Consider the Source: Why Was Maitreya Too Fat to Sit in Full
Lotus? In the great Buddhist grottos at Dunhuang, the unequalled
repository of Buddhist statues and art in China’s far west,
certain Buddha figures do not sit in full lotus as one might
expect. Nor do they stand erect, another common posture.
Instead, they sit with their legs crossed at their ankles, a
puzzling, rather uncomfortable looking position. The Chinese
scholar Gu Zhengmei argues that this posture is a sure sign that
these statues represent Maitreya Buddha, the “Buddha to Come”
who is said to appear in the world when all have forgotten the
dharma. He claims that it is consistent with discoveries of
Maitreya images not just at Dunhuang, but also in Greek-
influenced Gandhara, where the first icons of the Buddha were
found.