The Laughing Buddha - and American Greed

      So today I am wandering around in a so called outlet mall when I come upon a store called "True Religion".  So you know I have to go in and check it out. The goods are nothing special mostly blue jeans and tee shirts and some baseball hats. But I am surprised to see their logo is a Buddha. To be precise its the Laughing Buddha playing a guitar. You know the guy, fat belly, bald head and a big smile. And of course the name Buddha was plastered on dozens of cheap tee shirts and hats along with his image. This is not the Buddha of history, meditating or teaching. Instead, a fat, bald, jolly character called "The Laughing Buddha who is  strumming a guitar and dancing.
 
      The Laughing Buddha emerged from Chinese folktales of the 10th century. The original stories of the Laughing Buddha centered on a Ch'an monk named Ch'i-t'zu, or Qieci, from Fenghua, in what is now the province of Zhejiang. Ch'i-t'zu was an eccentric but much-loved character who worked small wonders such as predicting the weather. In time he became a folk character. The tales of Ch'i-t'zu spread throughout China, and he came to be called Pu-tai (Budai), which means "hempen sack." He carries a sack with him full of good things, such as sweets for children, (i.e. the Chinese Santa Clause)  and he is often pictured with children. Pu-tai represents happiness, generosity and wealth, and he is a protector of children as well as of the poor and the weak. Today a statue of Pu-tai often can be found near the entrance of Chinese Buddhist temples. The tradition of rubbing Pu-tai's belly for good luck is a folk practice, however, not a Buddhist teaching.
        Pu-tai also is associated with the last panel of the Ten Ox-herding Pictures. These are ten images that represent stages of enlightenment in Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. The last panel shows an enlightened master who enters towns and marketplaces to give to ordinary people the blessings of enlightenment.
Pu-tai followed the spread of Buddhism into other parts of Asia. In Japan he became one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Shinto and is called Hotei. He also was incorporated into Chinese Taoism as a deity of abundance.
        So I am not up set about his image being used in this way. Until I look at some of the prices on the goods. A $5 tee shirt with the logo has a price tag showing its $49.  A baseball hat with the laughing Buddha and the word Buddha across it says its $89.00. These outrageous prices being associated with the name Buddha and a beloved folk hero did in fact get me a bit agitated. And all this with the words "True Religion" plastered on everything both irritated saddened me.
      It was only then  that I began to wonder how Christians would react if the image was a smiling dancing Christ or Muslims would react if this was an image of Mohammad. I don't think they would put up with it, do you?
          So I began to wonder about all the western commercialization of the word "Zen" and the name and image of Buddha. To me selling this image and Buddha's name at such outrageous prices is no different than putting the Pope's name and image over a whore house. These Folks know Buddhist won't raise a fuss, they won't issue a kill order on their owners or burn down their stores.
        But shouldn't there be some point where we Buddhist and Zen practitioners object to   our name and images being used to sell greed? Putting the image of a  Zen Monk and the name Buddha on a cheap shirt or hat and then Charging 10 times the items possible retail worth is more than just a bad joke, it is misleading a generation of American young people in the worse way.