Why is the Buddha Always Smiling?

I heard in a radio snippet about being present and mindfulness that one of the renowned mindfulness and present moment proponents, the Buddha, was always depicted as smiling because of his awareness of what he did not know.

Knowledge, learning, and thinking are certainly to be valued, but how much do we celebrate about what we don't know?  Is it initiative to learn it?  We are trained to say: "I don't know, but I'll find out!"

Knowledge is power.  Good customer service is important.

What are you happy about that you don't know, control, or understand?

In his book, Overcoming Life's Disappointments, Rabbi Harold Kushner points out the Moses' first response to God at the scene of the burning bush was "Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and free the Israelites from Egypt?"  (All of us are the reluctant leader in discipleship at one time or another).  God's response, according to Rabbi Kushner isn't to explain who Moses is, but rather who God is.  "I will be with you", says God.  Moses then ask: "What is your name?" to which God gives a vague response we often translate as "I am who I am".  There is alot about the response that we don't know.

But Kushner, in his understanding, explains the translation as "I will be with you."  That, according to Kushner, is what God is all about.

So, is that enough to keep you smiling?  All the stuff that we don't know about God doesn't add up to what we do know about him: That he will be with us.

Maybe the best way to have trust, faith, and belief in that (not necessarily in that order) is to be present and mindful with it as much as possible.

Keep smiling.