Gautama Buddha

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Gautama Buddha (also referred to as Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) or Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि) "Sage of the Śākyas") was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

Physical characteristic

The Buddha is traditionally regarded as having the "Thirty-two Characteristics of a Great Man" (Skt. mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa). The Digha Nikaya, in the "Discourse of the Marks" (Pali: Lakkhaṇa Sutta) enumerates and explains the 32 characteristics, among which are: "Hands reaching below the knees", "Height and stretch of arms equal", "Forty teeth", "Fleshy protuberance on the crown of the head", among others.[1]

Whether these characteristics are true or not, there is a reference in the Mahatma Letter No. 61 were Master K.H. wrote: "He differed from other men as much in his physical appearance as in spirituality and knowledge".[2]

Notes

  1. Ronald Epstein, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z. (2003), 200.
  2. Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 61 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.

Further reading