♦Sacred birth celebrated on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month ♦
Maitreya bodhisattva is the “Laughing Buddha” of Buddhism. His family name is Ajitas. Maistreya is his Sanskrit name that is roughly translated as “compassionate.” “Maitreya Bodhisattva” is a “buddha for the future, who resides and leads the heavens. He obsessively observes the world and has entered the mortal realm in disguise. Legends say that during the fifth dynasty, he was incarnated in the form of a monk named Budai (lit. “cloth sack”), referring to himself as “Son of Changting.” It is often said: “Maitreya the true Maitreya has been taken myriad forms, always showing himself to the world yet the world does not recognize him.”