He was born Siddhartha Gautama of the Shaka clan. He is said to have had a miraculous birth, precocious childhood, and a princely upbringing. He married and had a son.
He renounced his princely life, spent six years studying doctrines and undergoing yogic austerities.
He died at age 80.
Among the founders of the world’s major religions, the Buddha was the only teacher who did not claim to be other than an ordinary human being.
The Buddha was simply a human being and he claimed no inspiration from any God or external power.
He attributed all his realization, attainments, and achievements to human endeavor and human intelligence.
A man and only a man can become a Buddha.
Every man has within himself the potential of becoming a Buddha if he so wills it and works at it.
The Buddha spent 45 years traveling doing sermons.
He affected the lives of thousand’s, yet he was only 1 man.
If you look at the 40,000+ Buddhist temples in Thailand and the 10,000’s of ornate Buddhists statues, you have to ask yourself how did all of these ideas/visions come from 1 man?
Buddha was not an extravagant man, and if he were alive today, he might question the need for all of these temples and ornate statues?
People do things because of the way they were brought up. Told to give alms, make merit at the temple and give donations?
But remembering that Buddha was just a man and never asked for anything.
When Thai people go to the temple praying (merit), the truth is Buddha was just a man that can no longer hear them or grant their wishes.
Concrete statues, made by ordinary men, hold no value except to the belief of the individual.