“The Awakened One. Teacher of the end of suffering.”
About
Siddhartha Gautama — the Buddha — was born a prince in what is now Nepal, renounced his kingdom to seek the end of suffering, and after years of practice attained full awakening. He then spent 45 years teaching what he had discovered: that suffering arises from craving and ignorance, and that the path to liberation — the Eightfold Path — is available to anyone. His words were preserved in the Pali Canon.
Primary Sources
Dhammapada
Opening Words
TB
“Welcome. I will speak plainly: all of us who gather here carry suffering in some form. That is where the teaching begins — not with doctrine, but with what is actually true in your experience right now. What brings you?”