Those who study Buddhism know that Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of Buddhism, revered by the world as the Buddha. Historically, he coincidentally appeared in the same era as the Great Sage and Teacher Confucius, and was a sage who achieved enlightenment both for himself and for all phenomena.
When he was in the human world, having personally experienced the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death in human life, a strong aspiration for renunciation arose in his heart. He practiced asceticism for six years, but did not achieve liberation, so he abandoned ascetic practices, adjusted his body and mind, and walked to sit quietly under a Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. There he made a great vow: “Until I achieve perfect enlightenment, I will not rise from this seat.” He immediately entered deep meditation, contemplated the twelve links of dependent origination, and engaged in day-and-night struggle with the demons of mental afflictions in his own mind. Finally, on the forty-ninth night at midnight, seeing the morning star appear, he suddenly awakened to all truth and achieved supreme perfect enlightenment. From then on, people revered him as the Buddha, with the sacred name Shakyamuni Buddha. When the Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he said: “Wonderful! Wonderful! All beings on earth possess the wisdom and virtuous characteristics of the Tathagata, but due to deluded thoughts, they cannot realize this.” This explains that “all sentient beings have Buddha nature and can become Buddhas, but the reason they cannot become Buddhas is that ignorance and afflictions obscure their Buddha nature.”
What exactly is a “Buddha”? Some people, based on theories from other religions, call it “God.” The Western concept of “God” is: “self-existent, eternally existing,” “omniscient, omnipotent,” “creator of all things.” The relationship between God and humans is that of “creator” and “created,” with humans forever being God’s children. The Eastern religious concept of “God” is: those who have achieved success through cultivation following the “Dao” (Way), where “Dao” is “truth,” the “metaphysical Way that existed before heaven and earth.” Gods in both Eastern and Western religions share a common characteristic: immortality. The difference is that one is “self-existent, eternally existing,” while the other can be achieved through human cultivation. However, Buddha is not “God” in the religious sense.
Buddha and God have fundamental differences. Buddha: the Sanskrit translation means “awakened one,” referring to self-awakening, awakening others, and awakening to all phenomena. This awakening is not Confucius’s prescient awareness, nor is it awareness arising from the six senses, but rather the awakening of one’s inherent nature—breaking free from the five aggregates and all phenomena of arising and ceasing, directly leading to the “true reality” of no-birth and no-death. This enlightenment breaks through the ultimate inadequacy of all conditioned phenomena, transcends time, space, arising, ceasing, and illusion, and awakens to the originally pure Tathagata nature of oneself and all beings. This Tathagata nature is not something that only appears upon becoming Buddha, but is inherently possessed by everyone and all beings—neither increasing in sages nor decreasing in ordinary beings. Thus, “everyone can become Buddha,” “all sentient beings are originally Buddha,” and “all sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous characteristics of the Tathagata.” In other words, sentient beings and Buddha are equal, without difference. This point shows that Buddhism does not acknowledge the authority of “God.” Buddhism recognizes “gods” as sentient beings living in the three good realms of the dharma realm, only slightly more excellent than the human realm, also possessing inconceivable supernatural powers of the human realm, usually experiencing more pleasure than suffering. However, when their merit is exhausted, they still fall into samsara. So even gods have arising and ceasing. The root of arising and ceasing is karmic cause and effect—what arises and ceases through conditions is fundamentally illusory, constantly bound by one’s own karmic conditions without achieving liberation, thus not attaining freedom.
“Buddha” is the abbreviation of “Buddha,” originally meaning “awakened one” or “wise one.” Buddhism gives it deeper meaning: 1. Right awakening; 2. Universal awakening or complete awakening; 3. Perfect awakening or supreme awakening. It explains that all sentient beings can become Buddha through the practice of Buddha-dharma, because sentient beings and Buddha have no difference in their essential nature, so Buddha is not “God” in the religious sense.
Glossary of Terms
All Phenomena (Wan Fa) All things and matters that arise through causes and conditions, including their principles and rules. This includes conditioned phenomena, unconditioned phenomena, and ineffable phenomena.
Making Great Vows Vows are aspirations or pledges; making great vows means making great aspirations or pledges.
Meditation (Chan Ding) Chan is the transliteration of the Sanskrit “dhyana,” meaning contemplative cultivation, also translated as calm contemplation. Calm contemplation means the mind is tranquil and capable of careful consideration. Ding is the translation of the Sanskrit “samadhi”—the mind leaving scattered distraction and resting in one state.
Twelve Links of Dependent Origination Also called the twelve branches of existence or twelve links of causation, explaining the process of sentient beings’ cycle of birth and death. The twelve links are: ignorance (afflictions like greed, hatred, and delusion as the root of birth and death), formations (creating various karma), consciousness (karmic consciousness entering the womb), name and form (having fetal form but six sense organs not yet complete), six sense bases (the fetus developing into human form with six sense organs like eyes), contact (being born and contacting external objects), feeling (generating pleasant and unpleasant sensations from contact with external objects), craving (developing desire for objects), grasping (pursuing and creating), becoming (karmic causes capable of bringing future results), birth (receiving future five-aggregate body), aging and death (future body gradually aging and dying). These twelve branches include all causes and effects of three lifetimes—generating afflictions, creating karma, and receiving rebirth—continuing endlessly in cycles.
Supreme Perfect Enlightenment The supreme wisdom that can truly and equally awaken to all truth.
Sentient Beings Also called “beings with consciousness,” referring to all animals with consciousness. Born from the gathering of various conditions, they are called sentient beings; also, having experienced numerous births and deaths, they are called sentient beings. In the ten dharma realms, except for Buddha, the nine realms of beings are all called sentient beings.
Deluded Thoughts Also called subtle refined thoughts, referring to the consciousness aggregate. Sentient beings’ consciousness (mind) is false and deluded, like rapidly flowing water that appears calm but is actually flowing rapidly and subtly, imperceptibly. Thus the consciousness aggregate is called deluded thoughts.
Six Sense Organs Human senses, also called six entrances. Buddhism categorizes them as: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—collectively called the six sense organs.
Five Aggregates Namely: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
True Reality The ultimate truth, also called dharma nature—the true principle within emptiness, free from illusory characteristics, possessing eternally constant nature, namely the permanently abiding nature of no-birth, no-death, no-increase, no-decrease.
Tathagata Nature “Tathagata” means “thus-come one”—coming by the path of suchness. The “Turning the Dharma Wheel Treatise” says: “Called Tathagata because coming as it truly is.” This is also the inherent nature that all sentient beings possess.
Supernatural Powers Refers to supernatural, unobstructed, free, and inconceivably wonderful functions obtained through cultivating meditation and wisdom. Also called supernatural power, divine power, psychic power. There are six types: divine foot power, divine eye, divine ear, knowing others’ minds, knowing past lives, and extinction of contaminations.
Merit and Rewards Buddhist term for the fruits of beneficial karma, such as the merit and rewards of humans and heavenly beings among the six realms. The Ekottara Agama says: “Though receiving Brahma heaven’s blessings, still not reaching the ultimate.” The Hundred Treatises say: “When merit and rewards are exhausted, one separates from pleasant things.”
Arising and Ceasing Through Conditions Arising through causes and conditions, ceasing through causes and conditions.
Freedom/Ease Refers to being free from the bondage of afflictions, with body and mind freely penetrating, able to advance and retreat without obstruction in all actions. This is a virtue possessed by Buddhas and high-level bodhisattvas, so Buddha is also called the Free Person.
Right Awakening Truly and correctly awakening to the nature and characteristics of all phenomena.
Universal Awakening Not only self-awakening but also equally and universally awakening others (helping sentient beings awaken).
Perfect Awakening The wisdom and merit of self-awakening and awakening others has reached the state of perfect completion.
