..续本文上一页 Although described as lokavidu or ”knower of the worlds”, He was not regarded as the sole custodian of the Universal Laws. He freely acknowledge that the Dhamma, together with the working of the cosmos, is timeless, it has no creator and is independent in the absolute sense. Every conditioned thing that exists in the cosmos is subject to the operation of Dhamma. What the Buddha did (like all the other Buddhas before Him) was to rediscover this infallible Truth and make it known to mankind. In discovering the Truth, He also found the means whereby one could ultimately free oneself from being subjected to the endless cycle of conditioning, with its attendant evils of unsatisfactoriness.
佛陀拥有大神通，可是他并不重视它。对他来说，最大的神通就是弘扬真理和让人们理解真理。这位拥有大慈悲心的导师，他使人类脱离困苦，以真理解除人类的镣铐，使人类获得自由，指引人类正确的生活道路。
佛陀并不认为这世间的一切现象，或被称为达摩(Dhamma)的世间法，是被「创造」的。他认为从无始以来，法已和世界并存，他绝对的认为，这世间没有所谓的造物者。世间一切的现象都是「法」的运作。佛陀就如过去所有古佛一样，倡导绝对的真理和让人类理解什么是绝对的真理。在发现真理的同时，他找到了终止那邪恶和令人困扰的生死轮回的解脱之道。
After forty-five years of ministry, the Buddha passed away at the age of eighty at kusinara, leaving behind thousands of followers, monks and nuns, and a vast treasure store of Dhamma Teaching. The impact of His great love and dedication is still felt today.
佛陀弘法四十五年，在他八十岁那年，于古西那拉(Kusinàra)，在数千名信徒、比库、比库尼的见证下，离开人间。佛陀珍贵的教导遗爱人间，直到今天。
In the Three Greatest Men in History, H. G. Wells states, ”In the Buddha you see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light, a vivid universal in character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being. Buddhism in a different language called men to self-forgetfulness 500 years before Christ. In some ways he was nearer to us and our needs. He was more lucid upon our inpidual importance in service than Christ and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality.
H.G.威尔的着作《历史的三大巨人》中，对佛陀评论道：「在佛陀的身上，让你看到一位光明磊落的人，他纯朴、孤独、追求光明，和散发出强烈的人性尊严，这些都不是神话。他也将这些信息传达给全人类。到今天为止，很多先进的理论和思想都和他的吻合。他教导人类以布施来克服吝啬和不满。一个人必须先停止感官的欲望，才能得到平静安祥，才能获得伟大的人性。佛陀在公元五百多年前，就以不同的语言教导人类放弃对「我」的执着。他非常接近我们，我们也非常的需要他。他比基督更清楚的解决个人的重要问题，从不含糊也不模棱两可。」
《第一章 佛陀的本怀与生平 Chapter 1 Gautama, the Buddha》全文阅读结束。