Do you celebrate World Religion Day, held every year on the third Sunday of January? No? What's the matter with you, don't you like world religions? There are several to choose from, it's hard to pretend you don't like any of them. To ring in the new year with some new knowledge, we've asked implausibly long-running Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings to correct some of the stuff everyone gets wrong about the world's great belief systems. No matter what faith you practice—or even if it's none at all!—Ken will set you straight, chapter and verse.
The Debunker: Was the Buddha Really Fat?
"Rid yourself all worldly attachments," said the Buddha. "All worldly attachments." That's a list that would presumably include Twinkies and nachos. So if the founder of Buddhism was such an ascetic, if he was traveling the dusty roads of ancient India focused only on enlightenment, then—and forgive me for my bluntness here—how did he put on all that weight? Did he have, like, a glandular thing?
In fact, our Chinese restaurant–inspired view of Buddha—jolly guy, big earlobes, stomach so round that he can't keep his robe closed over it—has little or nothing to do with Gautama, the 6th-century BC prince who had a vision and renounced his palace to teach the new dharma (cosmic law) to the world. In India and elsewhere in the Buddhist world, statues of the Buddha have a very different aesthetic, and a much lower BMI. The bald guy you're picturing by the koi pond is actually Budai, a good-natured Chinese monk of the 10th century who was a favorite of local children. Rubbing his big belly is supposed to bring prosperity and good luck.
So wait: the "Laughing Buddha," as he's called in China, isn't actually Buddha? Well, he is and he isn't. In Buddhism, the word "Buddha" doesn't just refer to Prince Gautuma, the religion's founder. Others believers can achieve Buddhahood too by becoming sufficiently enlightened. Budai is worshiped as a bodhisattva, a great soul who chose to renounce nirvana so he could return to earth and help others advance. In fact, in some traditions, Budai is linked to the Maitreya Buddha, prophesied to be a future successor to Gautama Buddha. It figures: every generation gets the Buddha it deserves. Ours could use a gym membership.
Quick Quiz: What was Gautama Buddha's first name, better known as the title of a Hermann Hesse novel?
Ken Jennings is the author of six books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.