Why are there two versions of Buddha? I've seen a skinny sculpture of him and a fat version.

They represent different Buddhas (or Bodhisatvas?). The original Budddha, Siddartha Guatama, is the skinny one. The fat ones originated in China. There are more than just two, though.

EDIT: Ok, just looked it up. The fat Budhha is actually Maitreya, the Buddha that hasn't come yet.

[This message has been edited by Kykeon (edited 01-18-2007).]

I don't know if this is right - as has already been said the skinny one is the Buddha himself. When he became enlightened he had spent some time as an ascetic - a religious person who treats their body very harshly and does not eat much.

For the fat ones, the fatness is supposedly a sign of wisdom, as are the huge earlobes that some statues have.

So a Buddha is someone who has reached complete nirvana and enlightenment? Is that why there's more than one?

i always thought that budda was supposed to be a role model, thats why they follow his teachings or whatever. i think the first post is right about the images

The fat one is Budai, a Chinese Buddha

The skinny one is Siddhartha Gautama, the orginal Buddha (Indian??)

A Buddha is one who reached Nirvana, so yes there are many Buddhas. When a Buddha dies, they do not reincarnate again, just go to Nirvana. And there were Buddha's before Siddhartha Gautama.

Siddhartha is usually known as "the" Buddha because he was the first to reach it and actually understand it and teach others how to reach Nirvana.

Hmmm....very interesting stuff. I would like to learn more about Hinduism and Buddhism. I'm not a religious person or anything, but I think I can have more respect for people that believe in eastern religious philosophy than I ever could some douchebag christian. They seem more peaceful and true about themselves. They don't go door to door trying to "save" everybody. You have to find the "light" yourself. I think it's pretty crazy how the Buddhist religion is non-theistic. So maybe it can apply to an atheist or agnostic? Maybe it would be some what cool to live by their teachings, not to the extreme, but as sort of like a tool to cope with lifes problems.

quote:Originally posted by NaRcO:

Hmmm....very interesting stuff. I would like to learn more about Hinduism and Buddhism. I'm not a religious person or anything, but I think I can have more respect for people that believe in eastern religious philosophy than I ever could some douchebag christian. They seem more peaceful and true about themselves. They don't go door to door trying to "save" everybody. You have to find the "light" yourself. I think it's pretty crazy how the Buddhist religion is non-theistic. So maybe it can apply to an atheist or agnostic? Maybe it would be some what cool to live by their teachings, not to the extreme, but as sort of like a tool to cope with lifes problems.

Buddhism in its simpliest form does not bring any god into the picture. Some might believe in deities and some Hindu gods, but there is no almighty Buddha god. So yeh, if you're an atheist cause you refuse to believe in a god, then Buddhism won't be an issue.

But, please do not try to learn, adapt, or pratice Buddhism or any religion to be against another. You should not join Buddhism cause Christianity sucks. In fact a Buddhist mindset might be to respect some of the prophets including Jesus as past Buddhas. By distributing negativity to other religions, you're just asking for karma to kick you in the ass.

If you decide to study and pratice Buddhism, do it for yourself, not because you don't like Christians. Its like voting for one party to vote againt the other. It should be a decision you feel a desire to make.

When people come to your door and try to preach a Judeo-Christian god, instead of calling them a douche bag, invite them in and talk if you have time. If they say something good and you agree, tell them you do, and have discussions on the best way to help others, how to avoid war, and preach peace. The Christian will say "great, so you agree that Jesus and god are great so join our church". You then say "No, we all have the duty to help others and better the Earth, regardless off a god or not."

Most religious philosiphies are pretty basic and hard to argue, Buddhists just leaves the god part out.

There were a few fat buddha's.

It could be happy buddha, who was a sumo wrestler before he became enlightened

I LOVE the fat Buddha. I have a black cat who weighs eighteen pounds and is really fat, and is always happy and loves people. I think he is a manifestation of the fat Buddha. If cats were Buddhists, the Buddha statues they would carve would look like my cat. My grandpa had a fat Buddha statue that I always loved, even before I ever heard of religions other than Churchianity.

The fat one is when buddah thought "Fuck this shit" and gorged hiself on chocolate biscuits.

quote:Originally posted by land195:

Buddhism in its simpliest form does not bring any god into the picture. Some might believe in deities and some Hindu gods, but there is no almighty Buddha god. So yeh, if you're an atheist cause you refuse to believe in a god, then Buddhism won't be an issue.

But, please do not try to learn, adapt, or pratice Buddhism or any religion to be against another. You should not join Buddhism cause Christianity sucks. In fact a Buddhist mindset might be to respect some of the prophets including Jesus as past Buddhas. By distributing negativity to other religions, you're just asking for karma to kick you in the ass.

If you decide to study and pratice Buddhism, do it for yourself, not because you don't like Christians. Its like voting for one party to vote againt the other. It should be a decision you feel a desire to make.

When people come to your door and try to preach a Judeo-Christian god, instead of calling them a douche bag, invite them in and talk if you have time. If they say something good and you agree, tell them you do, and have discussions on the best way to help others, how to avoid war, and preach peace. The Christian will say "great, so you agree that Jesus and god are great so join our church". You then say "No, we all have the duty to help others and better the Earth, regardless off a god or not."

Most religious philosiphies are pretty basic and hard to argue, Buddhists just leaves the god part out.

Land, you da man! Well said, with great accuracy. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

I like the idea of Buddhism, but I don't agree with the whole "no desire" thing.

I have a picture of all the buddhas(i think theres like 7 of them) I'll post it once i get my scanner working

I've heard the fat buddha is a representation of what you should not go after, it's a reminder not to be fat and slothlike. Which might also be what the skinny buddha is about--a reminder not to go completely the other way either.

A Buddha (and there has been plenty of them) is a person who has achieved Nirvana, the whole kit and kaboodle- Buddha means 'awakened'. If memory serves, there's supposedly hundreds of them.

The whole 'fat' thing is, as someone has said, a Chinese thing. Considering the diets (and how hard working) the people at the time were, being overweight was a sign of leisure and wealth- happiness. Thus, many Gods (such as the Gods of Happiness, which I do believe are figures in both Chinese and Japanese myth) are displayed as overweight, as is the fat Buddha. It's just people projecting their views of happiness upon religious figures.