During the first vortex trip, when our guide was telling me that something in the class I would be taking would make me laugh. In fact she said it reminded her of the Laughing Buddha. She suggested I might want to buy one while I was in town. Well, I happened to run into one in a store, and did just that. In the process, I was told a short story of the Laughing Buddha by the store owner. I found it neat and thought I would pass it on.
At one time there were several Buddhas. The purpose of the Laughing Buddha was to bring joy and happiness to those around him. This he did throughout his life.
One day, the inevitable happened, and the Laughing Buddha died. This brought sadness to all around. Whenever people thought of the Laughing Buddha, they cried instead of laughing. Well, this just wasn’t what the Laughing Buddha had wanted, as he had spent his entire life making people laugh.
The day came for the Laughing Buddha’s funeral. When a Buddha died, they were cremated in a public ceremony so all could pay their respects. The ceremony began and progressed. The people watched in their sadness. They cried. At the proper point, the funeral pyre was lit.
The fire started, and grew to a huge blaze. People saw the fire, and they cried. All of a sudden, there was a bright rocket that came out of the blaze. It went out and ignited into fireworks. All of a sudden, there were fireworks everywhere, coming from the funeral pyre. People saw this and at first were amazed. Then they started laughing.
You see, the Laughing Buddha knew that his death would cause sadness. This was contrary to his life’s purpose, so to change that, he left specific instructions to his aids. These instructions stated that when he died, they were to open up his body, and fill it with fireworks. He knew that his last joke would bring joy where there was none. And he knew that afterward, people would talk about his funeral and remember it with joy and laughter instead of tears and sadness.
So goes the story of the Laughing Buddha. Maybe he was the first person to say “always leave ‘em laughing.”