Description

The word Buddha or Buddha (x dashi) in the ancient Indian language, which includes the Pali dialect and Sanskrit, means “Awake” or “Enlightened”. It comes from the root of the verb bundh, which means to awaken, enlighten and understand. The word Buddha, therefore, does not refer to the particular religious teacher who lived at that particular time, but to a type of man who reached a point of spiritual attainment. Historian Sindharta Gautama is simply one in a large sequence of Buddhas, heading either to the timeless past or to the distant horizons of the future. However, he stood out and eventually became the leading figure of Buddhism as he taught others how to follow in his footsteps. Some believe that he was just a man who found the path that eventually led him to his enlightenment and taught it to his students. Others consider him to be the last of a series of Buddhas who came into the world to preach or revive the dharma (in the old, Dama), which is the teaching or way of the Buddha. Others consider him a bodhisattva, a man who achieved enlightenment but postponed his entry into Nirvana to help others seeking enlightenment.