Buddha is portayed as fat due to an eastern belief in 7 chakras(concentrated points of energy). The chakra in the stomach region is the one dealing with generosity, so they portray Buddha as fat to symbolize his generosity. It's a symbolic, rather than literal, interpretation of the Buddha. You're right, though -- Sidharta was not fat. He was a man who created his own philosophy about the nature of man, suffering, and the afterlife -- strangely, he did this(at least partially) in response to his distaste for Christianity.AttentionKMartShoppers wrote:I always thought Buddhism was full of "peaceful and serene" people. It's amazing that people put their faith in a dead guy who said much and did nothing fantastic....except get his belly in every Chinese restaurant...(and I was told he wasn't fat, so how ironic).
You would think, too, that Buddhists would be all serene and peaceful. I'm here to tell you that's not true -- they're just as loud, obnoxious, arrogant, and pigheaded as the rest of us. They're also under a lot of pressure since Buddhism is, at its core, one of those do-it-yourself relgions, where all of the responsibility and work is up to you. No Holy Spirit to help them, guide them, and console them.
And yes, the third place that Buddhism falls down is in the fact that its founder(Sidharta) occupies a grave. Like other major religions and philosophies(Islam, Confucianism, etc.), Christianity remains the only one that can point to an unoccupied tomb(with nothing short of miraculous resurrection to explain its emptiness, since it was in fact occupied at one point).
