The word Buddha is a title for the
first awakened being in an era. "Buddha" is also
sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One".
As Gautam fully comprehended the Four Noble
Truths and as he arose from the slumbers of
ignorance he is called a Buddha. Before His
Enlightenment he was a bodhisattva eans one
who is aspiring to attain Buddha hood. He was
not born a Buddha, but became a Bucddha by his
own efforts. Every aspirant to Buddhahood
passes through the bodhisattva period- a period
comprising many lives over a vast period of
time.