In Buddhism, a buddha (Sanskrit बुद्ध) is any being who has become fully awakened (enlightened), has permanently overcome desire or craving (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha), or ignorance, and has achieved complete liberation from suffering. However, such a negative definition should be augmented with its positive aspect, for a Buddha is also "one who has achieved a state of perfect enlightenment,"[1] which is a state of perfect mental tranquillity and non-fading bliss: "is the highest bliss" and "the bliss of peace, the bliss of enlightenment."[2]
In the Pali Canon, the term 'buddha' refers to anyone who has become enlightened (i.e., awakened to the truth, or Dharma) on their own, without a teacher to point out the Dharma, in a time when the teachings on the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path do not exist in the world.
Generally, Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only buddha. The Pali Canon refers to Gautama Buddha at least once as the 28th Buddha (see List of the 28 Buddhas). A common Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).
Buddhism teaches that everyone has the innate potential to become awakened and experience nirvana. Theravada Buddhism teaches that one doesn't need to become a Buddha to become awakened and experience nirvana, since an Arahant (Sanskrit: Arhat) also has those qualities, while some Mahayana Buddhist texts (e.g., the Lotus Sutra) imply that all beings will become a Buddha at some future point in time.
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