Buddha (The Awakened One) | Founder of Buddhism

Revised: January 15, 2012

“I look upon the judgements of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of belief as traces left by the four seasons.”

- Attributed to BUDDHA

Buddha (The Awakened One)
Founder of Buddhism, c.563 - c.483 BCE

The word Buddha is a title, not a name. It is derived from the Sanskrit: “Budh,” to know. It means “one who is awake” in the sense of having “woken up to reality.” This title was first given to a man named Siddartha Gautama, who lived 2,500 years ago in northern India.

Siddartha Gautama was son of the Rajah (ruler) of the Sakya tribe of Kapilavastu, Nepal. When he was about 35 years old Siddartha left the luxuries of his father’s court, his beautiful wife, and all earthly ambitions for the life of an ascetic. He saw in the contemplative life the perfect way to self-enlightenment.

For six years he struggled by the traditional methods of meditation and asceticism, to penetrate the cause of man’s “clinging to life.” His efforts were in vain. The more he contemplated his own mind, the more he found only his own effort to contemplate. The evening before his enlightenment, Siddartha gave up. He relaxed his diet and ate some nourishing food. At once he felt a profound change coming over him. He sat down under a bodhi tree, vowing not to rise until he had obtained “supreme awakening.”

According to Buddhist tradition, he sat through the night until a glimpse of the morning star suddenly provoked a state of perfect clarity and understanding. He experienced unexcelled, complete, awakening. For the next 40 years he taught the principles of his teaching, gaining many disciples and followers. He died at the age of about 80 in Kusinagara, Oudh.

Buddha’s teaching is summarized in the Four Noble Truths, the last of which affirms the existence of a path leading to deliverance from the universal human experience of suffering. The goal is Nirvana, which means “the blowing out” of the fires of all desires, and the absorption of the self into the infinite.

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Resource Menu

Books About Buddha
DVDs About Buddha/Buddhism
Buddha Images
Buddha/Buddhism Online Videos
Buddha eTexts
Related Websites

Books About Buddha

The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya (Teachings of the Buddha)
by Maurice Walshe (Translator)

Thirty-four discourses that are among the oldest records of the Buddha's original teachings. An invaluable collection of teachings that reveal his gentleness, compassion, and wisdom.

Purchase this paperback edition of The Long Discourses of the Buddha

The Way of Zen
by Alan W. Watts

Watts follows Buddhism through the development of the early Mahayana school, and then the birth of Zen from Buddhism’s marriage with Taoism. He concludes with Zen’s unique expression in Japanese culture.

Purchase this paperback edition of The Way of Zen

Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World
by Lama Surya Das

Covers the traditional three trainings for enlightenment: ethics, meditation, and wisdom. Includes all the major concepts of Tibetan Buddhism from the Eight Steps to Enlightenment to the Six Principles of Enlightened Living, setting them in the context of Western civilization, and showing how this wisdom can be integrated into life here and now.

Purchase this hardcover edition of Awakening the Buddha Within

Buddha: Life and Work of the Forerunner in India
by Maurice Walshe (Translator)

This book documents the travels and experiences that led Siddhartha to the enlightenment. Filled with images of rural India’s wilderness, animals, people, and legends.

Purchase this hardcover edition of Buddha: Life and Work of the Forerunner in India

Before He Was Buddha
by Hammalawa Saddhatissa

This biography portrays Buddha, first as a boy named Siddhartha, then as a man who leaves home in search of truth, and finally as an elderly teacher.

Purchase this hardcover edition of Before He Was Buddha

Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings
by Ray Riegert (Editor)

Jesus and Buddha were separated by five hundred years, three thousand miles, and two drastically different cultures. Yet this book juxtaposes passages from the New Testament and ancient Buddhist scriptures to illuminate the striking similarity between their lives, deeds, and teachings.

Purchase this hardcover edition of Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings

DVDs About Buddha/Buddhism

Life of Buddha

Reveals the fascinating story of Prince Siddhartha and his spiritual transformation into the Buddha.

Purchase this DVD edition of Life of Buddha

Zen Buddhism: In Search of Self

This beautifully produced documentary follows two dozen Zen Buddhist nuns as they practice a 1000-year old tradition of 90-day fasting, meditation and contemplation, seeking enlightenment.

Purchase this DVD edition of Zen Buddhism: In Search of Self

Discovering Buddhism

A great introduction to Tibetan Buddhism.

Purchase this DVD edition of Discovering Buddhism

Robert A. F. Thurman On Buddhism

Thurman's three-part lecture series “On Buddhism” is an extremely thorough introduction to the philosophy, theology, and history of Buddhism.

Purchase this DVD edition of Robert A. F. Thurman On Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

A set of four videos that collect a series of lectures on the Four Noble Truths given by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in 1997 in England. Each of the four videos includes a brief introduction by Tibetan Buddhism scholar Robert Thurman, who contextualizes the lectures within the many Buddhist traditions.

Purchase this DVD edition of Four Noble Truths

God and Buddha: A Dialogue

Buddhist professor, Robert Thurman and the Vedanta philosopher, Deepak Chopra discuss great questions of the modern age within the context of two of the world’s oldest religions. Thought provoking and inspirational.