Wisdom Quarterly (reconstructed and reposted after Blogspot meltdown)
"Big Fat Happy Buddha" is not a buddha at all. He is Hotei, a Japanese Zen "Santa Claus" (amuletjewel.com). He sits at the doorway of almost every Chinese restaurant in America. Fat Buddha, Fat Happy Buddha, or Laughing Buddha is known as Hotei in Japan and Pu-Tai in China. He's good luck, representing the ideals of health, wealth, happiness, prosperity, and longevity. He demonstrates the Buddhist notions of the good life attainable in this world.
Laughing Buddha is modeled on a real historical figure: There was once an obese wandering Zen Buddhist monk. His big white belly was often uncovered as he wandered about carrying a sack of candy, which he was known to hand out to children on the street.
Some said he was an incarnation of
Maitreya Buddha, which would make him a
bodhisattva (a
buddha-to-be) not a
buddha. For centuries, Buddhist notions of happiness have been based on self-mastery, a happy demeanor, purposeful endeavor, a deep commitment to the welfare of others, and enlightened awareness.
As a result, today his durable hemp sack is interpreted as filled with gold, happiness, health, and other aspects of abundance. It almost makes obesity alluring. Of course, it's just figurative. Santa's jolly disposition is well loved but terrible for the Claus family.
The problem is that the conventional wisdom on why we get fat is almost incomprehensibly naïve and wrong-headed. It's bad science about obesity and weight regulation.
His goals in writing the book, as explained in the author’s letter, are to push the issue on the nonsensical notion that we get fat because of overeating and sedentary behavior.
He distills and extends some of the arguments from his previous book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, into a book that can easily be read on an airplane on any flight covering more than one time zone.
In his blog he asks questions and provides answers. Over the past decade, he has read more than a century’s worth of literature on obesity and nutrition and chronic disease. And it has consistently amazed him that researchers, learned commentators, un-learned commentators, physicians, and public health authorities accept some of the common but misguided ideas about important these subjects.
Many seem to give no conscious thought whatsoever or fail to ask the kinds of questions that a reasonable junior high school student might ask if given the opportunity.
So what does he mean overeating is a nonsensical explanation for why we get fat? Reading Jonah Lehrer’s latest column in the Wall Street Journal “The Real Culprit in Overeating”... More
- REVIEW: Taubes' book is an eye-opening, myth-shattering examination of what makes us fat, from an acclaimed science writer. His previous New York Times' bestseller argued that our diet’s overemphasis on certain kinds of carbohydrates -- not fats, and not simply excess calories -- has led directly to the obesity epidemic we face today. Michael Pollan heralded it as “a vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food.” More
If someone is struggling with an addiction, there is no doubt a great deal of pain, frustration, anger, and fear. Addiction is indeed a disease. It baffles both the addict and the addict’s loved ones in ways not common to other medical and mental conditions. 
