What are the differences between the images of Buddha?

Question

Do all the different images of Buddha represent different things? Who is who? Can you enlighten me?

Answer 1

In Buddhism, a Buddha (Sanskrit, Pāli) is any being that has become fully enlightened, has permanently overcome anger, greed, and ignorance, and has achieved complete liberation from suffering, better known as Nirvana. It is commonly used to refer to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism, who lived in ancient India.

Buddha literally means "awakened" or "that which has become aware". It is the past participle of the Sanskrit root budh, i.e. "to awaken", "to know", or "to become aware".

Generally, Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha. The word Buddha is simply a title that means 'The Awakened One'. A Buddha is considered anyone who has become Enlightened (i.e. having awakened to the truth, or Dharma) on their own, in a time when the teachings on the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path do not exist in the world. Hence, Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Shakyamuni Buddha is in fact one of many such beings who have existed in the past, and will continue to exist in the future. Some Buddhists believe the next great Buddha will be one named Maitreya. While anyone can become Enlightened and experience Nirvana, some Buddhist texts such as the Lotus Sutra imply that all beings will become Buddhas at some point in time.

In a vernacular sense, it is important to note the difference between the specific name "the Buddha" and the connoted meaning "awakened". In many Asian countries (e.g. Thailand), the specific term "Buddha" generally evokes the unique, sacrosanct connection to Siddhartha Gautama. Although it is widely accepted that anyone can become "awakened", those awakened are not generally referred to as the Buddha by secular people.Traditionally, there are considered to be three types of Buddhas: Samyaksam Buddha, Pratyeka Buddha, and Sravaka Buddha.

Samyaksam Buddhas, experience Nirvana by their own efforts. They may then lead others to enlightenment by teaching the Dharma in a time or world where it has been forgotten or has not been taught before. The Historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is considered a Samyaksam-Buddha.

Śrāvakabuddhas (Pali: Sāvakabuddhas) experience Nirvana by hearing the Dharma as passed on from a Samyaksambuddha. This includes many of the disciples of the Historical Buddha, who according to the sutras, heard the teachings of the Historical Buddha and would immediately gain Enlightenment. In Mahayana Buddhism, this is also a synonym for an arhat.

Pratyekabuddhas (Pali: Paccekabuddha, sometimes called Silent Buddhas) are similar to Samyaksambuddhas in that they attain Nirvana, however unlike the Samyaksambuddha, they are unable or unwilling to teach the Dharma to others.

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Depictions of the Buddha in art

Buddha statues at Shwedagon Paya
Jade Buddha statue at Shwedagon PayaBuddhas are frequently represented in the form of statues. Commonly seen designs include:

Seated Buddha
Reclining Buddha
Standing Buddha
Hotei, the obese, Laughing Buddha, usually seen in China. This figure is believed to be a representation of a medieval Chinese monk who is associated with Maitreya, the future Buddha, and it is therefore not technically a Buddha image.
Most depictions of Buddha contain a certain number of markings, which are considered the signs of his enlightenment. These signs vary regionally, but three are common:

A protuberance on the top of the head (denoting superb mental accuity)
Long earlobes (denoting superb perception, and the fact that he may have worn heavy earrings)
A third eye (also denoting superb perception)
The poses and hand-gestures of these statues, known respectively as asanas and mudras, are significant to their overall meaning. The popularity of any particular mudra or asana tends to be region-specific, such as the Vajra (or Chi Ken-in) mudra, which is popular in Japan and Korea but rarely seen in India. Others are more universally common, for example, the Varada (Wish Granting) mudra is common among standing statues of the Buddha, particularly when coupled with the Abhaya (Fearlessness and Protection) mudra.

The Buddha statue shown calling for rain is a pose rarely found outside of Laos. Another very rare Buddha statue is the so-called 'Emaciated Buddha' which shows Siddartha Gautama during the ascetic phase of his life, starving himself in meditation.

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Eternal Buddha (Mahayana Buddhism)
The idea of an everlasting Buddha is a notion popularly associated with the Mahayana scripture, the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra has the Buddha indicating that he became awakened countless, immeasurable, inconceivable myriads of trillions of aeons ("kalpas") ago and that his lifetime is "forever existing and immortal". From the human perspective, it seems as though the Buddha has always existed. The sutra itself, however, does not directly employ the phrase "eternal Buddha"; yet similar notions are found in other Mahayana scriptures, notably the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which presents the Buddha as the ultimately real, eternal ("nitya"/ "sasvata"), unchanging, blissful, pure Self (Atman) who, as the Dharmakaya, knows of no beginning or end. The All-Creating King Tantra additionally contains a panentheistic vision of Samantabhadra Buddha as the eternal, primordial Buddha, the Awakened Mind of bodhi, who declares: "From the primordial, I am the Buddhas of the three times [i.e. past, present and future]." The notion of an eternal Buddha perhaps finds resonance with the earlier idea of eternal Dharma/Nirvana, of which the Buddha is said to be an embodiment.


A Tang Dynasty sculpture of Amitabha Buddha, found in the Hidden Stream Temple Cave, Longmen Grottoes, China indicates.The doctrine of an eternal Buddha is not, however, a feature of Theravada Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism places great value on the Master's words that 'none is eternal', and believes that even the life of an enlightened one does indeed have an end. Interestingly, The Buddha described Nirvana as neither existing, nor not-existing, so what does occur after a Buddha passes away is something known only to the Buddhas.

Also appearing in Theravada Buddhism is the notion of anatta as one of the 'trilakshana' (the three characteristics of reality). This embodies the idea that there is no definite, fixed, unchanging entity constituting a "person" that passes from one life to the next; Theravadin interpretation (along with that of most, if not all, Buddhist schools) of "anatta" also denies the existence of a fixed, unchanging, ever-enduring personal soul. The concept in place of the soul is the 'Bhava' ("becoming"), which is an ongoing flow of karmically projected energies that derive from, and give rise to, volitional thoughts and emotion.

Some expressions of Mahayana Buddhism, however, regard such teaching as incomplete, and offer in the Tathagatagarbha sutras the complementary and allegedly culminational doctrine of a pure Selfhood (the eternal yet ungraspable hypostasis of the Buddha) which no longer generates karma and which subsists eternally in the realm of Nirvana, from which sphere help to suffering worldly beings can be sent forth in the forms of various transitory physical Buddhas ("nirmanakayas"). While the bodies of these corporeal Buddhas are subject to disease, decline and death - like all impermanent things - the salvational Tathagata or Dharmakaya behind them is forever free from impairment, impermanence or mortality. It is this transcendent yet immanent Dharmakaya-Buddha which is taught in certain major Mahayana sutras to be immutable and eternal and is intimately linked with Dharma itself. According to the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, worldly beings fail to see this eternality of the Buddha and his Truth (Dharma). The Buddha comments there: "I say that those who do not know that the Tathagata [Buddha] is eternal are the foremost of the congenitally blind."

Answer 2

No - it is the same Buddha. It's like seeing Jesus's Picture with a robe, with a short beard then a long beard etc. It is how the artist wants to portray - after all non of us have seen them alive ya? not even the artists.

BTW - Linda - good answer !

Answer 3

Buddha lived.

Answer 4

its not this small answere but try to work it out ur self

Answer 5

LINDA get 100% !