From a Buddhist point of View, was the Buddha a Prophet a Phylosopher or something else?

Question

Although I am not a Buddhist I think from my limited knowledge of the subject, he was a great phylosopher.

But was he?
He would not be a Prophet I think because he did not claim his words were those of a God?
So what "category" would he best fit into?

Answer 1

The Buddha was what Buddhists refer to as a buddha. A buddha is an individual who has obtained true and full enlightenment.

The word 'prophet' has many definitions, so whether or not the Buddha was a prophet would depend on how you interpret the word. If you define 'prophet' as a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration then no, the Buddha was not a prophet. If you define the word 'prophet' as a person regarded as, or claiming to be, an inspired teacher or leader then yes, the Buddha can be considered a prophet. Regardless of which definition you use, I would not refer to the Buddha as a prophet because of the connotation that comes along with the word being related to God(s) and foretelling of the future (ie: prophecies).

I would certainly refer to the Buddha as a philosopher in that he was indeeed a person who offers views or theories on profound questions in ethics and other related fields.

Answer 2

Before Buddha reached enlightenment,hewas a noble and prestigious Indian prince who was about to ascend the throne to the empire but he gave it up in search of an answer when he witnessed many sufferings of common people.

Having read many Buddhist books and non-fiction books on Buddhism, I think Buddha is definitely not a prophet as he had never prophesised anything. All he did was to actively seek the truth to freeing people from misery. I think Budhhism in itself is NOT a religion. It is more of a philosophy so I would agree that Buddha can be considered a great philosopher.

Buddha is NOT a GOD but through his Enlightenment, he witnessed many things like (1) Reincarnation, of which is not created by him but described by him as the natural order of life , (2) 18 levels of Hel, of which is not created by him but exists for people who commit all sorts of atrocities, (3) How people can be compassionate towards allother sentinents in a genuineway.

To me, I emulate Buddha's spirit of being compassionate. I think he should be in the "Compassionate Wisdom" category

Answer 3

The dictionary says a Prophet is= Clairvoyant,forecaster,seer,spiritualist---He was all in one.He has saved many persons from their impending calamities by his "Yogic" powers,who prostrated before him seeking releif.Clairvoyant-"God's "Revelations"(in his ears=Srothram) have come through his mouth as teachings(Sruthi--Suttha in Paali).As was the case with Jesus Christ, whose sermons formed the nucleus of a predominant Western Religion, 30 to 70 years after his crucifixtion-sri,Buddha's teachings formed the basis of the Religion Buddhism. As in Christianity many schools of thought are there--Catholic, Protestant,Pentecoaste,Syrian christian--in Buddhism also there are different schools of thought- Mahayaana, Hinaayaana, Theraavaadha etc.{(Spiritualist and he(Bhuddha) was all in one are missing in the main post)}

Answer 4

The only thing I know about Buddhist people is that they celebrate Diwali, other than that, nothing.

Answer 5

he was a prophet you may not know he was also of a royal household.prince siddhartha.

Answer 6

Why categorize at all? He was what he was.

~ Eric Putkonen