[Buddha-l] Was Buddha a Buddhist

[Blumenthal, James]

I think the question of the Buddha being Buddhist is entirely different from the question of Jesus being Christian.  Jesus was a Jew.  In fact, he was a Rabbi.  He never left the faith.  He never spoke of starting  a new religion.  Certainly he was critical of certain elements of the Jewish power elite, but that does not mean he was intending to start a new religion.  Christianity and the theology of a messiah dying for the sins of humanity was a creation of the early community of Jesus' followers in the first century after his death.

As for the Buddha being a Buddhist, I think the question is sort of irrelavent from a Buddhist perspective. We can't really make the determination based on refuge, because once one is a Buddha, there is no need for refuge.  Refuge is taken *until* one achieves Buddhahood.  Unlike Jesus, the Buddha was introducing a new spiritual path. He was heterodoxical not only in the face of Vedic Brahminism, but even in the context of the sramana movement, his worldview and approach was quite radical. 
Jim Blumenthal

James Blumenthal
Dept. of Philosophy
Oregon State University
102-A Hovland Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331


-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com on behalf of J Tatelman
Sent: Mon 5/22/2006 8:54 PM
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Was Buddha a Buddhist
 
It may be that the Buddha wasn't a Buddhist any more than Jesus was a 
Christian.

Cheers,

Joel.

On May 22, 2006, at 10:02 PM, Leigh Goldstein ((d)) wrote:

>
> Someone asked me this recently. I was wondering what traditional 
> Buddhist
> terms correspond in some sense to the Western idea "Buddhist" and 
> whether,
> in particular, Buddha was considered to be a monk or subject to the
> ordination vows.
>
> If a Buddhist is someone who takes refuge in the Three Jewels, it 
> seems like
> Buddha could not be a Buddhist. If a Buddhist is a sentient being who
> follows the Buddhist path, then Buddha could not be a Buddhist. Does 
> that
> mean that someone ceases to be a Buddhist when they become a Buddha?
>
> On the other hand, if someone is a Buddhist who understands and 
> practices
> the Buddhist doctrines and methods, then Buddha would be the only 
> complete
> or fully Buddhist.
>
> Besides this, there is the possibility of very different concepts about
> these things in the different Buddhist schools.
>
> Can someone point me to traditional sources on these subjects, if they
> exist?
>
> Thanks,
> Leigh
>
>
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