WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK of the Buddha, it’s Siddhartha Gautama they picture: the prince, who it is said, was born 2,600 years ago in Nepal, grew up to attain enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and then went on to teach the path of awakening for forty-five years. But this “historical” Buddha is just one aspect of what is meant when we say, “take refuge in the Buddha.”
“Buddha” means “awakened being,” and according to traditional Buddhist cosmology there are countless buddhas constantly manifesting in the trichiliocosm or multiverse.