The Chase: Darragh Ennis issues stern warning to player
Darragh Ennis, a quiz master on ITV's The Chase, recently left his social media followers stunned with a "mind-blowing" fact which almost everyone fails to get correct.
The Dublin-born Chaser, who regularly shares the screen with Mark Labbett, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Shaun Wallace and Jenny Ryan on the popular quiz show hosted by Bradley Walsh, challenged his followers to visualise the Buddha.
Most people have a specific image of what the Buddha looks like - but it appears most are picturing an entirely different individual, reports the Daily Record.
He then disclosed that the commonly envisioned jolly figure is not Buddha at all, but a Chinese Buddhist monk named Budai who lived about 1,500 years after the actual Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.
According to Darragh, the real Buddha was "said to be very thin" due to regular fasting. Siddharta lived over 2,600 years ago, and worked as a teacher whose ideas formed the basis of Buddhism. Darragh then posted a picture of the person most people think of.
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He said: "If you think of this jolly, happy fella who clearly enjoys cake a bit too much, then you're wrong, that's not the Buddha at all. That is a Chinese Buddhist monk who lives about 1,500 years after the actual Buddha."
The quiz whizz continued to clarify that the figure is actually called Budai, which makes it "a bit confusing" as Darragh confessed its a totally different person.
According to Darragh, the Buddha was "said to be very thin" because he "fasted regularly".
However, he highlighted that many popular statues do not align with historical representations of Siddhartha Gautama.
Darragh added: "He was a prince who renounced his privileged position and wandered around teaching his peaceful philosophy for the rest of his life.
£If you're not aware what those teachings are, basically it's about finding what's called the middle way - be not too indulgent, not too strict on yourself and emphasis on things like kindness to others, meditation and mindfulness."
However, the revelation sparked a frenzy with Darragh's followers, with many in disbelief.
It wasn't long before people shared their thoughts on the fact, with one person adding: "I can't believe it's not Buddha."
Another added:"My whole life has been a lie"
A third confessed their mistaken belief that Buddha was always depicted, commenting: "Yep I thought he was the little happy guy."
Darragh responded sympathetically: "You're far from alone."
The Chase continues weekdays on ITV from 5pm.
