I know that this sounds pedantic but "laughing buddhas" aren't actually statues of Lord Buddha, they are a Chinese Monk called Sankhajai.
Dare I say you're both right and wrong? :dft008:
Yes, the laughing buddha is based on a chinese monk, however....because of this monk's benevolent nature, he came to be regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva who will be Maitreya (the Future Buddha / the buddha yet to come), the Buddha predicted to succeed Gautama Buddha, and is incorporated into a number of Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto traditions.
This could lead to some interesting discussions Amber:) Like all religions there are different takes/stances in each area of Buddhism. In Theraveda (in Thailand) the future Buddha (Sriarayan Mettai) has yet to manifest him/herself to the world, therefore they won't question who this could be. I believe the other Buddhist traditions may well have found their answer already.
I'm sorry - my knowledge is only confined to Theraveda ........
My understanding is that it does not matter in which direction buddha faces. I do think that there is a preference to have Buddha facing a doorway, in my Dharma centre, a statue of Buddha greats us as we enter the building; in the Gompa (prayer and meditation room containing the shrine) Buddha is not facing the door, yet is opposite a window.
Ultimately it is not important, as placing statue of Buddha in your house/garden etc is a way to welcome Buddha into your life. Buddha's powerful omniscient mind means that were ever a statue of Buddha is, there is an actual Buddha and we should treat statues of Buddha as an actual Buddha jewel and respect it as such. It is for our benefit alone that we place the statues in our presence, as Buddha can come into our lives, bless our minds and our homes and the image of Buddha leaves positive karma imprints on our subtle mind and is a direct cause for gaining enlightenment in future lives to all who look at it.
Buddha himself will not be overly concerned as to where you place him, as he knows that all reality as we know it lacks inherent existance and that ultimately the only thing that matters is our intentions when placing him where we do. We should remember that everything is emptiness and consider our intention. Therefore if you place Buddha in a spot you think will be preferable (maybe it is in the sun, around beautiful flowers, cool fresh water etc) your positive intention to make Buddha comfirtable and happy in his spot will pour positive karma onto your mind and ultimately benefit you - it is all about benefit to us, Buddha is already enlightened and can even turn a weed ridden, dark, dingy spot into a beautiful oasis with his all powerful mind that directly realises emptiness.
The same arguement can be applied to statues of 'laughing Buddhas', there physical form is empty of inherent existance, it is our intention toward the statue that matters. Humans have created all these 'rules' through a mind that sees reality as having an inherent existance when it does not - when we act from this mind of ignorance we are only further condeming ourselves to further samsaric rebirths and postponing our enlightenment.
Peace love and serenity to all
Lily xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Which way should Bhudda face? With no face.
With no face.
(faceless face)
🙂
...I didn't think Buddha had to be facing a certain way... I think it's only Islamic praying to Mecca that is directionally important - oh and some Feng Shui rules too, but I am sure I will be corrected if I am not right!!
xx
Tin Hau should always face the nearest sea.