Is Santa Claus a deity, and why did we mention Guanyin and Maitreya?

In that discussion of Santa Claus, I understood him more as an elderly man in a story who has special abilities and gives gifts in the human world. I distinguished this from the common idea of a deity living in another world. I was discussing the story’s image and people’s understanding, rather than defining every faith in the same way.

Whatever we call him, the hope and happiness he brings children are worth cherishing. Parents preparing gifts for their children are also putting something of Santa Claus’s spirit into practice. As children gradually learn that their parents actually bought the presents, the joy of feeling remembered and loved does not therefore lose its meaning.

This also reminded me of Guanyin Bodhisattva’s spirit of hearing cries and relieving suffering. Fellow practitioners thought of Maitreya Buddha and the Cloth Sack Monk, with their joyful manner, closeness to children and large cloth sack. We even joked about clothing in different countries, saying that a change of clothes could make the figure look very like Santa Claus. We were finding similarities in spirit, not concluding from them that their identities must be the same.

What is most worth learning is that great loving-kindness: being happy ourselves and also wishing happiness for others. Do something simply because you hope it brings the other person joy, rather than first calculating what you will get back. Choosing a gift thoughtfully for someone in a gift exchange, and willingly bringing happiness to those around us in everyday life, allows the spirit of the holiday to remain in our lives.