Gautama the Buddha
500 BC
Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage in whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in eastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.
The word Buddha means “awakened one” or “the enlightened one.” “Buddha” is also used as a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Sramana (renunciation) movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
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. Those teachings of The Buddha such as The Four Noble Truths or the Noble Eightfold Path are timeless and reflect personal and spiritual development.
Quotes ~
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
Recommended Reading ~
- The Way of the Buddha – The Illustrated Dhammapada
- Jesus and Buddha, The Parallel Sayings