The Buddha was one of the most notable and contributing individuals ever to grace planet Earth, in my opinion.
His contemporaries all acknowledged that he had three qualities to an extraordinary degree, any one of which would have made him exceptionally notable, but which combined together in one individual created something truly extraordinary.
Those three qualities were his genius, his enlightenment, and his heart.
The Buddha is the single most intelligent human being I've ever encountered, whether living or dead. I know of no-one who can match the Buddha in sheer mental power. To our great benefit, the Buddha decided to devote this gigantic intellect not to his own self-aggrandizement but to the enrichment of humankind.
He put into clear expression certain matters about which it is almost impossible to talk. For instance, he taught about the ungraspability of what in Zen is called original mind. He taught about our true identity being non-identity. He taught the co-dependent origination of all things. To this day his analysis of these subjects and others is unsurpassed and perhaps unrivaled.
The second quality which the Buddha possessed to an extraordinary degree was enlightenment. We can call it awakening, freedom or whatever, but all contemporary observers agreed that the consciousness of his being was uniquely deep and profound. He was liberated from all notions of a separate self, and the grasping and the aversion that accompany that separation.
A famous true exchange: Someone once said to the Buddha: What are you? Are you a god?
"No."
Are you super-human in some way?
"No."
Are you an ordinary person?
"No."
What are you then?
"I'm awake."
The third quality which the Buddha possessed was an extraordinary heart, attested to by all observers. This, to me, is what really puts the cherry on the sundae. This is what humanizes the Buddha; this is what makes his enlightenment so extremely delicious—because it's coming through someone with a huge heart, someone who has tremendous compassion.
For 45 years after his awakening to his true identity—and ours—the Buddha trudged the dusty roads of India endeavoring to spread the message of the inherent purity, luminosity and tenderness of our original nature.
It's 2500 years later, and his teaching is still one of the true lighthouses of human history.
—jim sloman, 08/05/01 for Aug 5
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