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Shakyamuni Buddha ... who is the Buddha, really?
Shakyamuni is also referred to as Lord Shakya. The first recorded Buddha ("Enlightened One") who lived about 3000 years ago in India. He was a prince named Siddhartha Gautama who renounced his claim to the throne in order to embark on a religious life, because of a deep desire to solve the questions of the four sufferings (birth, old age, sickness and death). He is said to have achieved enlightenment at the age of 30. He passed on his enlightenment to as many as possible, at first using "expedient means" and "provisional" teachings (Sutras), culminating by revealing the true eternal nature of his enlightenment in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra. He passed away at around the age of 80.
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