Liberation

Buddhas are many. Besides the Laughing Buddha, I know just two of them. The first is the one called forth by Thích Nhất Hạnh, “The next Buddha will come in the form of a community, not in the form of a single individual.” Indeed I learned the notion of community very profoundly from a stay in Plum Village.

The other Buddha whom I know is Kṣitigarbha. It is the Buddha whose mission is to empty hells, who vowed not to become Buddha 成佛 until the very last soul is liberated out of hell. In my mind I dub Kṣitigarbha as the Buddha of the hell, who descends to hell with a sword and a spear breaking all chains and setting every prisoner free.

I didn’t know about Kṣitigarbha until an introduction by art historian Jiang Xun 蔣勳 a few years ago. That was the eureka moment. For the first time I understood why, “He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead.” What was Jesus doing down there? Well, just that, to redeem our very last soul.

We need to first retrieve Lazarus from under our tables just like Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.