Pharoah

'Sidharta' - The Buddha.

Posted on 04/11/08, 10:27 pm

Was 'Sidharta' an Indian? Was he fat or thin? - his idol is thought to bring luck into many homes, but - do i read 'he was born in -now- 'Nepal?' Is the 'fat-bellied' Buddha a -strictly- Chinese concept?
I knew only that he refused earthly riches (hungered). Is 'thin Buddha' a -strictly- Indian concept? Both images are contrasting. Born around 500bc, his followers aren't 'religious'... am i correct?
What are "Sidharta"s true attributes?

• Reply #1 06/27/08  10:58am
  
  LMKuhn76
  I am not certain we can know for sure what his true physical appearance was. Likewise with Jesus. I love a lot of Greg Olson's art but I doubt his interpretation of Jesus' eyes and hair are even close to how a middle eastern Jew 2000 years ago looked like. Surely Siddharta's ears were naturally elongated to the extent that some idols portray - this of course is symbolic. I don't personally know enough about the various regions' interpretations and subsequent portrayals of Buddha to say if the fat-bellied Siddhartha is a Chinese concept or not. But certainly it does seem so. I wouldn't say that the followers of Buddha are not "religious" - Buddism is a religion. Buddha was teaching and living a religious life. And when one really looks at Buddhism's teachings, they don't conflict entirely with the Judeo-Christian world view. One book I really enjoyed a few years back was Buddhism After Patriarchy - but that's a whole other topic really...just crossed my mind, though.
• Reply #2 07/10/08  3:08pm
  
  Pharoah
  Hi Lisa!
  
  "...don't conflict entirely" - i could further elaborate here, (on their -even- sharing attributes) but i need to do more research.
  
  
  http://www.infidels.org/library/hi...
  
  
  Good luck.
• Reply #3 07/13/08  11:30am
  
  LMKuhn76
  Its been so long since my undergrad studies in this area ... I barely remember what I learned - darn fibrofog! LOL.

Another one hits the shops! You wouldnt judge a book by its cover Nefertiti or not. Maybe you agree with orthodox prices ...and maybe you dont. Lets find the ancient east for ourselves!