Why is the Buddha represented as a rotund man?

So what was the Buddha like? What would it have been like to meet him?

The Buddha was about six feet tall with coal black hair and a golden brown complexion. When he was still a layman he wore his hair and beard long but, on renouncing the world, shaved them both like every other monk.

Vacchagotta said this of him:

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant."

Maitreya - the future Buddha (Fatter Buddha)

The name means 'benevolence' or 'friendship'. He is now living his last existence as a Bodhisattva. In anticipation of his imminent arrival, he is sometimes considered as a Buddha and given the title of Tathagata.

The rotund figure of a Buddha is not *the* original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.

There have been many Buddhas historically. Buddha simply means one who has achieved a state of enlightenment.

It was in China that the Fat Buddha (or Laughing Buddha) originated and it is unclear who it represents if it represents anyone at all. One popular story I have heard is that Fat Buddha was so handsome that he asked to be made less attractive so women would leave him alone so he could focus on studying.

Another story, is that Fat Buddha represents a lesser buddha called Hotei (or Miroku or Miluo or Budai or Putai, depending on language). The model for Hotei was (probably) a cheerful, overweight Chinese zen monk or healer who wandered the countryside helping people circa 950 AD. In Asia the belly is one's spiritual center and source of power, so rubbing the laughing buddha's belly is thought, by some, to bring good luck.

The image you refer to is a Chinese image. It represents Maitraya or the Buddha of the Next Age (the one who will follow after the current Buddha Shakyamuni). I have many statues of the Buddha and few of them depict him as rotund, except the Chinese one I mentioned.

There is a very disturbing depiction of the buddha in which he is literally skin and bones. This occurred when he first began to cultivate. Having nearly starved himself to death, he realized that extreme ascetiscism was not the right way to practice. Hence he developed what is known as the middle path - one that shuns extremes.

I hope that helps. If you want more info or clarification, e-mail me.

Omito Fo

VB*

The fat laughing Buddha isn't really the historical Buddha. It's actually a representation of some Chinese Buddhist monk who has some symbolism, akin to the Christian Santa Claus. He supposedly carries a bag full of toys with him.

The historical Buddha is never represented as fat. In fact, in some of the sculptures he's represented as an extremely malnourished anorexic, because of the fact that he meditated for 6 years with almost no food.

Asian art tends represent ideas more than physical reality. A rotund religious figure can be expressing that he is full of spiritual breath (called "prana").

There are a wide varieties of depictions of the Buddha. I have seen slender images as well as skeletal images (representing the transitory nature of this world)

To further complicate this, the fat man Americans most often see as "Buddha" isn't really the Buddha. It's one of his deciples whose image is popular in China.

What you are referring to is the laughing Buddha. That is a chinese concept. I think they are more for display than worship. i think they also consider it lucky to rub it's belly.

The Original buddha is displayed as a slim muscular Man with curly long hair tied in a knot at the top of the head. Gautama Buddha was Hindu prince who achieved enlightenment.

I'm a western guy, Christian not Buddhist (although I am sometimes guided by Buddhist ideas about tranquillity and serenity), and I live in Taiwan.

Obese Buddha is a cultural thing. Chinese friends greet each other by saying "Have you eaten?" instead of "Hi" because of the huge impact of famine on Chinese history.

Being fat is traditionally associated with weath and prosperity.

It's just a symbol.

Thank you for you statement of respect for beliefs other than your own.

I have wondered the same thing, because the Buddha represented by China, Japan, ect. is large, but the Tibetan Buddha is thinner...

In Chinese culture, a large belly represents prosperity and good fortune. It isn't an accurate depiction of the real-life Buddha.

In some countries, like Thailand, the statues of Buddha are all thin.