An old piece of folklore I copied out of a Religious Studies text years ago. (hopefully as a well-known piece of folklore, there should be no copywrong problems).
Buddhism begins with a man. In his later years when India was afire with his message, people came asking him what he was.
Not "who are you," but "what are you."
"Are you a god," they asked.
"No"
"An angel?"
"No."
"A Saint?"
"No"
"The what are you?"
Buddha aswered, "I am awake."
It is no coincidence, this story, and those who call Buddha "the awakened one" or "the enlightened." In Sanskrit, budh means awake or aware. To practice Buddhism is to awake from the dream world of this reality.
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