Mi-lo
Mi-lo East AsiaThe future Buddha, at present living as a bodhisattva in Tushita Heaven. In India Maitreya, ‘the one who is yet to come’, played a minor role, and only after he was introduced into China did he become a major figure. Devotees prayed for rebirth in his paradise, but the Pure Land of A-mi-t'o-fo, Amitabha, eclipsed his refuge during the seventh century. When the cult of Mi-lo was revived 600 years later, the appearance of the bodhisattva had quite changed. He took the form of a fat, jovial man, and he was referred to as the Laughing Buddha. It seems that this alteration was based on legends surrounding the life of a tenth-century Chinese monk with a wrinkled forehead and a mountainous belly. For the inhabitants of K'ai Feng he acted as a barometer for the weather. They could be sure of a fine day whenever he slept on the market bridge, but when he gathered up his loincloth and waddled for cover, they could expect a downpour. Added to Mi-lo's...
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