Description
Although we often speak of “the Buddha,” there are many Buddhas in Buddhism. On top of that, the many Buddhas come with many names and forms and play multiple roles. The name Shakyamuni is Sanskrit for “Sage of the Shakya.” Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince of the Shakya or Sakya, a clan who appear to have established a city-state with a capital in Kapilavatthu, in modern-day Nepal, about 700 BCE.
Shakyamuni Buddha is a name given to the historical Buddha, especially in Mahayana Buddhism. So it’s nearly always the case that when someone is talking about Shakyamuni, he or she is speaking of the historical figure who was born Siddhartha Gautama but then became known as Shakyamuni only after he became the Buddha.As the possibility he presented. “Don’t look at me,” he said, “but to the enlightened state.” The first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha are said to have been drawn on canvas from rays of golden light emanating from his body. Later Buddhist art pictured the Buddha in numerous manifestations, but always as an archetype of human potential, never as a historically identifiable person. All forms of the Buddha, however, are commonly shown seated on a lotus throne, a symbol of the open space, so too does the mind rise through the discord of its own experience to blossom in the boundlessness of unconditional awareness.
