Buddhas

In Buddhism, a buddha (Sanskrit बुद्ध) is any being who has become fully awakened (enlightened), has permanently overcome greed, hate, and ignorance, and has achieved complete liberation from suffering. more...

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Buddhists consider enlightenment, also called nirvana (Pali nibbana), the highest form of happiness. Siddhartha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha Gautama), the historical founder of Buddhism, is often referred to as "Buddha", or "the Buddha". The word buddha literally means "awakened" or "that which has become aware". It is the past participle of the Sanskrit root budh, meaning "to awaken", "to know", or "to become aware". Buddha as a title may be translated as "The Awakened One".

The teachings of the Buddha are called the Dharma (Pali: Dhamma). The Dharma teaches that all suffering arises from attachment, particularly attachment to worldly desires. Nirvana is attained by learning to achieve peace of mind by overcoming the attachment one has to various material objects as well as emotional desires such as envy, greed, lust, and pride.

A common misconception views Buddha as the Buddhist counterpart to “God”; Buddhism, however, is non-theistic (i.e., in general it does not teach the existence of a supreme creator god (see God in Buddhism) or depend on any supreme being for enlightenment; Buddha is a guide and teacher who points the way to nirvana). The commonly accepted definition of the term "God" describes a being that not only rules but actually created the universe (see origin belief). Such ideas and concepts are disputed by Buddha and Buddhists in many Buddhist discourses. In Buddhism, the supreme origin and creator of the universe is not a god, but Avidya (ignorance). Buddhists try to dispel this darkness through constant practice, compassion and wisdom (known as prajna).

In the Pali Canon, the term 'buddha' refers to anyone who has become enlightened (i.e., awakened to the truth, or Dharma) on their own, without a teacher to point out the Dharma, in a time when the teachings on the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path do not exist in the world.

Generally, Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only buddha. The Pali Canon refers to Gautama Buddha at least once as the 28th Buddha (see List of the 28 Buddhas). A common Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).

Buddhism teaches that anyone can become awakened and experience nirvana. Theravada Buddhism teaches that one doesn't need to become a Buddha to become awakened and experience nirvana, since an Arahant (Sanskrit: Arhat) also has those qualities. Some Buddhist texts (e.g., the Lotus Sutra) imply that all beings will become Buddhas at some point in time.

Types of Buddha

In the Pali Canon, there are considered to be two types of buddha: samyaksambuddhas (Pali: sammasambuddhas) and pratyekabuddhas (Pali: paccekabuddhas).

Read more at Wikipedia.org