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Buddhism
Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama
• A prince with every “everything”,
discovers a great deal of human
suffering outside “his world.”
• Gives up “everything” to seek the
cure for human suffering.
• Goal: To seek Nirvana
Means end of the self and a reunion
in life with the Great Soul
Four Noble Truths
1. Ordinary life is suffering
2. This suffering is caused by our
desire to satisfy ourselves
3. The way to end suffering is to end
desire for selfish goals and to see
others as extensions of ourselves
4. The way to end desire is to follow
the middle path
“The Middle Path”
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1. Stupas and temples
were built to honor the
death of Gautama.
Stupas are stone
towers that house
relics of the Buddha
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The Middle Path
Right View:
We need to know the Four Noble Truths
Right Intention:
We need to decide what we really want
Right Speech:
We must seek to speak truth and to speak well of others
Right Action:
The Buddha gave five precepts: “Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do
not be unchaste. Do not take drugs or alcohol.”
Right livelihood:
We must do work that uplifts our being.
Right effort:
The Buddha said, “Those who follow the Way might well follow the
example of an ox that arches through the deep mud carrying a heavy
load. He is tired, but his steady, forward-looking gaze will not relax until
he is out of the mud.”
Right mindfulness:
We must keep our minds in control of our senses: “All we are is the result
of what we have thought.”
Right concentration:
We must meditate to see the world in a new way.
Two Religions
Why Fat Buddha Statues?
• The "Fat Buddha" is not THE Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama
• The statue is not an idol.
• Rubbing the belly of a fat Buddha Statue is not a prayer of any sort… it's just
a more or less superstitious habit
• Buddha means "one who has achieved a state of perfect
enlightenment" and there are several people who have been given
the title.
• Siddhartha lived from around B.C. 560 to B.C. 480, it
was not until around 127 BC that statues actually depicting him
became prevalent.
• Nobody knew what he really looked like, he was from a noble family
and had been described as tall, slender, and of "manly build", but that
may have been just because that is what people expected "Nobles"
to look like.
• The image of a fat overfed Buddha didn't fit with his teachings, and
an "enlightened one" might be so enlightened as to disregard
material needs like eating…
• Buddhism reached China around 100AD, and was wide spread there
by 600AD.
• We get three theories on Fat Buddha.
• First the physical image of a Noble was not athletic or a
warrior, but a well fed person of leisure. People tried to rub a
fat man's belly in hopes of luck and ample meals.
• Then there is the story of a Chinese Buddhist monk in the
6th century, who just happened to have a belly that shook
like jelly, he was a kind fellow who dedicated himself to
helping others, and was regarded as the incarnation of the
Boddhisatva Metteya, who had reached nirvana but stayed
around just to help people.
• And finally the theory held by most Buddhist scholars. A sagely Zen
monk appeared in China around 850 A.D. and died in 916A.D. He
said his name was "Knowing This" (ChiChe). No one knew where he
came from, he carried a big fat bag and was famous for his fat belly.
When asked how to obtain nirvana he would lay down the bag and
not said a word. When asked about what happened after reaching
nirvana he would pick up the bag and walk away, still not a word. It is
pretty much accepted that such a monk existed. He is probably the
inspiration for Fat Buddha, as the statues began appearing in the late
800's, 1200 years after the Gautama's death. If you'll look at an
authentic Fat buddha, you'll see he has a sack on his back.