Detacheddavid
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Actually the fat Buddha is Budai, a historical Chinese monk, and only in the West he's mistaken to be the original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. In any case, Siddaharta is not a deity.
Depictions of Jesus have varied across history and places. The long haired, bearded blond with blue-eyes Jesus is just one of them.
piratedn1nj4
Bu-dai...big bu? Lololol
kaarbaakimgr
WeMistbornsNeedNotMakeSense
Buddha: *eats literally nothing but air for years
People: You phat now
MyCommentsUsuallyHaveTypos
That was the son of a friend of the painter. IIRC
xtraa
The Budai is also the Buddha Maitreya, especially in Chan and Zen Buddhism. there are several Buddhas, not only the historical Siddharta Gautama. Many don't know.
Maitreya is the awaited Buddha of the future.
KobaandChurchill4eva
i remember my vietnamese grandpa telling me a story about how this buddha ate all the evil in the world and that why is why he's fat, but I wouldn't bet money on it that's official...
RoutemasterFlash
Yep, and oddly enough churches in Ethiopia tend to show a black Jesus.
hwatL4bloopy
Thank you for the comment so I don't have to
languex
I lived in Iran for 10+ years. I like the Jesus that looks like my neighbor looked.
onepinksheep
"Siddhartha is not a deity." It's... actually a lot more complicated than that. A lot of people, especially in the West, think Buddhism is an atheistic religion. But it's complicated. https://youtu.be/vB7VSdQgHoU
SeeShark
Jesus was certainly not a pale blonde, but there's also literally no way he was darker than Siddhartha Gautama. Jesus wasn't Black or even Arab; he was Levantine. Look at Lebanese people today for the closest approximation.
Xenarion
White dude, sure, but I can't say I have seen much blond Jesus before.
Bestiarium
I have honestly never seen a depiction of Jesus with blonde hair.
moebiusstrip
I saw a blonde Jesus in the video game lords of the fallen... Except jesus' name was judge cleric... and was a girl...
Mithrilchu
jesus where i live is often depicted as looking like ewan mcgregor as obi wan
GandalfTheGhey
Yeah but JC can't complain. He gets to be "Swole Jesus" sometimes. That's definitely my favorite Jesus. I can really feel the urge to get on my knees and please him.
Radix865
Astramancer
TyrannusEquus
With Camazotz around, I don't know why anyone bothers with human gods. Jesus and Buddha never pulled some dudes head off to use as a game ball
MasterCatfish
The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, became emaciated during his six years of extreme ascetic practices, believing that self-mortification could lead to enlightenment. He reportedly ate as little as a single grain of rice per day, pushing his body to the brink of death. Realizing the futility of such extremes, he abandoned asceticism, embraced the Middle Way, and ultimately attained enlightenment. His eating habits werere daily alms rounds. He begged for food and ate what was offered.
HereticsAllOfYou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai Budhai is a completely different character. This is like mistaking Santa Clause for Jesus. As for Jesus being depicted as a blonde white guy: that is far from the case in the overwhelming majority of depictions of Jesus. Iconography, the most consistent and oldest form of depicting Jesus, always depict Him as Mediterranean with black hair. There are depictions of him blonde but they are more recent and are very much the minority.
ThailandExpress
Kbantar
There were pale people in the middle East and Africa at the time. Of course Jesus wasn't described as standing out.
GTimgur
Okay, but growing up Christian (no longer), never in my life have I seen a depiction of blonde Jesus. There were a fair number showing pale skin, but most were tan/olive.
GalwayGirlYo
Same in Ireland, it was always a dark haired, tanned man when I was younger anyway
thedadinblack4
Painters depicting Jesus as looking like the local population was pretty common. I’m sure the nobility that was commissioning these works of art probably influenced it as well.
FlippedOut
Even buddy christ has brown hair.
umbrellamaker
We have a redhead Jesus in our art museum
StellaMatutina
There was a pastor in Baltimore got in hot water for saying Jesus was trans, symbolized by the spear wound (vagina) on the cross and it's blood (menstruation).
CuffScout
Awesome take!
DarkBusterBaron
I've seen alot of white Jesus's but they had brown hair.
IainG101
Most of the ones I've seen here in the UK are pretty white, but dark brown hair.
GTimgur
Ah, I can only speak from a US protestant perspective in the Southeast.
Holzter
Southern Baptist here, I saw a fair bit of pale Jesus with brown hair and the occasional blonde hair in some children's media growing up
bippityboppitybuttsex
I once commented that a statue of Budai was such, and a woman, who had it on her desk, corrected me and said it was Buddha... I debated on correcting her, and realized that that would be a dramatic mistake.
BodgeandScarper
Showing that you are indeed enlightened!
hwatL4bloopy
Yes that is a Buddha.
captainnewbi
well, Buddha never wanted to be worshipped iirc
ChristopherWChase
In Nikaya Buddhism, Siddhartha Shakyamuni is not a deity. In Mahayana and Vajrayana it great depends on how the word ‘deity’ is defined. If if everything is made of the BuddhaDharma and Shakyamuni is an incarnation of the Dharma, then you could argue what that means.
Icarus2020
why have we assumed that the Jesus person actually ever existed ?. never mind whether he was a blond, fair skinned human.
ruint
There are historical references by non-christians about his first followers and their claims about him. Written about living people, who were alive when he died, as if common knowledge.
For people who lived that long ago, it's as close to verification as we get.
AllAnusMorissette
tigerliketoightness
That username is spectacular
RawChicken
The upvote's for both the post and your username.
MyBackHurtz
Just here for the username, but +1 either way. Does she know you pronounce it like that?
HandoB4Javert
GeneralWho
gh013
The earliest depictions of Jesus we have on record also show him short-haired and beardless...
sometimesarobot
Jesus's looks were adapted to the time and place, because he was supposed to be a generic everyday guy, and dark skinned middle-eastern isn't exactly "commonplace" in, say, Ireland. So it is perfectly okay that Jesus looks Caucasian to Caucasians, as it is more relatable.
dontrike
"It's okay to change facts if it fits your worldview" Well that's stupid
420supercoolusername69
It’s not okay when Jesus’ hypocrite followers tell everyone that every word in the Bible is perfect and must be followed to the letter and nothing can be changed.
annonymouse211
Or it WOULD be if that's what happened but instead White Jesus is the standard bearer for "Christians" who want to purge the planet of anyone non-white. Way easier to justify those crusades when you DON'T think your god looks exactly like the people you're murdering.
ilovebigmutts
Isn't fat budda Japanese?
Illendor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai
Chinese actually.
xtraa
Yes, i a way he is: The Budai is also the Buddha Maitreya, especially in Chan and Zen Buddhism. there are several Buddhas, not only the historical Siddharta Gautama. Many don't know. Maitreya is the awaited Buddha of the future.
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Yeah Buddha is a rank, basically. Westerners struggle with the idea of multiple not-quite-deity-but-revered figures I've noticed. They get real trippy when you start mentioning actual gods and an afterlife that isn't just 'dammit this shit again?' like no bro Buddhists have hell too, and it's pretty shite, and no it isn't coming back as a worm (actual convo with my coworker today). It's *slightly* more complex than the 'cute Asian philosophy' the new-agers have been selling for decades.
hwatL4bloopy
Yet they have saints. I refer to them like saints and it helps westerners. Then they get confused by the lack of gods.
xtraa
Jup saints, in the sense of Bodhisattvas, like Padmasambhava et al. The difference is that these saints are not "saints because they were sent from a god", but we pay our thanks and tributes to them because they were great teachers and left so much knowledge that can help us. Everyone can become a Bodhisattva and in theory even a Buddha. This is also how we see Jesus: From a buddhist POV he was also an enlightened being.
hwatL4bloopy
That is comparable. I like to believe that during his travels Jesus went to the east and brought back some Buddhist ideals. Have you seen the man from earth?