I'm an Indian and most of the Buddhist statues in India, Tibet, and south east asia show Buddha as a very well built or sometimes skinny man. Buddha was an Indian prince trained in many form of combat. In India almost all his original disciple described him as a good looking man, with a very fit body from the royal family. However a fat, chinese looking version of Buddha is popular in China, it also seems to extremely popular in the west. So, who is this fat laughing Chinese Buddha?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddharta_Gautama#Physical_characteristics
2006-07-16 04:51:27 · 14 answers · asked by avik_d2000 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Thanks Marc the Red...
But why do so many people in the world consider this chinese monk to be Siddharta Gautama, the founder of Buddhism?
2006-07-16 04:58:13 · update #1
He is not Siddharta Gautama.
He is Mí Lè Fó (彌勒佛), often assoicated with Maitreya, one of the future Buddhas.
This one is quite populare b/c he is said to bring happyness, wealth and laughter. The Chinese know that he is not Siddharta Gautama, and you can also find many statues of him in China.
2006-07-16 05:00:17 · answer #1 · answered by mike i 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think he's a representation of a state, i.e. replete and not short of food. Like there are those Neko lucky cat statuettes that are the same cat but with one paw raised synbolise good luck, or if the other paw is raised symbolise good income, if the paw is on a ball symbolises fun and play, and so forth.
Just so, Buddha is shown with his bundle and stick to symbolise carefree travel (travels light because the road will look after him) or as a fat buddha to symbolise being well off, laughing to symbolise happiness, and so forth. I've found that the Buddha statuettes seem to come in six different variations, and are probably not precisely modelled after Sidartha Gautama Buddha or whatever he is known as in Indian lore.
2006-07-16 12:02:36 · answer #2 · answered by teddlesRuss 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My understanding is that this was more of a Chinese cultural issue. In a country with a lot of starvation at that time, they thought a skinny (probably realistic) Buddha seemed kind of depressing. So they made a fat/happy Buddha.
2006-07-16 11:57:52 · answer #3 · answered by skeptic 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know! I wondered the same thing! After all the research I did on Buddha I could not understand why there were fat Buddha statues at a museum I visited...you are right, his lifestyle would make it impossible for him to have been overweight. Good question!
2006-07-16 11:59:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
His name is Hotei and he is not a statue of the Buddha. I have heard he was a Buddha that came after the original and I have heard he was just a representation made fat to be a symbol of happiness and prosperity. I'm not sure which is most correct but he is not a statue of the original Buddha.
2006-07-16 12:00:28 · answer #5 · answered by tenaciousd 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a good question!!! I'm stumpped. I am Christian, but I think that the teachings in the Dhamapada and those of Jesus are fairly similar. But who knows maybe in an effort to discredit the Buddha's teachings they made him look undesireable. At the same time maybe the fat belly body image stood for wealth in terms of a lot of wealth equals eat good. So, by giving him this appearance it made him more disireable.
2006-07-16 12:09:02 · answer #6 · answered by ki11bi11bob 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buddism is also very popular in East Asia .. but I think they ( the Chinese powers that be ) invented the "Fat Chinese-Happy Face-Smiling" Budda so their people can relate to him race wise cuz they wouldn't relate to something not of their culture. Also giving credit to another country and it's culture/religion was probably not what the chinese government wanted. Seeing that the whole country is still being ruled like it was in the 15th century.
2006-07-16 11:57:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are asking this question because every other day some nutcase posts about fat Buddha, I suspect at least half of them know the truth.
Other half must have found out as soon as they typed that question as YA shows similar resolved questions.
Its not curiocity which makes them ask it. but they want to just insult or irritate Buddists. They do not have enough knowledge of Buddhism to question it and they can not find other things to make it look bad.
2006-07-16 13:30:52 · answer #8 · answered by Karma 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if theres any truth to it at all, but I always heard that he got fat and jolly later in life. There is also a saying that rubbing the belly of the fat buddha brings good luck. Don't know where it comes from.
2006-07-16 11:57:33 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the Laughing Buddha(not the real Buddha). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughing_Buddha
2006-07-16 11:56:16 · answer #10 · answered by the redcuber 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋