The image of the pot-bellied Laughing Buddha has become ubiquitous in recent years. An organization that worships him as a deity, promises his incarnation on earth as a savior, and promotes a ceremony to spread the message of love, peace and happiness.
Interestingly, the personage is worshipped as part of a 5,000 year-old tradition in a ceremony called the Kyudo ceremony, which originated in China. The tradition and the ceremony have come to India, courtesy a Japanese organization named Dotoku-Kaikan. The Indian chapter with centers in Delhi and Bangalore has been active for the last nine years. Depending on word-of-mouth publicity so far, only now, with this feature, are they going public about their mission. Kyudo in Japanese means search within. The legend of Kyudo ceremony dates back to 5,000 years, when Emperor Fukugi of China received a divine message to start it to spread the message of love, peace and happiness. Since then, there have been 64 masters in the lineage. It is said that out of these 64, India alone had had 28 masters in the tradition, one of them being the world-renowned Gautama the Buddha, founder of a major world religion. The Dotoku-Kaikan organisation believes that the Happy Buddha or Maitreya Buddha will emerge as the last incarnation of God to appear on earth, and he will redeem humanity from all evil and sufferings. (Shades of the yet-to-come Kalki avatar of the Hindus!). They relate the legend that the Laughing Buddha kept praying incessantly in his previous life and his prayers enabled him to strike up a good rapport with other higher beings and enlightened souls. He was finally empowered by the supreme God to ascend as the Saviour in the Kaliyuga. He was also promised help by the gods and masters in his work. It is believed that Happy Buddha will usher in a new world. To be a part of this new idyllic world, one should undergo the Kyudo ceremony, which assures salvation. Ceremony is not a religion. It spreads the message of searching towards the inner God instead of worshipping the outer God. a Kyudo ceremony resembles any Hindu ceremony. The entire ceremony lasted for not more than 20 minutes, punctuated by intonations of a number of prayers, performed in front of a big idol of the Laughing Buddha, his face resplendent in candlelight. They say people fortunate enough to undergo this ceremony as not everybody gets a chance to attend it, and that we could now consider ourselves to be blessed by the Divine. The Kyudo ceremony gained roots in Japan after it was first introduced in 1944 by a Chinese master. After he passed away, Oshima Senshi Zennin furthered the cause of Kyudo ceremony in Japan. The present guru of Dotoku-Kaikan, which propagates Kyudo ceremony, is Okubo Zennin. According to Dotoku-Kaikan, Kyudo ceremony promises to be the easiest way to attain enlightenment with the grace of the Happy Buddha or Maitreya Buddha. Kyudo main motto is to cleanse an individual of his inner negativity and sins, and spread the message of love and tolerance towards one another. In India, around one lakh people are said to have undergone the Kyudo ceremony. People who have been initiated into Kyudo report attaining a state of calm and finding a positive change in their personality. Maybe it would take a while for us to realise our promised enlightenment…
(Pic source-http://rising-dragon.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=55)
Interestingly, the personage is worshipped as part of a 5,000 year-old tradition in a ceremony called the Kyudo ceremony, which originated in China. The tradition and the ceremony have come to India, courtesy a Japanese organization named Dotoku-Kaikan. The Indian chapter with centers in Delhi and Bangalore has been active for the last nine years. Depending on word-of-mouth publicity so far, only now, with this feature, are they going public about their mission. Kyudo in Japanese means search within. The legend of Kyudo ceremony dates back to 5,000 years, when Emperor Fukugi of China received a divine message to start it to spread the message of love, peace and happiness. Since then, there have been 64 masters in the lineage. It is said that out of these 64, India alone had had 28 masters in the tradition, one of them being the world-renowned Gautama the Buddha, founder of a major world religion. The Dotoku-Kaikan organisation believes that the Happy Buddha or Maitreya Buddha will emerge as the last incarnation of God to appear on earth, and he will redeem humanity from all evil and sufferings. (Shades of the yet-to-come Kalki avatar of the Hindus!). They relate the legend that the Laughing Buddha kept praying incessantly in his previous life and his prayers enabled him to strike up a good rapport with other higher beings and enlightened souls. He was finally empowered by the supreme God to ascend as the Saviour in the Kaliyuga. He was also promised help by the gods and masters in his work. It is believed that Happy Buddha will usher in a new world. To be a part of this new idyllic world, one should undergo the Kyudo ceremony, which assures salvation. Ceremony is not a religion. It spreads the message of searching towards the inner God instead of worshipping the outer God. a Kyudo ceremony resembles any Hindu ceremony. The entire ceremony lasted for not more than 20 minutes, punctuated by intonations of a number of prayers, performed in front of a big idol of the Laughing Buddha, his face resplendent in candlelight. They say people fortunate enough to undergo this ceremony as not everybody gets a chance to attend it, and that we could now consider ourselves to be blessed by the Divine. The Kyudo ceremony gained roots in Japan after it was first introduced in 1944 by a Chinese master. After he passed away, Oshima Senshi Zennin furthered the cause of Kyudo ceremony in Japan. The present guru of Dotoku-Kaikan, which propagates Kyudo ceremony, is Okubo Zennin. According to Dotoku-Kaikan, Kyudo ceremony promises to be the easiest way to attain enlightenment with the grace of the Happy Buddha or Maitreya Buddha. Kyudo main motto is to cleanse an individual of his inner negativity and sins, and spread the message of love and tolerance towards one another. In India, around one lakh people are said to have undergone the Kyudo ceremony. People who have been initiated into Kyudo report attaining a state of calm and finding a positive change in their personality. Maybe it would take a while for us to realise our promised enlightenment…
(Pic source-http://rising-dragon.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=55)
3 comments:
Hi Deepali,
Lovely write-up on Kyudo and the Temple. Glad to see you all settled well. Hope you are safe in Aussie esp. with all those racist incidents. Are you on facebook? We should catch up...and do continue writing your titbits about your everyday reflections :)
Love,
Aparna. (dont knw if you remember me...used drop you and shweta back from the temple!)
Thank you Aparna. Yeah we need to ponder about the everyday reflections. Yeah Brisbane is pretty safe and sound.
Yups I am on facebook. let me know ur Id will add you up.
keep in touch.
Love n regards,
Deepali
Yes, I have undergone Kyudo ceremony in Bangalore way back in 1999 and have had the previlege of introducing many people for the same. In one programme, I was giventhe honour of becoming a tea-maker by sensei !
NIce write up. I, howeverwonder why you forgot to mention Kwan Yin !
It was a wonderful experience. Thanks to Sensei, Akemi, Akiko and Shree :)
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