THE GREAT BRAHMA

From young I have always heard of people inviting the Four-faced Buddha or the Great Brahma into their homes. It is said that the owners of these homes will gain a lot of wealth because of the presence of this Buddha. There were also stories of people who would go around stealing the statues as heresay has it that they too would be able to prosper by stealing the statues to be placed in their own homes.

I can understand the first act of inviting the Great Brahma into the home and be rewarded but the second act of stealing the statue and then prospering from it. To me that just doesn't compute. Whoever steals should be punished, shouldn't they?

Here is information about the Four Faced Buddha that I got from books and also the Web:

The Great Brahma has 4 faces and 8 arms. He is the god of creation, mercy and benevolence. He is said to have four immeasurable states of mind; boundless kindness, dimensionless pity, boundless joy and limitless indifference. So great is His compassion that He is willing to bestow bliss to all sentient beings in Heaven and on Earth.

The Four-faced Buddha in the pictures above is enshrined in the Buddhist Temple in Jalan Tambun in Ipoh. My mum and I would go and offer prayers there and we are sure to ask for the blessings from the Great Brahma each time. We would usually ask for good health and happiness.