Understanding Buddha and his Religion (Dhamma)

Dharma traditions do not hold history central to their faith. For example, Buddha emphasized that his enlightenment was merely a discovery of a reality that is always there. He was not bringing any new covenants from any God. The personal life history of the Buddha is not necessary for Buddhist principles to work on people today. In fact, Buddha stated that he was neither the first nor the last person to have achieved the state of enlightenment. He also asserted that he was not God nor sent by any God as a prophet, and whatever he discovered was available to every human to discover for himself- Rajiv Malhotra