why Buddha is so fat??

Question

I mean i respect people who believe in him, but i think he's not healthy at all !!. how did he die? maybe a heart attack??

Answer 1

Thats the old Budha, in his prime he is pictured as a fit young man, bit like Einstein always represented as an old man.

Answer 2

Buddha image evolved first as an image of the mind and only then as the image transformed into a medium. In the creative process, the image of mind always precedes the image cast into a medium and the two stages are almost inseparable. In context to the Buddha image, however, both comprise two independent and distinct phases of evolution with a wide gap between. The image of mind seems to have appeared during Buddha's lifetime itself, but its visual aesthetics and transformation into a medium occurred around the 1st century A.D., that is, after some five to six hundred years.

So it was several hundred years after his death, in the first century AD, before statues of him began to appear. Clearly, this was not the era of mass merchandising. With the new Mahayanist revival, the Buddha principle was elevated to a higher level than ordinary man, and statues were used to encourage worship of these principles.

It became an act of faith to produce, or pay others to produce, Buddha images, and these would be given to the local monks for spiritual merit.

Early Buddha images were a composite of Indian Art and the Graeco-Roman fashion which influenced northern parts of the Indian sub-continent at that time. The earliest Budda images, in this style called Gandharan, usually showed the Buddha with flowing hair tied in a bun, full robes across both shoulders, and sometimes a moustache. Some features became standard, including the long ear lobes, and the bun of on top of his head.

As Buddhism travelled to different countries, each imposed their own style on the image. While it is difficult to generalise, Chinese Buddhist art was influenced by Confucian thinking and showed a high degree of order. In Japan, the respect for nature and for fine, clear detail produced some very simple, yet profound works. Indian art often reflects the sensual and the supernatural and this shows also in the art of Tibet.

Answer 3

Siddhartha Gautama {The first Buddha]
died from having eaten mushrooms, which historians say, might have been poisoned
by those who did not agree with his peaceful teachings.

Why was "a" Buddha fat ?

The fat Budddha was not Siddhartha Gautama.
It was a Chineese Buddha.
"Please Patiently read this. Thank You."
Read the information below, with an open mind, and you'll be educated to the truth.

The "Fat buddha" is not THE Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and strictly speaking the statue is not an idol.Buddha means "one who has achieved a state of perfect enlightenment" and there are several people who have been given the title. Siddhartha lived from around B.C. 560 to B.C. 480, it
was not until around 127 BC that statues actually depicting him became prevalent. Before that, and still today, statues of the Bodhi Tree and other objects associated with his life were common. Of course by then nobody knew what he really looked like, he was from a noble family and had been described as tall, slender, and of "manly build", but that may have been just because that is what people expected "Nobles" to look like, we still expect that today, few movie heroes are short and squat. And the image of a fat overfed Buddha didn't fit with his teachings, and an "enlightened one" might be so enlightened as to disregard material needs like eating, probably not to the extent of the Hindu mystics but probably influenced by them. The style of the statues was influenced by the various cultures that influenced all culture in the sub-continent (India), Greek styles early on, then Roman, Persian and others. And by the cultures in areas where his teachings spread, and now we finally get to the Fat buddha. Buddhism reached China around 100AD, and was wide spread there by 600AD. And we get three theories on Fat buddha, each one probably reinforced the others over time. First the physical image of a Noble was different as was the concept of the results of enlightenment, a Noble was not athletic or a warrior, but a well fed person of leisure. Enlightenment led to material success and wealth and a position at least very close to nobility. And a belief that fat men were inherently benevolent , similar to the "jolly fat man", Jolly Ol' St. Nick for example. Just as baseball players still try to rub a red headed players head for luck, people tried to rub a fat man's belly in hopes of luck and ample meals.
"Then there is the story of a Chinese Buddhist monk in the 6th century, who just happened to have a belly that shook like jelly, he was a benevolent fellow who dedicated himself to helping others, and was regarded as the incarnation of the Boddhisatva Metteya, who had reached nirvana but stayed around just to help people."
And finally the theory held by most Buddhist scholars. "A sagely Zen monk appeared in China around 850 A.D. and died in 916A.D. He said his name was "Knowing This" (ChiChe). No one knew where he came from, he carried a big fat bag and was famous for his fat belly. When asked how to obtain nirvana he would lay down the bag and not said a word. When asked about what happened after reaching nirvana. he would pick up the bag and walk away, still not a word. It is pretty much accepted that such a monk existed. 'HE is the inspiration for Fat buddha, as the statues began appearing in the late 800's, 1200 years after the Gautama's death. If you'll look at an authentic Fat buddha, you'll see he has a sack on his back, in fact his names include Hotei, Pu-Tai AND Mi-Le-Fo (Cloth Sack.) Then again the appearance of the statues may have influenced the legend of, or the actual, monk.' "

Answer 4

You must have some misunderstanding. The status showing fat is not Budha of Sikaamulie. There are so many Budhas in the Budhaist religious. Any Budha is only a man of understand why he is here and understand the other satras still a satras. The simple way of understanding of Budha who is understanding reality man. Once you understand the reality, you are Budha too.
The Fat status you see is called Mila Budha who is on waiting list to be a Budha when next creation come again. He still need to be training. and he is a happy man so his status showing Fat.
The Budha status usually in India are all thin and healthly. If you interest to understand more how to become a budha, go into yogaist sutra especially the tantra yogaist or Maha yogaist or the Ati Yoga etc. They must make healthy your body before the training of Budha.

Answer 5

The statues that you saw are just made by man. Buddha is actually very skinning. If you read about Buddha's life and his teachings, then you will understand why Buddha is skinny. Please don't believe that the statues you see is an actual depiction of what Buddha really looks like. Many things in religion is actually created by men.
I just wish that ignorant people, who have never read about what Buddha teaches, to stop responding to Buddhism questions and to stop writing stupid things about Buddha. It just further shows how many stupid people there are in this world.

Answer 6

The image of the fat Buddha is actually a Chinese diety known as Hotei or the Laughing Buddha.

Hotei is NOT the historical Buddha Gotama who is depicted in statues as serene meditative and slim.

Answer 7

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the historical Buddha, often depicted as the 'skinny' buddha statue.

the 'fat' buddha, you mentioned is another buddha-Maitreya ...always depicted as 'fat' , bcause, in chinese customs, fat is associated with jovial, abundance & wealth.

Maitreya, "The Friendly and Benevolent One" or "One Who Possesses Loving-kindness" is widely adored by the Chinese Buddhists for his willingness to grant help to those who direct their minds towards him. He is also known as Ajita, 'the Unconquered' and ranks equal with the other great Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Samanthabadra, Mahasthamaprata and Ksitigarbha. As the next Buddha-to-be he alone enjoys the distinction of being the only Bodhisattva recognised and popularly accepted by both Mahayanist and Theravadin countries.

Answer 8

Buddha in real life was most likely not fat. The statutes you see are not meant to represent him literally. Writings indicated he believed eating one modest but adequate and nutritious meal per day was the healthiest way. The Buddha statutes depicting him this way are symbolic. The big stomach indicates the largeness of his soul and is also supposed to symbolize happiness, luck, and generosity.

Answer 9

Cultures that have a lot of starvation tend to deify fat beings. Also fat women are seen as beautiful in those cultures.

Answer 10

Buddha is big. Everything is Buddha.

Answer 11

He was happy and in nirvana. He was cute. Rub his belly. It is good luck. It just goes to show that fat people are happy people.