How did Buddha become Fat Buddha?

Question

Buddha was a slim strong looking and sounding individual in the Indian stories. Now how come the Asian version of Buddha is very large and fat and ungraceful but jolly. How did this happen? It's very unlogical, Buddha did alot of walking all around India and begged for food which meant that he never recieved a huge amount or gorged himself or asked for more than his fill. I know Buddhism isn't as popular in India as it once was but how did he transform into this huge jolly man in it's transition to other parts of Asia. For a character which represents balance the east asian version looks nothing like it. So, please tell me how did Buddha become so fat???

Answer 1

You have to understand that Buddhism blends wherever it goes. Although the core teachings remain intact, but the outer bark--the "form" that the religion/philosophy expresses--adapts to the receiving culture. Therefore, iconic representations of ideas or teachings differ from area to area. Tibetan Buddhism has a unique flavor, and so do Japanese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Thai Buddhism, Sri Lankan Buddhism, and so on.

You can think of Buddhist teachings as a vehicle, a car. You'd have all sorts of models, parts, designs, etc., but a car is still a car despite all its variable forms to choose from.

To get back to your question, the Fat Buddha ("Laughing Buddha") has been an image exclusive to Chinese Buddhism. It has come to represent good luck and wealth, which reconciles amicably with the Chinese merchantship. As for the actual, historical Fat Buddha.. we don't know if he did exist. He's as far back as a legend. I could be wrong though, about the legend part; I'm not an expert in Chinese Buddhism. You have to go dig history.

The Buddha--Siddhartha Gautama--has taught, and lived, a life of moderation so it is insensible for people from any culture to portray him as having a fat, gluttonous belly.

Answer 2

Fat Buddha

Answer 3

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RE:
How did Buddha become Fat Buddha?
Buddha was a slim strong looking and sounding individual in the Indian stories. Now how come the Asian version of Buddha is very large and fat and ungraceful but jolly. How did this happen? It's very unlogical, Buddha did alot of walking all around India and begged for food which meant that he...

Answer 4

Buddha vs Fat Buddha

I think most people are familiar with both versions of Buddha, the skinny and the fat one. The original Buddhist image depicted is of him being skinny or of an average body type. It actually has always bothered me that mainly in the western world I’ve always seen the “fat” Buddha or “laughing Buddha.” The reason why the fat version of Buddha is called the laughing Buddha is because in the images and statues depicted of him he is usually laughing or smiling. However this Laughing version of Buddha was actually first introduced in China. This is because in traditional China, being chubby signified good health and fortune. Therefore it made
sense to create an image of someone so enlighten like Buddha to be chubby and smiling. However in the Chinese Buddhist religion there is a monk by the name of Budai who has been depicted as looking like the “fat buddha” so there might have been confusion in some point in time. If you go to India, Thailand, Korea or other countries in the eastern hemisphere you will find that Buddha is depicted in statues and images as skinny, which is how he was seen originally.

Answer 5

thats a very good question! and while many of the answers on here have their own truths to them, (such as buddhism changing to adapt to its receiving culture) the origin of the fat buddha is very specific! The story is this... He is in fact an entirely different person from the Sakyamuni buddha, or the Guatama buddha, that is, the historical Prince Siddhartha Guatama who founded the Dharma we live by today over 2,600 years ago. The fat Buddha Came about much later after Mahayana Buddhism was already firmly established. it is believed that The fat Buddha known as Hotai or Hotei was a cha'n buddhist monk who lived in China around 1,200 or so years ago. He was known to be exceedingly kind and Jolly. He was known for carrying many goods for children because he loved the children above all else in the world. He would travel around teaching the Dharma to the young ones and providing them with candies and other goodies he collected on his travels. He had a bit of a sweet tooth himself though obviously, haha ^^ In a way, he is very similar to saint Nicholas In Catholicism. So he's more or less a chinese santa claus! xD because he was in a way, the patron Boddhisattva of children and of pure unrestrained happiness and Joy. He became immortalized in memory as a depiction of all things joyous and affluent in the centuries following his life. Its hard to say exactly when he was alive or even if this story is completely true. But that is the legend that became the happy or laughing buddha.

Answer 6

Buddha was not fat, and the original man was called Sidhartha, the Buddha, the enlightened one. Buddha was transferred to different cultures with different appearances such as many places have different versions for the Virgin Mary. Merry Christmas!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Buddha made the transition to fat Buddha when the religion moved from India into Asia; in Asia, and especially at the time in China, where Buddhism became really huge, they had already in place a tradition of a fat person signifying wealth and happines and good fortune, so they transformed the Buddha into a fat Buddha to match their own traditions (see also the Chinese god Hotei). but you're right, Buddha was not fat. or at least I highly doubt that he ever was.

by the way, Buddha imagery is different still in different countries; Buddha has not totally transformed into a fat Buddha; in many countries he is still a skinny Buddha (try southeast Asia, like Thailand, and still in India as well).

Answer 9

You are right, it is very ILLOGICAL for Buddha to suddenly become fat. The "fat Buddha" was a monk named Budai. It is also incorrect to say that Siddhartha begged for food. His fasting was by choice, to teach moderation, not because he had to.

Answer 10

That "fat buddha" is actually not the buddha. He is called Budai, and I think he is just a monk.

Answer 11

this is wrong, the laughing buddha is not related to Lord Buddha, Laughing buddha is a person lived in china his name was Buddha and this goes with chines FENG-SHUI thing but it has no relation to buddhism, but the philosophy of Buddhism comes from Lord buddha, who was born in INDIA, Just know what you say before you say it