Buddha

Buddha (devanāgarī: बुद्ध) is a Sanskrit word that means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." H. P. Blavatsky defined it as follows:

Buddha (Sk.). Lit., “The Enlightened”. The highest degree of knowledge. To become a Buddha one has to break through the bondage of sense and personality; to acquire a complete perception of the REAL SELF and learn not to separate it from all otherselves; to learn by experience the utter unreality of all phenomena of the visible Kosmos foremost of all; to reach a complete detachment from all that is evanescent and finite, and live while yet on Earth in the immortal and the everlasting alone, in a supreme state of holiness.

In the Theosophical view a Buddha appears regularly with each Root-Race:

Esoteric philosophy teaches us that every Root-race has its chief Buddha or Reformer, who appears also in the seven sub-races as a Bodhisattva (q.v.). Gautama Sakyamuni was the fourth, and also the fifth Buddha: the fifth, because we are the fifth root-race; the fourth, as the chief Buddha in this fourth Round.

The current Buddha, Siddhârta Gautama, is said to be the fourth Buddha to appear on Earth in this Round, corresponding to the fifth Root-Race (the beginning of first Root-Race having a Planetary Spirit incarnated instead of a Buddha).

Manushi-Buddhas

Known as Terrestrial Buddhas, they are Human Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or incarnated Dhyan Chohans.

Dhyani-Buddhas

Known as "Celestial Buddhas"