Why is Buddha depicted as being fat?

Answer 1

It is unlikely that the historic Buddha was fat. There are no portraits from life to confirm that fact, but if we consider the arc of his life:

• His birth family was rich and he was trained to be a prince. This would include many skills like sword fighting, riding etc hat would promote fitness rather than fatness.
• When he left his father's house he embarked on a path of asceticism subsisting on a minimum of food and comfort. This would rended him rail thin sothat all his ribs would be visible.
• When he became enlightened he determined that a life of moderation was the middle path. This would entail eating until you had "enough" not until you were full. Together with his life of wandering about the countryside would promote fitness not fatness again.

The common perception that thee Buddha was fat probably arise from the figure of "Hotei" (the fat Buddha, or "Laughing Chinaman" statue in Chinese restaurants). He is a symbol of happiness and prosperity, and in many countries a prosperous person is shown as being portly.

Alternately the Hollywood image of Buddha, Buddhists and Buddhist is generally (at least) chubby.

Answer 2

The Buddha is not fat. All statues portraying the historical Buddha show him as slim as befits a man who ate only enough to satisfy hunger not to be full and spent his life wandering over the countryside. The statues of the "fat Buddha" are actually statues of a Chinese monk named Hotei, who was famous for his generosity and kindness to children. Confusing those images with the Buddha is like confusing Santa Claus with Jesus. Part of the confusion may arise from the fact that Hotei's name in Chinese is Budai.

Buddha advocated a middle way in your approach to life, part of this is to eat until you are no longer hungry - not until you are full. Combining this with a vegetarian diet and a lifestyle which involved walking about giving his discussions or sermons, it is likely that he was fit and slender not fat.

As far as the non-Buddhist view that Buddha was fat, this is probably due to the fact that most people's only contact with Buddha images is Hotei, the fat laughing oriental figure often seen in restaurants, or the fat Buddha seen in Hollywood movies.

In some Asian cultures being overweight symbolises his wealth, wisdom and his full spirit. In Tibet being fat means that you are contente with the life that you choose to live.In Asia being fat means good luck.

Answer:

This reflects the fact that he was a full time meditator, and lived a very frugal lifestyle. His spiritual career began with 6 years of asceticism, but even though this was abandoned, he stilled led a very simple life. He ate one meal a day.

The image of the "fat belly buddha" is common in popular depictions from Chinese Buddhism about the future buddha Maitreya. There is no evidence for this in any scripture, however.

Answer:

The fat man is not the Buddha. The fat man is a Chinese monk that has been known under different names, including Hotei, Pu-Tai, and Mi-Le-Fo. The Buddha IS in fact the slender ones in statues. Even Chinese depictions of the Buddha are generally slender.

Infact the Buddha(Gautama Buddha) only ate one very small meal a day and almost died from starvation!

Answer:

It is unlikely that the historic Buddha was fat. There are no portraits from life to confirm that fact, but if we consider the arc of his life:

• His birth family was rich and he was trained to be a prince. This would include many skills like sword fighting, riding etc hat would promote fitness rather than fatness.
• When he left his father's house he embarked on a path of asceticism subsisting on a minimum of food and comfort. This would render him rail thin so that all his ribs would be visible.
• When he became enlightened he determined that a life of moderation was the middle path. This and his life of wandering about the countryside would promote fitness not fatness again.

The common perception that thee Buddha was fat probably arise from the figure of "Hotei" (the fat Buddha, or "Laughing Chinaman" statue in Chinese restaurants). He is a symbol of happiness and prosperity, and in many countries a prosperous person is shown as being portly.