Which one is the Buddha?

Question

I keep arguing with my friends that the Buddha was that guy whose kind of sitting criss cross applesauce with his hands together and his hair up in a bun, but they say hes the fat bald dude where you rub his belly, whose the true Buddha?

Answer 1

The statues of the man sitting cross-legged with a bump (bun) on his head is the traditional depiction of the Buddha. Though it's important to note that no representations of the historical person have ever been made. The images you commonly see are purely symbolic.

The jolly fat man that you often see in Chinese restaurants is NOT the Buddha. These statues are depictions of a Chinese monk named Putai (Hotei in Japanese), who has been incorporated into Buddhist, Daoist, and Shinto culture. Occasionally he his called the "Laughing Buddha", but this isn't the historic Buddha. Rather, it's the future Buddha known as Maitreya, who, according to myth, is currently residing in one of the Buddhist heavens until the time is right to be born on earth and restore the Buddhist teachings.

Answer 2

A Buddha is simply an enlightened person. Anyone can be a Buddha. However, the person that most people refer to when they say "The Buddha" Is Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. Both of those statues are of Buddha, the "thin" version that sits in the full lotus more accurately represents his physical appearance, since they hail from the areas surrounding India (The country that Buddha was born in). The fat bald ones are from far eastern countries. When Buddhist missionaries came to China, they were asked to describe Buddha. They told the people that he was happy, so the Chinese depicted him as being fat, since in china happy people were wealthy, and wealthy people could afford more food, so wealthy people were fat. The real Buddha was not fat at all, he actually ate very little, and before he became enlightened he was a famous warrior prince who trained himself vigorously...

Answer 3

The sitting one is Gautama Buddha who rules Nirvana and watch over all of his students. The fat bald one may be one of his student or later Buddha. The one with something on his head and hand is Chinese saint

Answer 4

The chubby buddha is depicted by the Chinese who have a different view of how the buddha should look. They like him to look fat and happy. That's ok. The slim buddha is how he is depicted by the Tibetans, Indians, Thais and others. As the roots of buddhism are Indian the majority depict him as slim and peacefully meditating.

Answer 5

They are both a buddha. You do not seem to understand that in the Buddhist belief any person can strive to become a buddha themselves. In any case, to directly answer your question...one of them is the Indian buddha and the other is asian. However, both are buddha.

Answer 6

They are both the same. The fat buddha is like a Chinese Santa Clause. The thin one with the bun is the Indian incarnation. They are both statues of the same person.

Answer 7

There are many Buddhas, all individualistic looking.
You both can be correct, but neither is the 'true' Buddha.

--Buddhist.

Answer 8

The fat bald guy that you rub.

Answer 9

Your friends are right.