Buddha was born into wealth as a prince, but as a young adult he chose to turn his back on material wealth in order to focus on a spiritual life.

In the Dhammapada, (the essential teachings of Buddha) Buddha begins by teaching is the absolute essence of how wealth is created.

First you must build riches in your mind.

In order to become wealthy you have to imagine yourself as wealthy. You have to believe that wealth is a natural state for you. You don’t achieve this, as many uninformed people suggest, by imagining an exact dollar amount by an exact date.

The way you create a state of wealth in your mind is to imagine the life that you would be living when you are wealthy. Imagine the freedom and opportunities that having a large amount of money could open up for you.

By creating in your mind a lifestyle that you could only have by becoming wealthy then your subconscious mind will set about the task of helping you become rich.

The second part of Buddha’s advice is to listen to what you are saying and how you are saying it you can discover what your subconscious mind really believes. If your words don’t agree with your consciously stated goals it is because your subconscious has not accepted those goals.

Many people follow the practice of setting New Year resolutions. However most of these resolutions are broken and discarded within the first week. Why? Because they were conscious goals that were never accepted by the subconscious.

In order for you to turn your goal for riches into reality you have to listen to your own words and then ensure that they consistently fall inline with your stated goal. In this manner you can reprogram the subconscious mind so that it falls in line with your conscious goal of becoming wealthy.

The third part of Buddha’s advice is that once you have your words in tune with your thoughts then you have to ensure that your actions are also brought into line.

You may well be imagining that you have the lifestyle of a multimillionaire and everything you say may be supporting that idea but what of your actions. Are you taking the actions that a self made multimillionaire would be taking?

How are you utilizing your time and money? Is it consistent with your goal to become a multimillionaire or not?

Your words are a reflection of both your conscious and subconscious minds. Well your habitual actions are a reflection of an even deeper, more robust part of your subconscious. Sometimes both a person’s conscious thoughts and their words will be consistent but their habits will betray that they still have not fully reprogrammed the subconscious to be supportive of their goal.

This is why you must complete the three stage process of bringing thoughts, words and actions into the same purpose. You complete the reprogramming of your subconscious by becoming fully aware of your actions and ensuring that you persist in acting in line with your thoughts and words for long enough for those new actions to become your automatic habits.

Only when you have succeeded in bringing your thoughts, words and actions habitually inline with your goal of wealth will you then see actual wealth coming into your life.

Laughing Buddha is a popular Buddhism symbol that can be seen every where in the Orient culture. Laughing Buddha is a jovial incarnation of ‘Maitreya Buddha’, who is deemed to be the successor of ‘Gautama Buddha’ according to the Buddhist or Shinto culture.

There goes a belief in the Chinese mythology that an image of smiling Buddha can bring forth good luck, success, happiness, fulfillment, prosperity and wealth. This belief has motivated not only the Chinese but also people of all communities to keep laughing Buddha idols where they reside. A deity of the Buddhist monastery now has become a universal figure of admiration and worship.

The idea of Laughing Buddha originates from the later beliefs of the Buddhists that good life and contentment can be attained in this living world. It can be acquired through simple lifestyle, purposeful endeavors, benevolence and enlightenment of knowledge. Termed as ‘Budai’ in Chinese and ‘Budai Luohan’ in Japanese this pot bellied bald figure with a smiling face is linked to a roving ‘Chan’ monk who existed in the time of Liang Dynasty in China.

The monk dressed in a cloth-bag that is known as ‘pu-tai’ in Chinese and ‘Hotei’ in Japanese. Hence the local folks used to call him ‘Pu-tai Hoshang’ or ‘hemp-bag monk’. The legends say that the monk carried cute gifts for the children in his linen sack.

The Buddhist shrines grace the statue of ‘Budai’ in the entranceway. With an impish grin and a protruded tummy the robust monk is found in various poses. He is seated on an elaborately inlaid pedestal or a cart drawn by children. Sometimes he is seen waving a hand fan ‘ogi’. A symbol of aristocracy of the past the fan was believed to fulfill the wishes of those who carried them. Some ‘Budai’ statues with small children in his feet represent his fondness and love for the children.

Budai’ holding a begging bowl in his hand portray the typical Buddhist quality of renouncing material possessions. The century old figure of the Buddhist religion has now been intermingled with the Chinese ideals of life and happiness that has completely changed the previous Buddhist ideals and values. Today happiness has become synonymous to material riches. Hence the modern laughing Buddha has become the revered god of material plentitude and good fortune in life.

The images of laughing Buddha have become impressive elements of interior decoration. They make for exquisite residential and business decors as well as a potential power to bring in prosperity and wealth in life. The smiling figures are also positioned in the study table of the students to ensure success in exams. A wide array of statuettes depicting Buddha smiling makes brisk sales in the domestic and International market.

The figures curved out of fine wood, metals or stones are the most sought after decorative items of the day. They are placed in any direction facing the main entrance of the home or office. The new age people are in the aspiration of acquiring huge financial gains and flourish in their lives by rubbing the belly of this traditional Buddhist craft.