The people described below have: * claimed to have attained enlightenment and become buddhas * claimed to be manifestations of bodhisattvas * identified themselves as Buddha (though most schools of Buddhism believe that the Buddha entered nirvana and extinguished rebirth), or * been honored as buddhas or bodhisattvas due to: being identified as the reincarnation of one such (e.g., the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama); popularity; evidence in the form of auspicious signs.