Fragments of buddha statue, Chuang-yen Monastery, New York, USA
In Buddhism, a buddha (Sanskrit बुद्ध) (pronunciation (help·info)) is any being who has become fully awakened (enlightened), and has experienced Nirvana. In the Pali Canon and the Theravada tradition, the term 'buddha' refers to anyone who has become enlightened (, 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. By comparison, those who awaken due to the teachings of a Buddha are known as arahants, but otherwise are the same. In the Mahayana tradition, this definition extends to any being who becomes fully awakened. The Theravada arhant would be considered a kind of Buddha in the Mahayana sense. 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 next Buddha (see List of the 28 Buddhas), while the Mahayana tradition has many Buddhas of celestial origin, rather than historical origin (see Amitabha or Vairocana for examples). A common Buddhist belief across all Buddhism is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).
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Photo credit: © Eugene Nikiforov / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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