“Buddha” means “one who is awake.” The Buddha who lived 2,600 years ago was not a god. He was an ordinary person, named Siddhartha Gautama.
Buddha: The Great Physician
The Buddha is compared to a doctor because he treated the suffering that ails all of us. His diagnosis and cure, says Zen teacher Norman Fischer, is called the four noble truths.
The Buddha is Still Teaching
The true Buddha isn’t limited to the body or mind of a particular person who lived long ago. He is present today, says Jack Kornfield, in teachers pointing the way to a timeless freedom.
Buddhism in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter
We need to update the traditional narrative of the Buddha’s life, says Pamela Ayo Yetunde, for people who know suffering all too well. She offers some alternative stories for the time of #BlackLivesMatter.
In Search of the Real Buddha
Buddhist scholar Peter Harvey explores the facts, myths, and deeper truths of the Buddha’s life story.
The Buddha Was Here
On a pilgrimage to India, Andrea Miller connects with the flesh-and-blood Buddha, who lived, reached enlightenment, and taught in these very places.
Gautama vs the Buddha
Buddhist scholar Glenn Wallis argues that we should look to the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama―an ordinary person like us.
Playing With Buddha
At age seven, Ira Sukrungruang believed that the Buddha was more than a bronze statue. The Buddha was his best friend.
Let Me Know When You See the Iguana
Melissa Myozen Blacker proposes that awakening isn’t that complicated. It’s when we encounter something just as it is, without preconception.