The History of Buddhist Thought c19.67

c19.67

We find descriptions of Buddha in the Scriptures which describe him merely as a great teacher. Not even his royal descent is there mentioned. He is described as one who has abandoned a great family circle, and has gone forth from a wealthy kshatriya family. He is beautiful and virtuous and a great teacher. In the words of the formula to be used when meditating on Buddha he is " the Lord, the Arahat, the fully enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, the Sugata (he who has well gone), knower of the world, the supreme charioteer of men to be tamed, the Buddha, the Lord ". This is not the humanized portrait of a divine being, but an expression of the belief in an historical being, a belief which remained in spite of all the growth in the wonderful qualities that became attributed to him. In the description in the *Majjhima* of his attaining enlightenment he is spoken of as acquiring those qualities which any arahat attains. But as Buddha he differs by being the discoverer of this attainment, and the attainment itself implies the possession of marvellous powers far beyond those of ordinary men. The qualities of a Buddha became an increasing list of powers possessed by him alone.