The Archetype of the Buddha

The archetype of the Buddha has a long history, longer than that of the Christian Christ. It has a different emphasis than Christ however, although there are similarities. In general the Buddha depicts the going beyond self into the void, the letting go of ego into the reality of what lies beyond it, rather than the movement toward a belief system or a historical character.

Also, because of his life story, a story that is confirmed, we learn of how a real historical character, Siddartha, sets out on a search for a way beyond pain and death. The search is long but he finds what is sought in enlightenment and becomes the Buddha. In a similar way Jesus becomes the Christ at baptism.

Whereas some archetypes link you t society and family, the Buddha archetype leads away from this. It has little or no suggestion of marriage or family, and is much more linked with the life of a monk. However, this urge to inroversion and a less outwardly active social ife is no unrpoductive. It provides a doorway for many who live more fully ‘in the world’ to look through into other dimensions of human experience. Their lives permeated their times, and still flow through time to us today.And those who live this life today continue the tradition.

The Buddha also is an extraordinary event in the history of humankind. Th eenlightenment is not simply an achievement of awareness beyond the ego, it also depicts what is perhaps the first human being to lift awareness out of evolutionary and cultural paradigms into what has been called Moksha or liberation. As said, an extraordinary event, and therefore within this archetype is the possibility of our own liberation.

Therefore the Buddha archetype holds in it the strength, persistence and way of searching for and finding a way beyond the limitations of self. The archetype is enormously powerful and can be seen as active in countless people’s lives living today.

The negative side of the archetype is that it sets up a goal called enlightenment. In this mode a person might spend fruitless years searching for something that is not a goal, but an absence of action, a letting go of ego goals. Sometimes this leads to a very sterile life, almost akin to dry intellectualism. It is almost life negating, as it kills any move toward marriage and procreation.

On the positive side the archetype holds in it power to transcend and let go of the limiting factors of ones personal life, instinctive drives and socially imprinted behaviours. Because a religious figure such as Christ and Buddha have many similarities in their social and personal impact, it is worth reading the Christ entry. See: Archetype of the Void; Buddhism and Dreams.
Useful questions are:
Have I been confronted by an influence that I feel threatens to take away much of what I consider to be vitally me?

Has the Buddha archetype touched me and opened an experience of unconditional freedom and bliss?

Am I using this archetype as a goal that I am desperate to reach?