Fat buddha - Hotei

anyone else a bit disturbed at the fact that many people consider Hotei to be 'Buddha' ?

(moreso at the fact that we are led to believe this by popular western culture)

 

Hotei is i believe considered to be a preincarnation of a future Buddha.
Or a representation of the future Buddha.

Story is as follows:

China was in a time of great strife, and the cult of the future Buddha (Maitreya) became very popular. Hotei, a monk who was considered a bit of a rascal by his local temple, on his deathbed, wrote a poem to the effect of:

"Maitreya, everyone is looking for Maitreya, they do not realise he is already here"

And the distraught Buddhists of the time thought that he must have been the future-Buddha, and they were so focussed on the future, that they missed him completely.

So Modern Buddhists in the Zen and Chinese traditions, use him as a representation of the Buddha of the future, and to remind us to look to the present for salvation.

His large stomach is often thought to be symbolic, the stomach being the seat of soul in Chinese mythology....


There are various other stories about him, I believe he is also venerated in Shinto.

What pop-culture makes of him, lol used to bother me when I was younger. Not really now. People make of things what they will

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I've been wondering how the hell Buddha managed to get fat while living in poverty and going around India on foot. He couldn't have sat under the tree that long.

 

statue

 

^huh?

 

chicken nugget

 

yea thanks for that info.

 

I was wondering why they always protray him as an obese man, it just didn't make sense to me.

Very interresting...

I wonder that, especially since he was so well disaplined, you would think he wouldn't eat himself to obesity.

 

He is based on an Eccentric zen monk

 

I adore the fat buddha. Have a few lil statues of him.

 

I love the fat buddha. To me he represents my favorite parts of buddhism; contentedness, happiness.

 

Me too! The plumpness always seemed to symbolize someone content, who has all of his needs fulfilled (spiritually, of course!). I guess to me the large body sort of represents a full heart and a healthy soul, more than it represents a full stomach! Either way, every time I see a fat little Buddha somewhere it makes me feel calm and happy

 

Agreed! I love food, love eating, love eating 'til I'm stuffed! I have a couple fat buddha statues that make me happy and remind me of that great feeling of being full after a big meal - that's how life feels!