CERTIFIED LAUGHING BUDDHA: Extra Fine, shops Gray Green Jadeite, Long Labradorite Necklace with Gray Green Flash, Sterling Bail Clasp

This necklace features an extra fine laughing Buddha carved from gray green Hetian jadeite. Blending with the unusual gray green tones of the Buddha are extra fine gray labradorite beads that have a green shops flash. This necklace is fine, polished, and elegant. The findings, the clasp, a Bali S closure, and the 3 mm spacing beads are sterling. A certificate of authenticity accompanies the necklace. The beaded portion is a little longer than usual to set off the fine, elegant gemstone beads. The story of the Buddha begins with Siddhartha Gautama's birth in Lumbini, Nepal, in about 567 BCE. He was the son of a king, raised in sheltered opulence. He married and had a son. Prince Siddhartha was twenty-nine years old when his life changed when he first saw a sick person, then an old man, then a corpse. The harshness of reality and human suffering shook him to the core of his being; he realized that his privileged status and he yearned to help those who seemed lost. He yearned to find enlightenment. He sat in meditation beneath “the Bodhi tree” until he experienced enlightenment, after which time he would be known as Buddha. Before he achieved enlightenment, he spent years searching for a way to experience inner peace. When he achieved the mental discipline that enabled him to renounce his worldly life, he traveled the Ganges River basin as a mendicant preacher. During his spiritual quest he sought teachers and punished his body with ascetic practices, but after six years of this, the prince felt there must be a better pathway to sanctity.. Eventually, he understood that the path to peace came through mental discipline. He gave his first sermon in modern-day Sarnath, near Benares, and then walked from village to village, attracting disciples along the way. He founded the original order of Buddhist nuns and monks, many of whom became great teachers also. He died in Kushinagar, located in what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, about 483 BCE. It is said that the Buddha lends his power and protection to a carving of his image transforming it into an amulet of good fortune, protection, and longevity.