Why does the laughing Buddha look different from the meditating Buddha?

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Riza

New member
Are they different people?

I noticed this difference because my Grandma has a laughing Buddha statue in her house and when I was very young, I remember visiting a giant Buddha statue (there were a lot of stairs). Both looked different.

I don't mean to be ignorant, so I apologize if I have offended you.
 
S

steveh

Member
I believe they are different Buddhas.

Buddha is more of a title than a name. The laughing Buddha is the Chinese depiction of Buddha Maitreya, the Buddha that's next in line to come to the Earth. The other common one is Siddhartha, who is the one people usually think of when they say "Buddha."

I think the Chinese one is based on an existing Chinese deity called "Budai" who sort of became a Buddha when Buddhism entered China and absorbed existing folklore.
 
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RallieFlorencioC

New member
Only the Chinese Buddhists would have different representations of the Buddha according to its Auspicious nature, Buddha is not a person nor a deity, it is merely a title given to a person who have achieve the state of enlightenment. The laughing Buddha is merely an image formed for joy and wealth since the fat belly meant well fed or successful. The meditating Buddha tells us of the way we can find peace within by reflecting in silence and quiet contemplations.
Prince Siddharta of India was a slim but healthy body who have achieved enlightenment or Illuminations called Buddhahood and his teachings grew and spread to China. There is also a possiblity that it may no longer be Prince Siddharta who came to China but someone who is a Chinese sage that also achieved the same title (since being Buddha like being Christ can be achieved by anyone who walks in the path of truth) and the many faces of Buddha in the area were merely the influences set by their own culture and tradition.
 
M

Magpie

Member
Yes, they are different.

The "laughing Buddha" is actually Bodhai, or Hotei, a pre-Buddhist deity of abundance and contentment (and incidentally the Japanese equivalent to Santa Claus). As Buddhism spread through China and Japan, local gods were absorbed into the religion as Buddhas.
 
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doodah

New member
the so'called "laughing Buddha" is a depiction of Bhodi (Maitreya) in that form . . . . not the same thing, but the same basic belief.
 
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CurlingKitteh

New member
They're different people. One is The Buddha, while one is A buddha (meaning an enlightened person).

The meditating Buddha is Siddhartha, the founder of the religion of Buddhism. The laughing Buddha is a Chinese folk deity called Ho Tei or Budai, based on a Chinese monk of the Chan school of Buddhism.
 
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JeffreyHe

New member
Here's your answer: http://www.gotquestions.org/why-read-Bible.html

The Bible is literally "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16)

We find, as we read the pages of biblical history, that whether we are talking about one-on-one relationships or societies, "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

His revealed Word, the Bible, is so important that Jesus said of it, "Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

The Bible tells us how one truly gets to heaven, and it is not by being good or by being baptized or by anything else we do (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:1-10; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10-18, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13). Along this line, God's Word shows us just how much God loves us (Romans 5:6-8; John 3:16). And it is in learning this that we are drawn to love Him in return (1 John 4:19).
 
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JeffreyHe

New member
Here's your answer: http://www.gotquestions.org/why-read-Bible.html

The Bible is literally "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16)

We find, as we read the pages of biblical history, that whether we are talking about one-on-one relationships or societies, "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

His revealed Word, the Bible, is so important that Jesus said of it, "Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

The Bible tells us how one truly gets to heaven, and it is not by being good or by being baptized or by anything else we do (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:1-10; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10-18, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13). Along this line, God's Word shows us just how much God loves us (Romans 5:6-8; John 3:16). And it is in learning this that we are drawn to love Him in return (1 John 4:19).
 
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Nitai

New member
the laughing Buddha is the future Buddha and with his jolliness he will make people happy and enlightened, wake them up from sadness and distress.
 
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