why does the Buddha have a big belly, did he drink too many beers?

Question

why is buddhist not as involved in violence as other releigions, why are alot of the buddhist beleives similer to christains, do any christains are other releigons think buddha is cool with that big fat belly. how does the buddhist beleive in hell compare to the christains. one more thing what kind of marshal art do the buddhist practice, and if i am a buddhist will i go to heaven or hell. are will i be reincarnaited.

Answer 1

BECAUSE I TEMP HIM TO EAT HIS WIFE. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

MUWHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

JUST KIDDING

Answer 2

What a lot of questions wrapped up in one. I'll do my best to answer all of them.
It may take a little while.

The fat Buddhas are Chinese. They are shown that way because fatness was found attractive in China at that time. Buddhas from all other areas are always shown as slim and often quite beautifully formed.

Buddhist beliefs are really not like those of Christianity at all. What can be similar is the advice about loving, forgiveness, compassion, etc.

Can't say what Christians think about Buddha figures. (The proper name is Buddha rupas.) I'm not a Christian, I'm a Buddhist.

Buddhism covers a wide range of practices and beliefs, some believe in hells, some see places like Darfur as hell. The important difference between the Buddhist idea and the Christian is that, in Buddhism, hell is not permanent - just a learning stage on the way to enlightenment.

The Indian sage Boddhidharma, is said to have gone to China. One of the things which legend has it that he did there was to start the Shaolin Monastery where he taught Kung Fu. It was taught it to monks so that they could protect themselves against bandits in what was then a very dangerous land.
Since Buddhism is a religion of harmlessness, not many Buddhists now actually practise marshal arts.

As I said earlier, heaven and hell, if they exist at all, are seen as temporary states. Buddhism talks about Karma and rebirth. (Reincarnation is Hindu and is slightly different).
So your actions in this life will decide what your next life will be like.

Jon C

Answer 3

You ask a lot of questions.

- The representation of the Buddha that has a big belly is Mi-Lo Buddha, who is more like a folk figure (ala Santa Claus) than an object of devotion. There have actually been several buddhas, individuals who have attained Nirvana and managed to teach others a little bit about the right path on the way.

- Buddhism is generally a nonviolent religion; whereas Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism each condone violence in certain contexts, Buddhism on the whole does not. There are many different kinds of Buddhism, however . . .

- Many kinds of Buddhism are actually very similar to Christianity. See, there are two main streams of Buddhist religion, Theravada and Mahayana. The former is monastic (you are responsible for getting yourself to Nirvana), the second is popular (others can help you get there). Many forms of Mahayana Buddhism have actually done away with complex notions of Nirvana in favor of a focus, like Christians, on getting to one of the heavens. Pure Land Buddhism is a great example of this - it's very much like a Christian church, with devotion for a savior-Buddha who will help worshippers get to a Pure Land, the Western Paradise, i.e., Heaven.

- Depending on what kind of Buddhism you're talking about, there can be one heaven and one hell, like in Christianity, or there could be several. Originally, hells and heavens in Buddhism were just places that you went after death to work out your karma, before you could attain Nirvana; that, or heavens and hells were just a step towards reincarnation. But as some forms of Buddhism became popularized or influenced by other religions, the roles of the heavens and hells changed. As I mentioned above, many kinds of Buddhism are now very heaven-oriented.

- Buddhists practice all kinds of martial arts. What kinds of martial arts do Christians practice? While I'm sure some groups of Buddhist monks have come up with their own martial art styles, I'm also sure that these are going to be pretty numerous.

- If you're a Buddhist, your main goal is usually to attain Nirvana. Nirvana is not like a Heaven or Hell, it is a state of non-being, where all your karma is worked out and you are therefore released from the wheel of karma and reincarnation. The way it usually works is this: your behaviors throughout life build up karma. Good karma or bad karma doesn't ultimately matter - any karma at all will make you reincarnate and, thus, you will not attain Nirvana. Of course, if you're going to reincarnate anyway, you might as well reincarnate as a higher form of life, or even a buddha! So, rack up that good karma. Some kinds of Buddhism believe that good karma sends you to a heaven and that bad karma sends you to a hell - either way, you're just there until your karma is worked out and you can either reincarnate in a new form or attain the final extinguishment of being, Nirvana.

Answer 4

The Buddah was fat because he was a prince before he found out what the real world was like(hed been kept in castle by father all life and never seen anything bad) and the sign of richness back then was to be fat because it showed you can afford food. he went out with a guard one day and saw sick, old, frail, and dying people. That day he ran away from home and went on a serious diet, eating one grain of rice each day for the next month. He wasnt fat after that.

Thats roughly what happened i think, not much detail though!

Answer 5

Being a Buddhist requires adherence to a set of moral precepts-you might attain spiritual awakening which is the first stage of achieving nirvana but there is no concept of heaven or hell as exists in Christianity. You don't need to believe in reincarnation but most Buddhists do.

Answer 6

Centuries ago what we call "fat" was seen as healthy, and well off. Poor peasants could not afford to eat, so they were thin. Look at Renaissance art, all the beautiful nude women are pudgy! A heavy wife meant the husband was a good provider. Also beauty really IS in the eye of the beholder, back then chubby was beautiful. today a tan is seen as attractive and like you can afford a vacation to Hawaii, but back then it meant you were a poor low class field worker. High class had white skin. Times change!

Answer 7

I suppose it symbolises prosperity, physical (and mental?) nourishment and contentment - if most of the followers of a religion (at that time) were poor peasants and din't get much to eat, a big belly must symbolised many positive things to them, and suggested that following the buddhist path would provide inner nourishment. However as i'm not a buddhist i could be completely wrong!

Answer 8

Buddhism is the only religion I know of who have never went to war with anyone .not even between their own variants.

You don't need to be a full blown out Buddhist to accept some of their teaching as they are mainly common sense and realistic .

Hope this helps

Answer 9

Buddhism do not teach ignorance like you have and Buddhist do not have to hang on the cross to go to heaven.You are already in hell.I am not Buddhist,but hate to see stupids making fun fun of others.

Answer 10

Buddhas depiction in old age as `fat`, reflects the belief that what a person LOOKS like is unimportant. It does NOT reflect affluence, anyone who knows anything of Buddhism will tell you that all wealth lies within the person, and how he conducts his life and interacts with all existence. Christianity for all its claims, is not original; aspects of all major world religions, past and present are contained within it.

Answer 11

the buddha you are talking about is the smiling buddha as there is a buddha that's not fat at all anyway buddhists believe in reincarnation and buddhists don't believe in being violent as they view it as counterproductive anyway here's a link to learn more


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism