Hagiography and myths

In Buddhism, the quest for the historical Buddha has never been a major pursuit
It is not the historical Buddha that is of significance, but rather what the Buddha discovered  - it is the sasana (teaching) or the dharma that are the reason the life of the Buddha has any significance at all
Gautama was a sammasambuddha (fully self-enlightened Buddha) and the highest form of Buddhahood
The study of Buddhism involves the study of Buddhist thought rather than the historical Buddha, therefore, the life story of the Buddha becomes a hagiography - the purpose of a hagiography is to illustrate that if the person was who we think he was,…