The Laughing Buddha Parable: The understanding the significance of the ordinary path in Zen.

Anyone walking about the Chinatown areas in America will observe statues of a stout fellow carrying a linen sack.¹ Chinese merchants call him the Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha. His name was Hotei, and he allegedly lived around the 10th century in the Wuyue kingdom in China.² His name literally means "Cloth Sack".³

Hotei lived in the T'ang dynasty. He had no desire to call himself a Zen master or to gather many disciples about him.⁴ Instead he walked the streets with a big cloth sack into which he would put gifts of candy, fruit, or doughnuts. He would give these to children who gathered around him in play, and established a kindergarten of the streets.⁵

Whenever he met a Zen devotee he would extend his hand and say: "Give me one penny." And if anyone asked him to return to a temple to teach others, again he would reply: "Give me one penny."⁶

Once he was about his play-work another Zen master happened along and inquired: "What is the significance of Zen?"⁷

Hotei immediately plopped his cloth sack down on the ground in silent answer.⁸

"Then," asked the master, "what is the actualization of Zen?"⁹

At once the Laughing Buddha swung the sack over his shoulder and continued on his way.¹⁰

​

[Source for text: talkativeman.com, corrections made for clarity, notes from Wikipedia added]

With a special thank you to /u/gimmethemcheese for inspiring this original post.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Wandering Ronin commentary and questions:

1. Growing up, I was given a beautiful white ceramic statue of this "Laughing Buddha" that was wide and about seven or eight inches tall, with a large hole in his back and a small hole at the top of his large belly. It was simply meant as a container for a beverage at a restaurant, but it was quite a treasured item of mine for many years.
2. Apparently, this Hotei was a real person that became a semi-legendary historical figure, then later came to be seen as a deity. I think a great many people mistake sculptures of Hotei for being a representation of being the actual historic Buddha, myself formerly included. One of the Chinese restaurants that I now frequent nearby has a large golden statue of him that is about six or seven feet tall, and people place coins on him for good luck.
3. Take note: the name "Cloth Sack" is quite literally as ordinary as it gets in Zen.
4. That is a powerful potential sign of a Zen master: the rejection of titles, and the possible difficulty in getting them to teach or take on students. This goes back as far as Huike offering his own cut-off arm to Bodhidharma for his teachings. Huangbo Xiyun retreated in solitude on his mountain in China, and even Zen master Ikkyu in Japan tried to avoid the responsibility of a monastic teaching position until it was basically thrust upon him.
5. Hotei went to where he was most needed; helping others in this 'ordinary' fashion is quite noble and commendable. Let the titled Zen masters and monks have their books and study, his actions declare. What else would a Buddha do besides enter the marketplace with helping hands?
6. This "give me one penny" response is quite similar to a koan; any questions from a Zen devotee or requests from others for him to teach at a temple are met with the resounding ordinary response of a simple repeated request. Each time he does this, he catches the tempest in a teacup.
7. Asking "What is the significance of Zen?" stirs up all sort of concepts and potential thoughts. What in the world would Hotei, this ordinary man of no rank, actually do to answer such a question?
8. Again, Hotei returns to the resounding ordinary by dropping the cloth sack ; not a single Zen master of rank or a patchrobed monk could lift it back up. But why did he drop the cloth sack?
9. "What is the actualization of Zen?" the master asks, apparently attempting to further test Hotei's understanding.
10. When the Laughing Buddha swung the cloth sack over his shoulder and continued on his way, was this really an answer to the question of the Zen master, or was something else going on?

Submitted May 06, 2019 at 10:25PM by WanderingRoninXIII http://bit.ly/2ZZuYfZ