Buddha ?

[Xue Sheng]

Yes, I know almost nothing about Buddhism. On a good day I can spell it correctly (only recently learned there is an "h" in it).

I had assumed that a statue of "Buddha" was a statue of "the" guy whose name was Buddha.

I now understand that Buddha, apparently is not the name of a single person, but, a title given to anyone who has attained a certain level of understanding, thus there are many Buddhas. Which explains why the statues look different.

My error. Not from any malevolent intent, but a high level of ignorance (low level of ignorance?). Please accept my apologies. And thank you for educating me.

Clarification: High level of ignorance equals low level of knowledge.

No apology necessary you don't know unless you ask

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Yes, I know almost nothing about Buddhism. On a good day I can spell it correctly (only recently learned there is an "h" in it).

I had assumed that a statue of "Buddha" was a statue of "the" guy whose name was Buddha.

I now understand that Buddha, apparently is not the name of a single person, but, a title given to anyone who has attained a certain level of understanding, thus there are many Buddhas. Which explains why the statues look different.

My error. Not from any malevolent intent, but a high level of ignorance (low level of ignorance?). Please accept my apologies. And thank you for educating me.

Nothing here to apologize for. I had a feeling that was the cause of miscommunication, and because you asked here. You learned. Buddhism is a fascinating religion (that I may spend some time delving into again, thanks to this post. It's been a long minute)

 

[Buka]

Buddha knows.

 

[Stuarto]

Can you point out which part of that disagrees? Because unless I'm missing something, none of that goes against what I stated. A Buddhist figure does not mean it has to be buddha, just like a Christian figure is not necessarily christ. and if I'm reading/understanding the Maitreya part correctly, that's referring to a separate bodhisattva then Siddhartha, indicating that they would in fact be a separate person.

From the link you shared, it also directly references Bodai:
"Based on an eccentric Chinese Ch'an monk from the 9th century, the laughing Buddha has become an inseparable and significant part of Buddhism. He was a native of Fenghua in China, and his Buddhist name was Qieci. He was always taken as a man of loving and cheerful character"

I was under that same impression that the "laughing Buddha" was a Chinese monk who was always happy. Supposedly he would hand out candy to children.

 

[Same Trick]

Yes, I know almost nothing about Buddhism. On a good day I can spell it correctly (only recently learned there is an "h" in it).

I had assumed that a statue of "Buddha" was a statue of "the" guy whose name was Buddha.

I now understand that Buddha, apparently is not the name of a single person, but, a title given to anyone who has attained a certain level of understanding, thus there are many Buddhas. Which explains why the statues look different.

My error. Not from any malevolent intent, but a high level of ignorance (low level of ignorance?). Please accept my apologies. And thank you for educating me.

I too thought “Buddha” was the one and only, not several. “Buddhahood” I thought it was called for those who reached the enlightenment similar to the Buddha