Who is Buddha?

[icy]

Buddha means one who is fully enlightened. In other words, a buddha has fully awakened from the sleep of delusion. He is free from all obscurations, both gross and subtle, and has revealed the two intrinsic wisdom awarenesses. Buddhahood is the spontaneously established, uncompounded nature that does not depend on any other conditions. A buddha has perfect wisdom, has perfectly accomplished the nature of compassion, and has every ability to manifest all excellent activities.
There are many buddhas in the past, present, and future. In fact, there are as many buddhas as there are particles of dust. Basically, the term buddha refers to anyone whose mind is fully awakened and who is free from all suffering and its causes. When we point to Buddha Shakyamuni as a buddha, he is an example of this.

A buddha has four forms, all of which emanate from the dharmakaya:
Nirmanakaya is a buddha who has emanated in a physical form. A nirmanakaya can emanate anywhere as anything animate or inanimate--as a human being, an animal, or even a bridge, if necessary...

Sambhogakaya is the expression of the complete, perfect manifestation of the Buddha's excellent, infinite qualities, called the enjoyment body--splendid and glorious. All the buddhas appear and manifest in the limitless buddha fields in this form...

Dharmakaya is one's own perfection, fully free from all delusion and suffering. It is infinite and transcends all boundaries...

Svabhavikakaya is the indivisible nature of the other three forms.

[Tenzin K]

Buddha is a Sanskrit word that means "awakened one." A Buddha is someone who has realized the enlightenment that ends the cycle of birth and death and which brings liberation from suffering.

Who's Who?
Is the fat guy Buddha, or is the skinny guy who meditates Buddha? They are both Buddha, but different Buddhas. The fat, laughing Buddha emerged from Chinese folklore in the 10th century. He is called Pu-tai in China and Hotei in Japan, and is said to be an incarnation of the future Buddha, Maitreya.

Future Buddha?
The early Pali texts names six Buddhas who lived before the historical Buddha, and one who will come after, who is Maitreya. Theravada Buddhism teaches that there is only one Buddha per age, and the Buddha of our age is the historical Buddha, the person born Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BCE. (In Theravada Buddhism, other people who have realized enlightenment during this age are called Arhats.)

He is also called Gautama (or Gotama) Buddha and the Tathagata (which means "he who is thus gone"). Mahayana Buddhists sometimes call him Shakyamuni Buddha, which means "sage of the Shakya." The Shakya was the historical Buddha's clan. As a rule, when English-speaking Buddhists refer to the Buddha, they are talking about the historical Buddha.

Other Buddhas
So the Buddha pictured as meditating is the historical Buddha? Not always. Mahayana art and literature are populated by a number of other Buddhas.

How Many Buddhas?
How many do you need? Seriously, it's not a fixed number. In Mahayana, Buddha-nature is the true nature of all beings. In a sense, everyone is Buddha. In the Zen monastery where I first studied Buddhism, the monks often pointed to the Buddha on the altar and said, "That's you."

To complicate matters further, the Mahayana doctrine of the Trikaya says that each Buddha has three bodies. These are called the dharmakaya, sambogakaya and nirmanakaya. Very simply, dharmakaya is the body of absolute truth, sambogakaya is the body that experiences the bliss of enlightenment, and nirmanakaya is the body that manifests in the world.

In Mahayana literature, there is an elaborate schema of transcendent and earthly Buddhas that correspond to each other and represent different aspects of the teachings. You will stumble into them in the Mahayana sutras and other writings, so it's good to be aware of who they are. As a rule, however, it's not necessary to know and memorize all the transcendent and earthly Buddhas to practice Mahayana Buddhism.

One exception might be Amitabha, or Amida, who has a special place in the Mahayana school known as Pure Land. Veneration of Amitabha is central to Pure Land Buddhism. This Buddha, who symbolizes mercy and wisdom, is most often pictured seated in a lotus blossom.

All Buddhas Are One
The most important thing to understand about the Trikaya is that the countless Buddhas are, ultimately, one Buddha, and the three bodies are also our own body. A person who has intimately experienced the three bodies and realized the truth of these teachings is called a Buddha.

[Jessie Fong]

In general, when we mention "Buddha", we refer to Buddha Shakyamuni but it can also refer to anyone who has attained full enlightenment.

‘Buddha’ means ‘Awakened One’, someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions.

 Because he has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and has removed all obstructions from his mind, he knows everything of the past, present, and future, directly and simultaneously. Moreover, Buddha has great compassion which is completely impartial, embracing all living beings without discrimination.

He benefits all living beings without exception by emanating various forms throughout the universe, and by bestowing his blessings on their minds. Through receiving Buddha’s blessings, all being, even the lowliest animals, sometimes develop peaceful and virtuous states of mind. Eventually, through meeting an emanation of Buddha in the form of a Spiritual Guide, everyone will have the opportunity to enter the path to liberation and enlightenment. As the great Indian Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna said, there is no one who has not received help from Buddha.

As explained in Introduction to Buddhism.

[pgdharma]

A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions. A Buddha’s compassion, wisdom, and power are completely beyond conception. Of all the ways in which a Buddha helps living beings, the supreme way is by emanation as a Spiritual Guide. Here’s a brief explanation as explained by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in “Introduction to Buddhism”:

In general, ‘Buddha’ means ‘Awakened One’, someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions. There are many people who have become Buddhas in the past, and many people will become Buddhas in the future….There is nothing that Buddha does not know. Because he has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and has removed all obstructions from his mind, he knows everything of the past, present, and future, directly and simultaneously. Moreover, Buddha has great compassion which is completely impartial, embracing all living beings without discrimination.

He benefits all living beings without exception by emanating various forms throughout the universe, and by bestowing his blessings on their minds. Through receiving Buddha’s blessings, all being, even the lowliest animals, sometimes develop peaceful and virtuous states of mind. Eventually, through meeting an emanation of Buddha in the form of a Spiritual Guide, everyone will have the opportunity to enter the path to liberation and enlightenment. As the great Indian Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna said, there is no one who has not received help from Buddha.

Buddha’s Good Qualities

It is impossible to describe all the good qualities of a Buddha. A Buddha’s compassion, wisdom, and power are completely beyond conception. With nothing left to obscure his mind, he sees all phenomena throughout the universe as clearly as he sees a jewel held in the palm of his hand. Through the force of his or her compassion, a Buddha spontaneously does whatever is appropriate to benefit others. He has no need to think about what is the best way to help living beings – he naturally and effortlessly acts in the most beneficial way. Just as the sun does not need to motivate itself to radiate light and heat but does so simply because light and heat are its very nature, so a Buddha does not need to motivate himself to benefit others but does so simply because being beneficial is his very nature.

Emanations of Buddha

Like the reflections of the moon that effortlessly appear in any body of still water, a Buddha’s emanations spontaneously appear wherever living beings’ minds are capable of perceiving them. Buddhas can emanate in any form whatsoever to help living beings. Sometimes they manifest as Buddhists and sometimes as non-Buddhists. They can manifest as women or men, monarchs or tramps, law-abiding citizens or criminals. They can even manifest as animals, as wind or rain, or as mountains or islands. Unless we are a Buddha our self we cannot possibly say who or what is an emanation of a Buddha.

The Supreme Emanation

Of all the ways in which a Buddha helps living beings, the supreme way is by emanation as a Spiritual Guide. Through his or her teachings and immaculate example, an authentic Spiritual Guide leads his or her disciples along the spiritual path to liberation and enlightenment. If we meet a qualified Mahayana Spiritual Guide and put into practice everything he or she teaches, we shall definitely attain full enlightenment and become a Conqueror Buddha. We shall then be in a position to repay the kindness of all living beings by liberating them from the sufferings of samsara and leading them to the supreme bliss of Buddhahood.

[Ensapa]

Here's an interesting writeup on who the Buddha is. It sort of adds a nice new dimension on who he is and it is perhaps, something that we can all learn something new from.

Who is the Buddha?

Narada Mahathera

 

Characteristics of the Buddha

After a stupendous struggle of six strenuous years, in His 35th year the ascetic Gotama, unaided and unguided by any supernatural agency, and solely relying on His own efforts and wisdom, eradicated all defilements, ended the process of grasping, and, realizing things as they truly are by His own intuitive knowledge, became a Buddha -- an Enlightened or Awakened One.

Thereafter he was known as Buddha Gotama, one of a long series of Buddhas that appeared in the past and will appear in the future.

He was not born a Buddha, but became a Buddha by His own efforts.

The Pali term Buddha is derived from "budh", to understand, or to be awakened. As He fully comprehended the four Noble Truths and as He arose from the slumbers of ignorance He is called a Buddha. Since He not only comprehends but also expounds the doctrine and enlightens others, He is called a Samma-Sambuddha --a Fully Enlightened One -- to distinguish Him from Pacceka (Individual) Buddhas who only comprehend the doctrine but are incapable of enlightening others.

Before His Enlightenment He was called Bodhisatta which means one who is aspiring to attain Buddhahood.

Every aspirant to Buddhahood passes through the Bodhisatta Period -- a period of intensive exercise and development of the qualities of generosity, discipline, renunciation, wisdom, energy, endurance, truthfulness, determination, benevolence and perfect equanimity.

In a particular era there arises only one Samma-Sambuddha. Just as certain plants and trees can bear only one flower even so one world-system (lokadhatu) can bear only one Samma-Sambuddha.

The Buddha was a unique being. Such a being arises but rarely in this world, and is born out of compassion for the world, for the good, benefit, and happiness of gods and men. The Buddha is called "acchariya manussa" as He was a wonderful man. He is called "amatassa data" as He is the giver of Deathlessness. He is called "varado" as He is the Giver of the purest love, the profoundest wisdom, and the Highest Truth. He is also called Dhammassami as He is the Lord of the Dhamma (Doctrine).

As the Buddha Himself says, "He is the Accomplished One (Tathagata), the Worthy One (Araham), the Fully Enlightened One (Samma-Sambuddha), the creator of the unarisen way, the producer of the unproduced way, the proclaimer of the unproclaimed way, the knower of the way, the beholder of the way, the cognizer of the way."

The Buddha had no teacher for His Enlightenment. "Na me acariyo atthi" -- A teacher have I not -- are His own words. He did receive His mundane knowledge from His lay teachers, but teachers He had none for His a supramundane knowledge which He himself realized by His own intuitive wisdom.

If He had received His knowledge from another teacher or from another religious system such as Hinduism in which He was nurtured, He could not have said of Himself as being the incomparable teacher (aham sattha anuttaro). In His first discourse He declared that light arose in things not heard before.

During the early period of His renunciation He sought the advice of the distinguished religious teachers of the day, but He could not find what He sought in their teachings. Circumstances compelled Him to think for Himself and seek the Truth. He sought the Truth within Himself. He plunged into the deepest profundities of thought, and He realized the ultimate Truth which He had not heard or known before. Illumination came from within and shed light on things which He had never seen before.

As He knew everything that ought to be known and as He obtained the key to all knowledge, He is called Sabbannu -- the Omniscient One. This supernormal knowledge He acquired by His own efforts continued through a countless series of births.

 

Who is the Buddha?

Once a certain Brahmin named Dona, noticing the characteristic marks of the footprint of the Buddha, approached Him and questioned Him.

"Your Reverence will be a Deva ?"
"No, indeed, brahmin, a Deva am I not," replied the Buddha.
"Then Your Reverence will be a Gandhabba?"
"No indeed, branmin, a Gandhabba am I not."
"A Yakkha then?"
"No, indeed, brahmin, not a Yakkha."
"Then Your Reverence will be a human being?"
"No indeed, brahmin, a human being am I not."
"Who, then, pray, will Your Reverence be?"
The Buddha replied that He had destroyed Defilements which condition rebirth as a Deva, Gandhabba, Yakkha, or a human being and added:

"As a lotus, fair and lovely,
By the water is not soiled,
By the world am I not soiled;
Therefore, brahmin, am I Buddha."

The Buddha does not claim to be an incarnation (Avatara) of Hindu God Vishnu, who, as the Bhagavadgita charmingly sings, is born again and again in different periods to protect the righteous, to destroy the wicked, and to establish the Dharma (right).

According to the Buddha countless are the gods (Devas) who are also a class of beings subject to birth and death; but there is no one Supreme God, who controls the destinies of human beings and who possesses a divine power to appear on earth at different intervals, employing a human form as a vehicle.

Nor does the Buddha call Himself a "Saviour" who freely saves others by his personal salvation. The Buddha exhorts His followers to depend on themselves for their deliverance, since both defilement and purity depend on oneself. One cannot directly purify or defile another. Clarifying His relationship with His followers and emphasizing the importance of self- reliance and individual striving, the Buddha plainly states:

"You yourselves should make an exertion. The Tathagatas are only teachers."

The Buddha only indicates the path and method whereby He delivered Himself from suffering and death and achieved His ultimate goal. It is left for His faithful adherents who wish their release from the ills of life to follow the path.

"To depend on others for salvation is negative, but to depend on oneself is positive." Dependence on others means a surrender of one's effort."

"Be an island unto yourselves; be a refuge unto yourselves; seek no refuge in others."

These significant words uttered by the Buddha in His last days are very striking and inspiring. They reveal how vital is self-exertion to accomplish one's ends, and how superficial and futile it is to seek redemption through benignant saviours, and crave for illusory happiness in an afterlife through the propitiation of imaginary gods by fruitless prayers and meaningless sacrifices.

The Buddha was a human being. As a man He was born, as a Buddha He lived, and as a Buddha His life came to an end. Though human, He became an extraordinary man owing to His unique characteristics. The Buddha laid stress on this important point, and left no room for any one to fall into the error of thinking that He was an immortal being. It has been said of Him that there was no religious teacher who was "ever so godless as the Buddha, yet none was so god-like." In His own time the Buddha was no doubt highly venerated by His followers, but He never arrogated to Himself any divinity.

 

The Buddha's Greatness

Born a man, living as a mortal, by His own exertion He attained the supreme state of perfection called Buddhahood, and without keeping His Enlightenment to Himself, He proclaimed to the world the latent possibilities and the invincible power of the human mind. Instead of placing an unseen Almighty God over man, and giving man a subservient position in relation to such a conception of divine power, He demonstrated how man could attain the highest knowledge and Supreme Enlightenment by his own efforts. He thus raised the worth of man. He taught that man can gain his deliverance from the ills of life and realize the eternal bliss of Nibbana without depending on an external God or mediating priests. He taught the egocentric, powerseeking world the noble ideal of selfless service. He protested against the evils of caste-system that hampered the progress of mankind and advocated equal opportunities for all. He declared that the gates of deliverance were open to all, in every condition of life, high or low, saint or sinner, who would care to turn a new leaf and aspire to perfection. He raised the status of down-trodden women, and not only brought them to a realization of their importance to society but also founded the first religious order for women. For the first time in the history of the world He attempted to abolish slavery. He banned the sacrifice of unfortunate animals and brought them within His compass of loving kindness.

He did not force His followers to be slaves either to His teachings or to Himself, but granted complete freedom of thought and admonished His followers to accept His words not merely out of regard for Him but after subjecting them to a thorough examination,

"... as the wise would test gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it on a piece of touchstone."

He comforted the bereaved mothers like Patacara and Kisagotami by His consoling words. He ministered to the deserted sick like Putigatta Tissa Thera with His own hands. He helped the poor and the neglected like Rajjumala and Sopaka and saved them from an untimely and tragic death. He ennobled the lives of criminals like Angulimala and courtesans like Ambapali. He encouraged the feeble, united the divided, enlightened the ignorant, clarified the mystic, guided the deluded, elevated the base, and dignified the noble. The rich and the poor, the saint and the criminal, loved Him alike. His noble example was a source of inspiration to all. He was the most compassionate and tolerant of teachers.

His will, wisdom, compassion, service, renunciation, perfect purity, exemplary personal life, the blameless methods that were employed to propagate the Dhamma and His final success -- all these factors have compelled about one fifth of the population of the world to hail the Buddha as the greatest religious teacher that ever lived on earth.

Paying a glowing tribute to the Buddha, Sri Radhakrishnan writes:

"In Gotama the Buddha we have a master mind from the East second to none so far as the influence on the thought and life of the human race is concerned, and sacred to all as the founder of a religious tradition whose hold is hardly less wide and deep than any other. He belongs to the history of the world's thought, to the general inheritance of all cultivated men, for, judged by intellectual integrity, moral earnestness, and spiritual insight, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest figures in history."

In the Three Greatest Men in History, H.G. Wells states:

"In the Buddha you see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light, a vivid human personality, not a myth. He too gave a message to mankind universal in character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being. Buddhism in different language called men to self-forgetfulness 500 years before Christ. In some ways he was nearer to us and our needs. He was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality."

The Poet Tagore calls Him "the Greatest Man ever born".

In admiration of the Buddha, Fausboll, a Danish scholar says -- "The more I know Him, the more I love Him."

A humble follower of the Buddha would modestly say: --"The more I know Him, the more I love Him; the more I love Him, the more I know Him."

Narada Mahathera
("The Buddha and His Teachings")

[RedLantern]

Buddha can refer to the historical Buddha Shakyamuni or to anyone who has attained full enlightenment.
In general,Buddha mean "Awakened One",someone who has awakened you from the sleep of ignorance.and see things as they are.
A Buddha is a person completely free from all faults and mental obstructions.There are many people who became Buddha in the past and there will be many in the future.
Buddha have great compassion and of all the ways in which Buddha helps living beings, the supreme way is by emanation as a spiritual guide who leads his or her disciples along the spiritual path to Enlightenment.
Unless we are a Buddha ourselves,we cannot possibly say who or what is an emanation of Buddha.

[Midakpa]

Here are more definitions of the term "Buddha":

1. Buddha (sangye) literally means the "One who knows" or "the Enlightened or the Awakened One"
2. "Sangye" in Tibetan means "one who has dispelled (sangs) all obscurations and developed (rgyas) the two kinds of omniscience (knowing the nature of phenomena and knowing the multiplicity of phenomena)
3. a perfected bodhisattva after attaining true and complete enlightenment
4. a title given to Siddharta Gautama or Shakyamuni
5. Sattha Devamanussanam, a teacher of gods and men

[DSFriend]

Recently i've met with a few friends who are of a different faith. The beauty of being a Buddhist is that there is no need to engage in arguments. Reading thru the various posts gives the answers of why this is so. The word Buddha can be defined in so many ways which more than often people can find an aspect to connect with logically through observation of what Buddha taught. Anyone can experience Buddha through his teachings as the teachings and Buddha are one. Even if people do not want to practice, Buddha was a historical figure which cannot be denied.

Ones we learn Who is Buddha, the next question perhaps we want to ask ourselves :
 "Who is Buddha to me" and "Who is Buddha to everyone else".

[dondrup]

Buddha is a sentient being who has become completely free from delusion obstructions and obstructions to omniscience.

The extraordinary qualities of a Buddha's body are:
- free from birth, ageing, sickness and death
- immutable, a vajra body
- can understand and expound Dharma

The extraordinary qualities of a Buddha's speech are:
- its volume does not vary
- whatever a Buddha says is understood by the listener in his or her own language
- just hearing Buddha's speech pacifies the delusions of the mind of the listener
- Buddha's speech can expound the Dharma that frees living beings from samsara

The extraordinary qualities of a Buddha's mind are summarised as the ten forces, the eighteen unshared qualities, the four fearlessnesses and the four correct, specific cognizers.

The Ten Forces of a Buddha are:
- Buddha knows directly all causes and their effects
- Buddha knows all actions and their effects
- Buddha knows directly every single desire of each and every living being
- Buddha knows directly all gross and subtle elements
- Buddha knows directly all the powers
- Buddha knows directly all correct paths and incorrect paths
- Buddha knows directly all concentrations
- Buddha knows directly all previous rebirths of every living being
- Buddha knows directly the whole process of death and birth of every living being
- Buddha knows directly a Hearer’s enlightenment, a Solitary enlightenment and a Buddha’s enlightenment

The Eighteen unshared qualities of a Buddha:
-   Not possessing mistaken activities of body
-   Not possessing mistaken activities of speech
-   Not possessing mistaken activities of mind
-   Not possessing a mind not in meditative equipoise
-   Not possessing conceptuality
-   Not possessing neutrality
-   Not possessing degeneration of aspiration
-   Not possessing degeneration of effort
-   Not possessing degeneration of mindfulness
-   Not possessing degeneration of concentration
-   Not possessing degeneration of wisdom
-   Not possessing degeneration of perfect liberation
-   Deeds of body preceded by and followed by exalted awareness and thus completely pure and limitless
-   Deeds of speech preceded by and followed by exalted awareness and thus completely pure and limitless
-   Deeds of mind preceded by and followed by exalted awareness and thus completely pure and limitless
-   Unobstructed exalted awareness that knows all the past directly and without obstruction.
-   Unobstructed exalted awareness that knows all the future directly and without obstruction.
-   Unobstructed exalted awareness that knows all the present directly and without obstruction

The Four Fearlessnesses of a Buddha:
-   Fearlessness in revealing the Dharma of renunciation
-   Fearlessness in revealing the Dharma of overcoming obstructions
-   Fearlessness in revealing the Dharma of excellent abandonments
-   Fearlessness in revealing the Dharma of excellent realizations

The Four Correct, Specific Cognizers of a Buddha:
-   Correct cognizers of specific phenomena
-   Correct cognizers of specific meanings
-   Correct cognizers of specific, definite words
-   Correct cognizers of specific confidence

To conclude, if we were to try to describe all the good qualities of a Buddha, our wisdom and skill would run out before we could finish describing them.  They are beyond our imagination.

 

[rossoneri]

THE BUDDHA

"Enlightenment, for a wave in the ocean,
is the moment the wave realises it is water."
Thich Nhat Hanh

WHAT IS A BUDDHA?

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "enlightened one". The Buddha was an "ordinary" human like you and me before he became enlightened. Enlightenment is compared to waking up, because we suddenly experience a complete transformation of body and mind when we wake up. A Buddha is a person who has developed all positive qualities and eliminated all negative qualities. One could say that a Buddha represents the very peak of evolution, as he/she is omniscient or all-knowing. With his wisdom, a Buddha really understands the truth, whereas ordinary people live like in a dream, an illusion that prevents us from understanding reality properly.

"Our teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, is one among the thousand Buddhas of this aeon. These Buddhas were not Buddhas from the beginning, but were once sentient beings like ourselves. How they came to be Buddhas is this.

Of body and mind, mind is predominant, for body and speech are under the influence of the mind. Afflictions such as desire do not contaminate the nature of the mind, for the nature of the mind is pure, uncontaminated by any taint. Afflictions are peripheral factors of a mind, and through gradually transforming all types of defects, such as these afflictions, the adventitious taints can be completely removed. This state of complete purification is Buddhahood; therefore, Buddhists do not assert that there is any Buddha who has been enlightened from the beginning."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama from 'The Buddhism of Tibet'

The historical Buddha, Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha, lived about 2,500 years ago in India. However, he was not the first Buddha, and will not be the last either. He taught that during this eon (very long time period, maybe comparable to the life-time of the universe as we know it), there would be 1,000 fully enlightened Buddhas who would introduce Buddhism (after it has been totally forgotten). The numbers one to three in this eon are Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kashyapa, then comes Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha some 2,500 years ago), and the next Buddha will be called Maitreya.[1]

WHAT IS A BUDDHA NOT?

A Buddha is not the creator of the universe, like "God" in the Christian-Judeo-Islamic sense. In fact, there is no creator of the universe given in Buddhist philosophy apart from the karma (actions) of sentient beings (beings with a mind like huans and animals).

The Buddha is not omnipotent (all-powerful) like the Christian-Judeo-Islamic "God". (The simple reason is that if he were, out of compassion, he would have long released all sentient beings from suffering.)

The state of a Buddha is not impossible to reach (although it may take many lives and extensive effort).

A Buddha is not hindered by ignorance, but is omniscient (knows everything).

A Buddha is not a passive being; he will use his wisdom to help to other living beings when they are open to his advice.

[fruven]

There are many buddhas in the past, present, and future. In fact, there are as many buddhas as there are particles of dust.

There may be many Buddhas but to put in context the number of beings in hell realm are the most in numbers, there are lesser beings in the preta or spirit realm, more lesser in animal realm, much more lesser in human realms, and so on. The Buddhas are the least in number I would presume? On the other hands because the Buddhas have eradicated their ignorance and achieved omniscience, there are numberless Buddhas in all spaces? Would that be their emanations?

[buddhalovely]

A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions.

In general, ‘Buddha’ means ‘Awakened One’, someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions. There are many people who have become Buddhas in the past, and many people will become Buddhas in the future….There is nothing that Buddha does not know. Because he has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and has removed all obstructions from his mind, he knows everything of the past, present, and future, directly and simultaneously. Moreover, Buddha has great compassion which is completely impartial, embracing all living beings without discrimination.

He benefits all living beings without exception by emanating various forms throughout the universe, and by bestowing his blessings on their minds. Through receiving Buddha’s blessings, all being, even the lowliest animals, sometimes develop peaceful and virtuous states of mind. Eventually, through meeting an emanation of Buddha in the form of a Spiritual Guide, everyone will have the opportunity to enter the path to liberation and enlightenment. As the great Indian Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna said, there is no one who has not received help from Buddha.

A Buddha’s compassion, wisdom, and power are completely beyond conception.