Was Arthur Ashe a buddha?

His wife thinks so, according to the New York Times: “Lately, Ashe’s widow has come to think of him as a Bodhisattva – `a beautiful Buddhist term for a person who is dedicated to the ultimate welfare of other beings,’ as Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe put it the other day. … “She considers the possibility that Arthur […]

His wife thinks so, according to the New York Times:

“Lately, Ashe’s widow has come to think of him as a Bodhisattva – `a beautiful Buddhist term for a person who is dedicated to the ultimate welfare of other beings,’ as Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe put it the other day. …

“She considers the possibility that Arthur achieved Buddhahood, either during his 49 years or after his life was cut short in 1993 by AIDS from a blood transfusion. …


“`I began to see Arthur’s life journey as caring about all sentient beings,’ Moutoussamy-Ashe said recently. `So much of Buddhism reminds me of Arthur’s goals in life, but while he certainly knew about Buddhism he was not a student.'”

The claim is not all that unusual. Certain schools of Buddhism teach that every sentient being is a buddha, it just takes some mental effort to penetrate the fog of delusion and realize it. Buddha, in this context, refers to any enlightened being (hence the lower case), not just the historical “Buddha,” often called “Shakyamuni (sage of the Shakya clan) Buddha,” who was born in the 6th century BCE.

If’n you don’t know, Arthur Ashe was the first African American to win one of tennis’s grand-slam tournaments and a leading proponent of international human rights.

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