the historical buddha

TheJourney

what is our relation to the historical buddha?

Engyo

About 2300+ years apart...........

username_5

He was my uncle. Haven't seen him in a long while though.

thickpaper

TheJourney wrote: »

what is our relation to the historical buddha?

We have very little evidence at all that he lived.
We have no evidence that he lived from the time he lived.
The textual evidence we do have has travelled a very long and forking path through the millenia.

So in this sense the relation is perhaps more like that with Adam or Herculese.

But there is a profound thing we can know for sure, and this is that some Supreme spiritual, moral, mental and philosophical genius discovered and taught The Dharma.

And to my mind, that's what's really relevant to the kind of question asked:)

namaste

TheJourney

thickpaper wrote: »

We have very little evidence at all that he lived.
We have no evidence that he lived from the time he lived.
The textual evidence we do have has travelled a very long and forking path through the millenia.

So in this sense the relation is perhaps more like that with Adam or Herculese.

But there is a profound thing we can know for sure, and this is that some Supreme spiritual, moral, mental and philosophical genius discovered and taught The Dharma.

And to my mind, that's what's really relevant to the kind of question asked:)

namaste

that's how i feel too. Once you understand the dharma of the historical buddha, you move past the need to relate to the historical buddha but instead your true awoken nature within.

Floating_Abu

TheJourney wrote: »

what is our relation to the historical buddha?

His name is Siddartha, and he became known as Gautama Buddha. He is the transcendent Buddha of our age, and he 'discovered' the Dharma principles and taught, thus starting the tradition and lineages that exist as we live.

There is also the quote from the Diamond Sutra:

"Whoever seeks me in form
Or in sound
Walks the heterodox path
And cannot perceive the Tathagata"

Blessings,
Abu

TheJourney

Floating_Abu wrote: »

His name is Siddartha, and he became known as Gautama Buddha. He is the transcendent Buddha of our age, and he 'discovered' the Dharma principles and taught, thus starting the tradition and lineages that exist as we live.

There is also the quote from the Diamond Sutra:

"Whoever seeks me in form
Or in sound
Walks the heterodox path
And cannot perceive the Tathagata"

Blessings,
Abu

Amazing quote. I feel like it cleared some things up for me.

Engyo

thickpaper wrote: »

We have very little evidence at all that he lived.
We have no evidence that he lived from the time he lived.
The textual evidence we do have has travelled a very long and forking path through the millenia.

I have been told, although not yet read for myself, that Alexander the Great's chroniclers recorded meeting some elderly folk who had been children and seen the Buddha (some 60+ years previously). That is the most direct evidence that I am aware of to date.

thickpaper

Engyo wrote: »

I have been told, although not yet read for myself, that Alexander the Great's chroniclers recorded meeting some elderly folk who had been children and seen the Buddha (some 60+ years previously). That is the most direct evidence that I am aware of to date.

Yes I have a vague recollection of this tale but I think the earliest archaeological earliest evidence is from King Ashoka's a hundred years or so later.

In Sri Lanka I have been to one of the many places in Asia the Buddha is said to have visited, but I am not sure how accurate this claim is!;)

namaste