The Buddha of the scriptures is always reported as referring to himself by "the Tathagata" instead of using pronouns (me, I, myself). This serves to emphasize by implication that the words are uttered by one who has transcended the human condition, and is beyond the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth, beyond all death and dying, beyond all suffering. The word is also used as a synonym for arahant. It refers to someone who has attained the highest goal of the religious life: "a tathāgata, a superman (uttama-puriso)". In Buddhist thought, such an individual is no longer human.