The historical
Buddha, (
Sakyamuni Buddha) is
long gone, but his
Teachings remain. A Buddha
statue or
rupa (meaning
"form") is a representation of someone sitting
in
zazen which requires an
aligned
posture.
There are different kinds of rupas, meant to be used in different ways. For
example, a rupa that seems to be leaning forward and has a slight smile is
meant to be placed on a high shelf from which he can smile down beneficently
on whoever happens to glance up. A Buddha with a very straight back is meant
to be viewed at eye-level.
The pot-bellied "Buddhas" one sees in novelty shops and such are styled after
Butei (Hotei in Japanese) , central figure of a koan, a monk who travelled
with a bag of goodies slung over his shoulder, the contents of which he would spread out on the ground to delight others. "Butei's bag
was almost as big as his belly." He carried bits of glass, stones, shiny things
that children love. Somehow he became interchangeable with Sakyamuni Buddha
in the minds of many western people. Both Sakyamuni Buddha and Butei would
have objected to this most vehemently.
In Chinese folk culture, Butei was conflated with
Maitreya, the coming Buddha, come down to Saha (Endurance), this world, to
check things out. But Butei is usually shown with just a bag and perhaps a
staff. Maitreya is shown sprawled on the ground, covered with laughing
children.
Poor
Butei, born centuries after the death of Sakyamuni Buddha, has even turned up in recent years as the Buddha mascot of a football team. Not that he would necessarily have had anything against football, but don't try to force him to choose sides. He wasn't into winning or losing. And besides which, he wasn't who they thought he was......
In some places, people pour tea over a statue of the baby Buddha at a
certain time of year. I don't think there is a baby anything, anywhere, who
would enjoy this, but that's just my opinion.
Representations of the Buddha vary according to the culture and country in which they were made. Some look reasonably human. Some have such distorted
proportions that they are really quite heinous to look upon. Like the ones
with the knobs on their heads, huge hands and feet and a 17 inch waist. I
mean, c'mon now......Without going into a lot of history, there are
different beliefs about what the Buddha looked like and why.
I much prefer the simplicity of rupas that look human and sit up straight.