Buddha’s teachings inspired a worldwide religion that is today estimated to have between 150 and 300 million followers.
Buddha's teachings inspired a worldwide religion that is today estimated to have between 150 and 300 million followers.
Buddhism teaches that life is full of suffering which is often caused by a craving for worldly goods.
The suffering can only be completely overcome if Buddhists abandon their worldly desires and, through contemplation and meditation, achieve a state of enlightenment known as nirvana.
The facts about the historical Buddha have often been obscured by later myth and legend.
But historians largely agree that he was born in Nepal in about 563 BC into an aristocratic family of warriors.
His real name was Gautama Siddhartha, Buddha being a later title meaning Enlightened One.
In his early years Buddha lived the life of a young aristocrat, but found it unfulfilling and was increasingly drawn to meditation and contemplation.
When he was 29 he is said to have come across an old man, a sick man and the body of a dead man during a journey.
Legend says that he suddenly realised that mankind is full of suffering.
Shortly afterwards he met a wandering monk and noticed how calm the man seemed.
He decided to abandon his life of luxury and dedicate himself to seeking truth.
Buddha spent years wandering around India taking instruction from Hindu teachers.
But he disliked some aspects of Hinduism and finally abandoned it.
Some time around 528 BC, Buddha experienced the Great Enlightenment while sitting under a tree.
He then preached his first sermon, which outlined the basic principles of what was to become Buddhism.
Buddha spent the next 40 years teaching and founding monasteries.
He died in Nepal at the age of about 80 after eating contaminated pork.
After Buddha’s death there was a split among his followers over the correct way to continue his teachings.
One group believed that only monks who concentrated on seeking personal enlightenment for themselves could effectively practice Buddhism.
They called themselves Theravadan, or The Way Of The Elders.
A second group believed the teaching must be available to all people, not just monks.
They called themselves Mahayana, meaning the Big Raft.
The concept of the raft came from Buddha himself.
He referred to his teaching as a raft which could help people cross to the other shore beyond birth and death.
Today Buddhism based on the Theravadan model is found in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia.
Mahayan Buddhism is the norm in China, Japan, Tibet and Korea.
In later years the Mahayan group again divided into several strands, including Zen Buddhism, which places great emphasis on meditation.
