英語で仏教の基礎を味わう第ニ回。今回は、「仏ってどんな意味？」ということをお話ししてみたいと思います。 ●チャプター① In an Indian language, the word for an aspirant is buddha. After practicing austerities for six years, the Buddha forsook these severe practices, began to meditate under a bo tree, and eventually discovered the truth. For that reason, people began to call him “Buddha” in the sense of “one who has awakened to the truth.” ●チャプター② At some later time, as the teachings came to be received in the western region of Asia and were received by China, the Chinese used two characters Butsu and Da for the word Buddha. When this two-character name was transmitted into Japan, the first character Butsu was the only one used, and it came to be read as both Butsu and Hotoke. So, Hotoke means Buddha, and Buddha means “one who has awakened to the truth.”