[Buddha-l] Was Buddha a Buddhist

[Mike Austin]

In message <000201c67e0c$f7b74bd0$0200020a at BORABORA>, "Leigh Goldstein 
(d)" <leigh at deneb.org> writes
>
>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?

Does someone who has walked a path remain a walker  after he arrives at 
the destination? He would be the one who has walked, or the one who has 
'thus gone' - the Tathagata.  Then refuge is sometimes referred to as a 
'safe direction'. This would have no application for a Buddha - just as 
facing north would have no application to someone at the north pole.


>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.

A Buddha has reached parinirvana, but he is not a Buddha because he has 
arrived there but because he remains there.  By this, I mean that it is 
not a 'static' state, but there is no return to samsara.

-- 
Metta
Mike Austin