Buddha

Buddha (Sanskrit, Pali, others: literally Awakened One, from the root: √budh, "to awaken") is a title used in Buddhism for anyone who has discovered their enlightenment (bodhi), although it is commonly used to refer to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism, who was born in Lumbini--a place situated in modern Nepal. Generally, Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama—who lived in ancient India from about 623 BC to 543 BC, and attained bodhi around 588 BC—to have been ...

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Buddha - Eternal Buddha
Buddha - Names of the Buddhas
Buddha - Sources

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Read more here: » Buddha: Encyclopedia - Buddha

Buddha: : Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha was a spiritual teacher who was born in Lumbini, a place situated in modern Nepal. He spent most of his time in Northern India, approximately 563 BCE to 483 BCE, preaching his knowledge. Born as Siddhartha Gautama (Sanskrit: "descendant of Gautama whose aims are achieved / who achieves aims effectively") he became "the Buddha" after embarking on a quest for spiritual meaning. He is universally recognised by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (literally Enlightened One or Awakened One) of our age. He is also commonly known as Shakyamuni or Śakyamuni ("sage of the Shakya ...

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Gautama Buddha - Buddha's life

Gautama Buddha - Marriage
Gautama Buddha - The Great Departure
Gautama Buddha - Enlightenment
Gautama Buddha - The Great Passing

Gautama Buddha - Personality and character
Gautama Buddha - Physical characteristics
Gautama Buddha - Teachings
Gautama Buddha - The Buddha in other religions

Gautama Buddha - Hinduism
Gautama Buddha - Islam
Gautama Buddha - Christianity

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Buddha-nature - Development of Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature - Buddha-nature vs. atman

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Buddhas of Bamiyan - History
Buddhas of Bamiyan - Destruction and rebuilding
Buddhas of Bamiyan - Recent developments

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Buddha: Encyclopedia - Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha was a spiritual teacher who was born in Lumbini, a place situated in modern Nepal. He spent most of his time in Northern India, approximately 563 BCE to 483 BCE, preaching his knowledge. Born as Siddhartha Gautama (Sanskrit: "descendant of Gautama whose aims are achieved / who achieves aims effectively") he became "the Buddha" after embarking on a quest for spiritual meaning. He is universally recognised by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (literally Enlightened One or Awakened One) of our age. He is also commonly known as Shakyamuni or Śakyamuni ("sage of the Shakya ...

Including:

Gautama Buddha - Buddha's life

Buddha: Encyclopedia - Buddha film

In 2004, Indian film director Shekhar Kapur announced plans to make a film based on the life Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. This yet-untitled film is scheduled for a 2006 release. Its tentative plans were announced in September, 2004. The film's goal is to account the life of the Buddha, and upholding his message of equality and peace. It is said that the film has been given a formal approval by the Dalai Lama, and the script itself is being reviewed by buddhist s ...

Buddha: Encyclopedia - Buddhas of Bamiyan

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. Most likely built in the fifth or sixth centuries, the statues represented a classic blending of Greek and Buddhist art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. This coating, practically all of which was worn away long ago, w ...

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Buddha: Buddhist - Buddhism Dictionary on Buddha

Buddha Skt., Pali, lit., �awakened one.�

1. A person who has achieved the enlightenment that leads to release from the cycle of existence (samsara) and has thereby attained complete liberation (nirvana). The content of his teaching, which is based on the experience of enlightenment, is the four noble truths. A buddha has overcome every kind of craving (trishna); although even he also has pleasant and unpleasant sensations, he is not ruled by them and remains innerly untouched by them. After his death he is not reborn again.

Two kinds of buddhas are distinguished: the pratyeka-buddha, who is completely enlight ened but does not expound the teaching; and the samyak-sambuddha, who expounds for the wel fare of all beings the teaching that he has discov ered anew. A samyak-sambuddha is omniscient (sarvajnata) and possesses the ten powers of a buddha (dashabala) and the four certainties. The buddha of our age is Shakyamuni. (See also Buddha 2.)

Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, is not the first and only buddha. Already in the early Hinayana texts, six buddhas who preceded him in earlier epochs are mentioned: Vipashyin (Pali, Vipassi), Shikin (Sikhi), Vishvabhu (Vessabhu), Krakuchchanda (Kakusandha), Konagamana, and Kashyapa (Kassapa). The buddha who will follow Sh?kyamuni in a future age and renew the dharma is Maitreya. Be yond these, one finds indications in the litera ture of thirteen further buddhas, of which the most important is Dipamkara, whose disci ple Shakyamuni was in his previous existence as the ascetic Sumedha. The stories of these leg endary buddhas are contained in the Buddhavamsa, a work from the Khuddaka nikaya.

2. The historical Buddha. He was born in 563 BCE, the son of a prince of the Shakyas, whose small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas lies in present-day Nepal. His first name was Siddhartha, his family name Gauta ma. Hence he is also called Gautama Buddha. (For the story of his life, see Siddhartha Gauta ma.) During his life as a wandering ascetic, he was known as Shakyamuni, the �Silent Sage of the Shakyas.� In order to distinguish the historical Buddha from the transcendent buddhas (see buddha 3), he is generally called Shakyamuni Buddha or Buddha Shakyamuni.

3. The �buddha principle,� which manifests itself in the most various forms. Whereas in Hinayana only the existence of one buddha in every age is accepted (in which case the Buddha is considered an earthly being who teaches hu mans), for the Mahayana there are countless transcendent buddhas. According to the Mahayana teaching of the trikaya, the buddha principle manifests itself in three principal forms, the so-called three bodies (trikaya). In this sense the transcendent buddhas represent embodiments of various aspects of the buddha principle.

4. A synonym for the absolute, ultimate reality devoid of form, color, and all other properties�buddha-nature.

From The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen,

By Michael S. Diener, Franz-Karl Erhard, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber

Translated by Michael H. Kohn

(See also: Buddha, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Buddha Dictionary

Buddha: Encyclopedia - City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

The City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas (萬佛聖城, wanfo shengcheng) is an international Buddhist community and monastery founded by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, an important figure in Western Buddhism. It is the first Chinese Zen Buddhist temple in the United States. The city is situated in Talmage, California, Mendocino County, about 110 miles (180 km) north of San Francisco. It was one of the first Buddhist monasteries built in the United States, and most possibly outranks Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Californi ...