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A) Buddha (Chinese: 佛), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali: ‘ awakened one’ or ‘enlightened one;’… meaning to ‘awaken’ or to ‘open up’ (as does a flower,) and thus traditionally etymologized as one who has awakened from the deep sleep of (unenlightenment) and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge.”
The key point to understand now is that the Buddha’s knowledge does not come from studying books or earning a few advanced degrees. Instead, it comes from “opening his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge.” We will explore its meaning when we discuss epistemology.
Tathāgata (Chinese: 如來), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali, lit., one who has thus come/gone.” “A secondary denotation of the term is to understand ‘things as they are.'” The translation of Tathāgata in Chinese is a “thus come one. (Chinese: 如來)“
In other words, encompassing “all objects of knowledge” means understanding “things as they are.”
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