Buddhahood is defined as freedom from
the obstructions to liberation
(or negative states of mind such as
hatred and desirous attachment)
and the obstructions to omniscience
(which are the imprints of negative minds, or delusions).
When one is freed from mental
obscurations
one is said to attain a state of
unimaginable,
continuous bliss where all limitations on one's
ability to help all other living beings are removed.
This includes the attainment omniscience
–
that is all obstructions to knowing all phenomena
(including knowing perfectly the minds
of all sentient beings)
are removed.
Standing Buddha
sculpture,
ancient region of Gandhara,
northern Pakistan,
1st century CE, Musée Guimet.
In the Tibetan Buddhist view,
when one perceives or conceives of a
particular
object the mind (carried upon a subtle energy - 'prana' in
Sanskrit and 'lung' in Tibetan) goes to that
object.
Thus it is said that upon the attainment
of omniscience,
one's mind becomes omnipresent.
There are said to be countless beings
that have
attained Buddhahood, or in other words there are
countless Buddhas. Buddhas
spontaneously,
naturally and continuously perform
activities
to benefit all sentient beings. However
it is believed that
sentient beings' karma (or actions and
results)
has equal power to Buddhas. Thus, although
Buddhas possess no limitation from their
side on their
ability to help others, sentient beings
continue to experience
suffering as a result of their own
negative actions
(usually committed in previous lifetimes).
The Hand of Buddha