Imagine a full-length movie about the historical Buddha Gautama also known as Shakyamuni. Imagine it were based on the oldest extant texts. Imagine it were made by Buddhists rather than Hollywood. And there, you've imagined the movie to come, a great story once told of how a human took compassion to new heights by vowing to rediscover the timeless Path that transcends heavens and religions and dogmas to bring about the end of all suffering. It was an epic journey over aeons, traversing the Wheel of Life and Death (samsara), reborn countless times, being reminded again and again of a mission too important to conceive of, too painful to tread at times, too long in the making.
No one saves us but ourselves;
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must tread the Path;
Buddhas only point the way.
