smiling Jesus and a laughing Buddha throughout it all.