“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.
The Four Noble Truths
Buddhist teacher and scholar Jan Willis on the Buddha’s central teaching — his diagnosis and cure for suffering.
The Ultimate Healing
The Buddha’s analysis of how to free ourselves from suffering is profound, universal, and eternal, says Melvin McLeod.
Who Was the Buddha?
Lion’s Roar deputy editor Andrea Miller tells the story of Siddhartha Gautama.
The Meaning of the Dalai Lama for Today
When I have attended His Holiness the Dalai Lama giving Buddhist teachings to large assemblies, I have had an odd sensation lately…
Lots of Buddhas
Professor Donald Lopez on how the understanding of buddhahood evolved and expanded in the centuries following the death of the historical Buddha. In Sanskrit, the word buddha can mean “awakened,” “expanded,” and “understood.” It was the title bestowed on an itinerant teacher about whom little is known, apart from the teachings that have been attributed […]
The Buddha’s Journey
Scholar Andrew Olendzki on how the Buddha discovered a path to liberation that we can take too.
The Progressive Buddha
Karma Lekshe Tsomo on the Buddha as social reformer — for his time and ours.
On Suffering and the End of Suffering
Sharon Salzberg on opening to the truth of suffering, the core of the Buddha’s teaching.
Ask the Teachers: How do we determine what is true dharma?
Bhante Sujato, Gesshin Greenwood, Avikrita Vajra Sakya answer the question “How do we determine what is the true dharma?” Question: Buddhism was an oral tradition for hundreds of years, and many of the earliest writings were lost centuries ago. If we can’t have 100 percent certainty about what the Buddha actually taught—and it seems that […]