The Evolution of the Buddha, from a man to a mystical, archtypical omniscient being

Assuming the Buddha was a historical figure and stories about his life are at least partially true, then it is possible to trace the evolution of conceptions of the Buddha, from a man to a cosmic archtype.

The Mahākhandhaka and various suttas depicted the Buddha as a man, before and after enlightenment. He was born in comfortable surroundings (although whether he was the son of a king, or a rice farmer who at one stage was elected as a tribal leader, or whether his parents had humble and nondescript backgrounds is debatable). It is also debatable whether he was a ksatriya (from the warrior caste) and had Vedic training.

But the stories are clear that whatever his background was, he grew increasingly disenchanted with his life and started miracleing whether it was possible to avoid or eliminate suffering, illness, old age and death. To this end, he abandoned his life, wife and family, and became a wandering renunciant.

It would seem that originally the Buddha practised Jain teachings, as many of his teachings reference Jain concepts such as the cycle of life and rebirth (which are also part of Vedic belief) but in particular the the impact of “good” and “bad” actions on kamma. The Jains believed that to gain enlightenment, one must avoid all bad actions completely, in particular harming other beings. Since even the Jains seem to have realised that we can’t avoid harming other beings with every morsel we ate, every step we take, and every breath we inhale, the Jains believed the only solution was to starve oneself, remain motionless, and even avoid breathing, and hope to gain enlightenment just before passing away, in a thoughtless and selfless state of consciousness.

The Buddha realised that this was ultimately unachievable, although he tried his best. He then embarked on pursuing an alternate path and eventually developed a radical soteriology (see TL;DR - What the Buddha Taught). This radical soteriology was a middle path between living a worldly life and asceticism, but it was also middle path between Vedic and Jain beliefs. The Buddha ultimately repudiated both the Vedic belief that the way to ascend to a cosmic union with Brahma was through controlling one’s desires and observing ritual, and the Jain belief that the way to enlightenment and achieving an eternal self was transcending whilst abandoning everything.

It is clear, to the Buddha and to his initial disciples, he was still a man after enlightenment. His desire to teach was as a man rather than deity, and he walked like a man, had thoughts like a man, generally behaved as a man, and still needed to eat, sleep and defecate like all men. He often succumbed to illness, and allegedly died from eating tainted meat.

However, it was clear, even in the Mahākhandhaka, that the Buddha was no ordinary man. He was supposedly capable of psychic powers, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, levitation, and even teleportation. He was able to recollect his past lives, and he was able to see the karmic destinies of others.

However, in his teachings, he often downplayed these abilities, and discouraged his followers from showing off their psychic powers. He emphasised that these powers were not the path to liberation, and that they were merely side effects of liberation.

In 6D/11.1 Iddhipāṭihāriya the Buddha says that miracle of teaching is far superior to demonstrating psychic powers or telepathy:

830. “Kevaṭṭa, there are these three kinds of miracles that I have personally realized and proclaimed. What are these three? The miracle of psychic power, the miracle of telepathy, and the miracle of instruction.

831. And what, Kevaṭṭa, is the miracle of psychic power? Here, Kevaṭṭa, a bhikkhu experiences various kinds of psychic powers: being one, he becomes many; being many, he becomes one. He appears and vanishes; he goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through air. He dives in and out of the earth as if in water. He walks on water without sinking as if on land. He travels through the air cross-legged like a winged bird. He touches and strokes even the moon and sun, so mighty and powerful. He exercises mastery with his body even as far as the Brahma world.

832. Then a certain faithful, confident person sees that bhikkhu experiencing various kinds of psychic power: …

833. Then that faithful, confident person reports this to another person who is faithless and unconfident: ‘Truly, it is a miracle, bho! Truly, it is amazing, bho! The samaṇa has great psychic power, great majesty! I saw a bhikkhu experiencing various kinds of psychic power: …’

834. Then that faithless, unconfident person would say to that faithful, confident person: ‘Friend, there is a certain magic spell called Gandhārī. By means of that, the bhikkhu experiences various kinds of psychic power: …’

835. What do you think, Kevaṭṭa, would that faithless, unconfident person say that to the faithful, confident person?” “Yes, Bhante, he would.” “Kevaṭṭa, seeing this danger in the miracle of psychic power, I am vexed by, ashamed of, and disgusted with the miracle of psychic power.

6D/11.2 Ādesanāpāṭihāriya:

836. “And what, Kevaṭṭa, is the miracle of telepathy? Here, Kevaṭṭa, a bhikkhu reveals the minds, mental states, thoughts, and deliberations of other beings and persons — ‘Thus is your mind, thus is your intention, thus is your thought.’

837. Then a certain faithful, confident person sees that bhikkhu revealing the minds, mental states, thoughts, and deliberations of other beings and persons — ‘Thus is your mind, thus is your intention, thus is your thought.’ Then that faithful, confident person reports this to another person who is faithless and unconfident: ‘Truly, it is a miracle, bho! Truly, it is amazing, bho! The samaṇa has great psychic power, great majesty! I saw a bhikkhu revealing the minds, mental states, thoughts, and deliberations of other beings and persons — “Thus is your mind, thus is your intention, thus is your thought.”’

838. Then that faithless, unconfident person would say to that faithful, confident person: ‘Friend, there is a certain magic spell called Maṇikā. By means of that, the bhikkhu reveals the minds, mental states, thoughts, and deliberations of other beings and persons — “Thus is your mind, thus is your intention, thus is your thought.”’

839. What do you think, Kevaṭṭa, would that faithless, unconfident person say that to the faithful, confident person?” “Yes, Bhante, he would.” “Kevaṭṭa, seeing this danger in the miracle of telepathy, I am vexed by, ashamed of, and disgusted with the miracle of telepathy.

There are many theories that the original Buddha was not capable of miracles, and that the various supernatural abilities attributed to him were later additions.

Later on, and particularly after his death, he was increasing deified and worshipped as more than a man. He became an object of reverence, and since he was no longer alive, it became appropriate to revere and worship his remains (“relics”). He became someone one could take refuge in, pay homage to, and pray to. At this stage, he was still regarded as a man, but a man with special abilities - who can recollect past lives, levitate, visit heavenly realms, appear, disappear and clone himself.

He was also an idealised man, a man with 32 marks on his body that were indicators of greatness, that his destiny had always been to either become a great ruler, or a great teacher. Even more so, if we examine stories of his past life, his destiny was evident across many previous lives.

Still later on, the deification of the Buddha was complete. He was regarded as an omniscient being, rays of light would emanate from his body. His manifestation as a man was merely a convenience, he was much more than a man.

The Mahāyānans took the additional step of regarding him not just as a man or even a god, but a metaphysical archtype. He was the personification of an idealised being, someone or something to aspire to. All living beings inherently have the “Buddha nature” within them, and the ultimate goal or aspiration of all living beings is to eventually become the Buddha. All Buddhas are instantiations of ultimately a single entity or concept, very much like the Brahma of Vedic philosophy.

In this way we have come full circle, ultimately the Buddha is Brahma, and it requires the observance of “rituals” (giving alms, gaining merit, observing precepts, meditation) in order to gain cosmic union with the One.