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Buddhism, a buddha
(Sanskrit: Awakened) is any being who has become fully awakened (enlightened), and has experienced Nirvana. In the Pali Canon and the Theravada tradition, the term 'buddha' usually 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. By comparison, those who awaken due to the teachings given by a Buddha are known as Arahants, a title also applied to Buddhas. Arahants and Buddhas are the same in the most fundamental aspects of Liberation (Nirvana), but differ in their paramis. In the
Mahayana tradition
, the definition of Buddha extends to any being who becomes fully awakened. The Theravada Arhant would be considered a kind of Buddha (although not generally by Mahayana Buddhism itself) in this Mahayana sense, and this usage also occurs once in later (12th century) Theravada literature. Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha. The Pali Canon refers to many previous ones (see List of the 28 Buddhas), while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial, rather than historical, origin (see Amitabha or Vairocana as examples). A common Buddhist belief across all Buddhism is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya). (from Wikipedia.com)
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(AP) - The Dalai Lama rolls down his car's window as former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, left, looks on at the Kangra airport near Dharmsala, India, Friday, Jan. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
(AP) - In this Nov. 17, 2005 file photo, former Sen. Claiborne Pell attends a speech by The Dalai Lama at Salve Regina University, in Newport, R.I. The Dalai Lama was presented with an award named in Pell's honor by the university. Former six-term Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell has died after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease Thursday Jan. 1, 2009. He was 90. Pell, a Democrat, is best known for the grant program in his name that has helped millions attended college. (AP Photo/Joe Giblin, File)
(AFP/File) - Chinese paramilitary policemen on patrol in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in mid June. China has detained 59 people accused of fabricating subversive rumours in Tibet, state media has said, blaming forces allied to the Himalayan region's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.(AFP/File/Teh Eng Koon)
(Reuters) - Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama attends a cricket match in the northern Indian hilltown of Dharamsala in this file photo from December 17, 2008. (Abhishek Madhukar/Reuters)
(Reuters) - Tibetan exiles hold candles and offer prayers to commemorate the passing away of their 15th century spiritual master Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect, a Buddhist Tibetan sect which the current Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama heads, in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala December 21, 2008. REUTERS/Abhishek Madhukar (INDIA)