Another Tibetan source explains that Buddha Amitabha gave to one of his two main disciples, Avalokiteśvara, the task to take upon himself the burden of caring for Tibet.

There are many places in which the Buddha explains his use of the word brahman.

The Buddhist scholar and commentator Buddhaghosa explains that each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community.

From his very first discourse onwards, the Buddha explains the reality of things in terms of cause and effect.

In the Lotus Sutra ( sixth fascicle ) the Buddha explains that he has always and will always exist to lead beings to their salvation.

In this same sutra the Buddha explains that he proclaims all beings to have Buddha-nature ( which is used synonymously with " tathāgatagarbha " in this sutra ) in the sense that they will in the future become Buddhas.

The aggregates of form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and cognizance that comprise personal identity have been seen to be dukkha ( a burden ), and an enlightened individual is one with " burden dropped ".. The Buddha explains " that for which a monk has a latent tendency, by that is he reckoned, what he does not have a latent tendency for, by that is he not reckoned ..

" The Buddha then explains: " In exactly the same way ..., all form by which one could predicate the existence of the saint, all that form has been abandoned, uprooted, pulled out of the ground like a palmyra-tree, and become non-existent and not liable to spring up again in the future.

The Buddha explains his similes of the father representing a compassionate Tathāgata who is like " a father to all the world ", and the sons representing humans who are " born into the threefold world, a burning house, rotten, and old.

An Indo-Chinese tradition also explains that Nagasena, also known as Menander's Buddhist teacher, created in 43 BCE in the city of Pataliputra a statue of the Buddha, the Emerald Buddha, which was later brought to Thailand.

Nichiren explains, however, that only belief in one ’ s inner Buddha nature can validate the benefit of the Gohonzon.

# Ambattha Sutta (): Ambattha the Brahmin is sent by his teacher to find whether the Buddha possesses the 32 bodily marks, but on arrival he is rude to the Buddha on grounds of descent ; the Buddha responds that he is actually higher born than Ambattha and that society treats aristocrats like himself as higher ranking than Brahmins, but that he considers those fulfilled in conduct and wisdom as higher, and he explains conduct and wisdom as above

# Sonadanta Sutta (): the Buddha asks Sonadanda the Brahmin what are the qualities that make a Brahmin ; Sonadanda gives five, but the Buddha asks if any can be omitted and beats him down to two, morality and wisdom, which he explains as above

# Mahali Sutta ( mahāli -): in reply to a question as to why a certain monk sees divine sights but does not hear divine sounds, the Buddha explains that it is because of the way he has directed his meditation ; he then reports the following sutta

# Potthapada Sutta (): asked about the cause of the arising of saññā, usually translated as perception, the Buddha says it is through training ; he explains the path as above up to the jhanas and the arising of their perceptions, and then continues with the first three formless attainments ; the sutta then moves on to other topics, the self and the unanswered questions

# Kevaddha Sutta ( or ) or Kevatta Sutta (): Kevaddha asks the Buddha why he does not gain disciples by working miracles ; the Buddha explains that people would simply dismiss this as magic and that the real miracle is the training of his followers

# Tevijja Sutta: asked about the path to union with Brahma, the Buddha explains it in terms of the path as above, but ending with the four brahmaviharas ; the abbreviated way the text is written out makes it unclear how much of the path comes before this ; Professor Gombrich has argued that the Buddha was meaning union with Brahma as synonymous with nirvana

# Lakkhana Sutta (): explains the actions of the Buddha in his previous lives leading to his 32 bodily marks ; thus it describes practices of a bodhisattva ( perhaps the earliest such description )

While faith in Buddhism does not imply " blind faith ", Buddhist faith nevertheless requires a degree of faith and belief, primarily in the spiritual attainment of Gautama Buddha.

While Buddhism does give a similar and to some extent a matching account for Gautama Buddha, Hinduism maintains a totally different theory where " divine grace " is needed for emancipation.

According to the Mahayana Sutras, the Buddha does not eat meat.

Liberation from the Wheel of Life does not mean escape, the Buddha implied.

Although the Theravada school does not emphasize the more supernatural and divine aspects of the Buddha that are available in the Pali Canon, elements of Buddha as the supreme person are found throughout this canon.

According to some scholars, the Buddha nature which these sutras discuss, does not represent a substantial self ( ātman ).

While the doctrine of anatta denies the self can be the five aggregates or skandhas since everywhere within them resides impermanence and suffering, this does not mean the Buddha categorically denied the self.

According to some scholars, the " tathagatagarbha "/ Buddha nature discussed in some Mahayana sutras does not represent a substantial self ( atman ); rather, it is a positive language and expression of sunyata ( emptiness ) and represents the potentiality to realize Buddhahood through Buddhist practices.

Another form of attack ( similar to the Argument from inconsistent revelations ) does not directly dispute the premises, but instead underlines the applicability of this argument to other historical religious figures, such as the Buddha and Muhammed, each of whom is revered in their faith as a wise and moral teacher, and each of whom made specific claims regarding their interaction with the divine.

Although portrayed through the use of anthropomorphic metaphors, Shingon does not see the Dharmakaya Buddha as a god, or creator ( as a separate entity ).

And as Buddha said: “ Do not overlook negative actions merely because they are small ; however small a spark may be, it can burn down a haystack as big as a mountain .” Similarly he said: “ Do not overlook tiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit ; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel .” Karma does not decay like external things, or ever become inoperative.

Nichiren Shū regards Nichiren as the messenger of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha or Original Buddha, but does not consider him as more important than Shakyamuni.

In a number of major Mahayana sutras ( e. g. the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, the Srimala Sutra, among others ), the Buddha is presented as clarifying this teaching by saying that, while the skandhas ( constituents of the ordinary body and mind ) are not the self, there does truly exist an eternal, unchanging, blissful Buddha-essence in all sentient beings, which is the uncreated and deathless Buddha-nature (" Buddha-dhatu ") or " True Self " of the Buddha himself.

The " tathagatagarbha "/ Buddha nature does not represent a substantial self ; rather, it is a positive language expression of " sunyata " ( emptiness ) and represents the potentiality to realize Buddhahood through Buddhist practices ; the intention of the teaching of tathagatagarbha ( Buddha nature ) is soteriological rather than theoretical.

The Buddha responds by enjoining Rahu to release them, which Rahu does rather than have his " head split into seven pieces ".

Nydahl says that he does not make political comments in his capacity as a lama, but as a " responsible, thinking human being ", and that no one can make such statements from a Buddhist perspective because Buddha Shakyamuni did not comment on religious ideas founded centuries after his death.

Asalha Puja, also known as Dhamma Day, is one of Theravada Buddhism ’ s most important festivals, celebrating as it does the Buddha ’ s first sermon in which he set out to his five former associates the doctrine that had come to him following his enlightenment.

The sutra itself, however, does not directly employ the phrase " eternal Buddha "; yet similar notions are found in other Mahayana scriptures, notably the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which presents the Buddha as the ultimately real, eternal (" nitya "/ " śāśvata "), unchanging, blissful, pure Self ( Atman ) who, as the Dharmakaya, knows of no beginning or end.

According to early Buddhist scripture, the Buddha refused to answer certain questions regarding metaphysical propositions, known as the fourteen unanswerable questions ( the Pali Canon only gives ten ).

The Buddha refused to leave, whereby the Rakshasa threatened to harm him if he could not answer his questions.

The rest of the sutra concerns the question and answer dialogue, and at the end, the demon is then convinced and becomes a follower of the Buddha.

In Samyutta Nikaya ( SN ) 4. 400, both when asked if there was a soul, and when asked if there was no soul ( natthatta ), Gautama Buddha refused to answer Within the Mahayana tradition, the position that there is no soul is conventionally considered to be equivalent to Nihilism ( ucchedavada ).

Most of the Buddha's sermons are presented as preached in answer to a question, or in some other appropriate context, but this one has a beginning and an ending in which the Buddha is talking to monks about something totally different.

Upon refusing to answer the question for a second time, the Buddha warned him that his head would be smashed to bits if he failed to do so a third time.

He asked the virtuous monks, and they replied that the Buddha was a " Teacher of Analysis " ( Vibhajjavādin ), an answer that was confirmed by Moggaliputta Tissa.

" As Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains, "... the Buddha was asked point-blank whether or not there was a self, he refused to answer.

In the Majjhima Nikaya, a potential follower asks the Buddha for an answer to the problem of cosmogony:

In the Aggañña Sutta, found in the Pali Canon, the Buddha does appear to give a highly detailed answer to this issue.

The Aggañña Sutta does raise an issue about the importance of the question ; if the Buddha regards the answer as meaningless, why would he give a teaching on it?