The joy of belief

Religion is almost always a dour and forbidding business that's rarely associated with fun. Portraits and other representations of great people of faith depict images that, while they may appear serene or even epiphanic,are nearly never those thatcan be remotely associated with a person having a blast. Of course, there are exceptions and Krishna and Loki, the Norse god of mischief, come to mind. But there'salso the Laughing Buddha.

Not to be confused with the Real Thing, he was in part-myth an eccentric wandering Zen monk named Budai who lived in China about a thousand years ago of whom very little is known, but whose icon has today become famous as a jolly, pot-bellied balding man carrying a cloth bag. Apparently, he kept small pastries and sweets in this bag that he would distribute to adoring children who followed him everywhere he went and, as his supplies ran out, would go around begging for money in order to buy more.

In folklore, Budai is admired for his happiness, plenitude and wisdom of contentment and, later, Chinese tradition came to identify him as an enlightened being who was a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the future Buddha.

Be that as it may, however, how do we know this man was enjoying himself? The story goes that one day, a monk walked up to him and asked, "What is the meaning of Zen?" Budai stopped and dropped his bag of sweets. The monk nodded thoughtfully. "Right, I get that," he said. "But thereafter, how does one realise Zen?" Budai picked up the bag again and continued on his way distributing sweets to children.