Is there -- I really don't know -- any reference in whatever literature or holy text to a spiritual luminary's laughing?
Does it say, somewhere, "and God laughed" or "Jesus laughed" or "Mohammed laughed" or "Gautama laughed" or "Zoroaster laughed" or "Vishnu laughed" or "pick-your-fave laughed?"
I literally don't know. But if there is no such reference or attribution, I wonder why not. Is laughter some lesser delight, some lesser understanding, some lesser attribute and if so, how so?
Can you really trust a man or entity who doesn't laugh? Can you trust a man who does?
I don't know.
If they didn't they were sick puppies. Kids 'n critters make me laugh, sometimes the news. But maybe it was the editors who thought laughs might hurt the dignity of the religion they were building out of these characters lives. I imagine there were some sick puppies hijacking teachings for other ends.
ReplyDeleteThere is a laughing Buddha statue ....Anita
ReplyDeleteAnita -- I'll grant your point, but Budai is a Chinese folkloric deity associated with Maitreya and elevated to Buddha status, as far as I can figure out, based on popular demand... perhaps because he is laughing? He is sometimes confused with Gautama. Here's Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai
ReplyDelete