Good fortune…

Just some more bookmarks from scraps of paper that I made today.

One of my sons brought Chinese food last night for supper and I eat those dry, horrible fortune cookies.  Made a bookmark out of these three fortunes – very lucky ones, lol.

1. A cheerful letter or message is on its way to you.
2. You will be recognized and honored as a community leader.
3. You will always be surrounded by true friends.

Pretty amazing, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed too:-)

And to top it all off my son gave me a free 2017 baby Buddha calendar that says Peace & Happy… it doesn’t get any better than that:-)  He told me that he thought I would like this one better than the Emperors one.  He was right, I’m not much into ruling over other people…

Had to look up the hand gestures on my baby Buddha calendar, because just like words really do have meanings (no matter the Left’s penchant for muddying the waters on that), those hand gestures symbolize much bigger things.

The baby Buddha’s hand gestures are called Vitarka Mudra – Teaching:

VITARKA MUDRA – TEACHING

The Buddha’s hand, held close to his heart with thumb and forefinger tips touching symbolizes the transmission of the knowledge he has gained after attaining enlightenment. Another name for this gesture is Vyakhyana Mudra or the “mudra of instruction”. The circle formed by the fingers touching each other signifies perfection, with no beginning or end, like the law of Dharma itself.

There are many variations. The Buddha may be seated or standing while gesturing thus. In other poses, both his hands may display the Vitarka Mudra.

https://www.buddhagroove.com/vitarka-mudra-teaching/

The baby Buddha is sitting inside a lotus flower, so might as well add what the lotus flower symbolizes:

“The lotus flower represents one symbol of fortune in Buddhism. It grows in muddy water, and it is this environment that gives forth the flower’s first and most literal meaning: rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment.

The second meaning, which is related to the first is purification. It resembles the purifying of the spirit which is born into murkiness. The third meaning refers to faithfulness. Those who are working to rise above the muddy waters will need to be faithful followers.”

https://buddhists.org/buddhist-symbols/the-meaning-of-the-lotus-flower-in-buddhism/

There are more details on additional symbolism with lotus flowers at the link above, like what the different color flowers mean, etc.