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What are the different buddha Statues and representations symbolizing? Fat, Happy, One sitting on$?

FreeofwantWdumeanFreeofwantWdumean
edited March 2011 in General Banter
Why is there a Chubby and Skinny one? Where did the rub his belly for 3 wishes come from? pce.

Comments

  • ShiftPlusOneShiftPlusOne Veteran
    The 'Chubby' one which grants you wishes isn't Buddha.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai

    It's Chinese folklore.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited March 2011
    I always take these questions the wrong way. I always say the present moment, so who told you? I know very little about the history. I think historical buddha was not fat and I don't understand why they would represent him as fat in statues. Or what the setting of those statues is if they are traditional or like impressions in the west, no idea. I think the rub his belly for 3 wishes is a little joke. Like the genie. Poking fun at the belly?
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Why is there a Chubby and Skinny one? Where did the rub his belly for 3 wishes come from? pce.
    Statues of the Buddha did not exist in the Buddha's time. In fact,. for a long time after his death, personifications of the Buddha were just of his feet, or the 8-spoked wheel...
    Statues and personifications of the Buddha began appearing a long time later, and look any particular way according to the culture making them....
    There are Asian looking Buddhas, Indian-looking Buddhas and this Chinese little fat fellow, who, as has been said by ShiftPlusOne, is not even THE buddha at all....

  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    Many statues you think are of Buddha are not the Shakyamuni Buddha (our founder, called THE Buddha). The fat one is Hotei, the Laughing Buddha. Different man entirely, and a folklore figure sort of like Santa in the West. Hotei is a figure of good luck and plenty, so he has sacks of goodies and is surrounded by children quite often. Many of the other statues will be of other Bodhisattva figures elevated to Buddha status, like the Medicine Buddha or Pure Land Buddha. They depict different people/deities entirely, although it's hard for many people to distinguish them.

    And then we have Hindu figures that look like a Buddha to us, since they're seated in lotus position and have the same flowing robes and features.

  • kayennekayenne
    As I understand it, the Laughing Buddha is the Buddha to come - the Chinese call him Mi Lo Fwo....
  • 2bEnlightened2bEnlightened
    there are thousands of buddha's all representing and providing different things- the founder buddha being Shakyamuni; Tantric Buddha's for spiritual transformation,Vajrasattva and the 35 Confession Buddha's for purifying negativity,the medicine buddha, Avalokiteshvara-the compassion buddha, Tara the Mother Goddess, wealth buddha's ,etc- they all also have their own mantra's which you can recite to bring about a specific thing.
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    @kayenne, Is that so? I thought Metteyya/Maitreya was the one to come, meaning "friend". Gotta love stories. :)
  • dorjedorje
    @Cloud where I come from the Laughing Buddha and Maitreya/Metteya are considered synonymous.
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    Ah, okay.
  • RogerRoger
    edited March 2011
    Our Buddha has an ushnisha on the top of his head. Refers to his wisdom as an enlightened being. I can't recall if this is a unique feature of "our guy." Third eye in forehead is a feature too. Also elongated earlobes refer to official aristocratic stature as a young man. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Ponder

    image
  • WednesdayWednesday
    A lot of buddhas. The fat smiling Hotei is also one of the seven lucky gods in Japan.
  • LamaMikeLamaMike
    Roger, you're right about the ushnisha but that's not a third eye. It's a group of three hairs which curl three times clockwise. It's called the urna or urnakosha and is the 31st of the 32 lakshanas (special physical features) of a mahapurusha (great being). Here's the full list:

    1 Well-placed flat-footed feet
    2 Mark of the Wheel of Law on soles of feet or palms of hands
    3 Soles and palms more tender and soft than in most people
    4 Long toes and fingers
    5 Webbed fingers and toes
    6 Feet well set on the ground
    7 Ankle bones that are hardly noticeable
    8 Lower legs like those of an antelope
    9 Body frame tall and straight
    10 Arms that reach to the knees when standing
    11 Genitalia withdrawn
    12 Hairs on the head and arranged in soft curls that point to the right
    13 Hairs of the body point upwards.
    14 Skin smooth and delicate
    15 Skin golden.
    16 The seven broad features:
    2 broad heels
    2 broad hands
    2 broad shoulder-blades
    Broad neck
    17 Torso like a lion
    18 Shoulders gently curved
    19 Chest wide
    20 Body circumference has proportions of a fig tree
    21 Cheeks like a lion
    22 40 teeth rather than the normal 32
    23 Teeth have no gaps
    24 Teeth are equal in size
    25 Very white teeth
    26 An excellent sense of taste
    27 A long tongue that can reach his ears
    28 A strong and attractive voice like that of the Hindu god Brahma
    29 Eyes the colour of sapphire
    30 Long eyelashes
    31 Tuft of hair between his eyebrows (urna).
    32 A bump on the top of the head (ushnisha).
  • LamaMikeLamaMike
    To return to the subject of who the "fat Buddha" is, he is called Budai (in Chinese) or Hotei (Japanese) and seems to be a conflation of several different figures: two disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha - the arhats Mahakatyayana and Angida, and a medieval Chinese monk also known as Budai. There is a famous Zen story about this latter character:

    The monk Budai used to carry a bag of candy to hand out to children. One day someone asked him the meaning of Zen. Budai dropped his bag. "And how does one realize Zen?" the questioner continued. Budai picked up the bag and went on his way.

    Then again, as Kayenne and Dorje correctly point out, Budai is often considered to be a form of Maitreya.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    edited May 2012
    As I understand it, the Laughing Buddha is the Buddha to come - the Chinese call him Mi Lo Fwo....
    @kayenne: In Mandarin, it's Mílè Púsa, AFAIK. Which is sort of interesting, because Púsa denotes a bodhisattva, not a Buddha; however "fwo" (Cantonese?) or Fó in mandarin denotes a Buddha. I wonder why there's two different names that have slightly different meanings?
    @kayenne, Is that so? I thought Metteyya/Maitreya was the one to come, meaning "friend". Gotta love stories. :)
    @cloud: It's just a different name in a different language. Maitreya is the Sanskrit name. Just like how in Sanskrit, it's Amitabha while in Japanese it's Amida.
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