The Buddha preached his first sermon at Sarnath, shown here.

Buddha: Buddhism began around 2,500 years ago in India when Siddhartha Gautama discovered
how to bring happiness into the world. He was born around 566 BC, in the small kingdom of
Kapilavastu. His father was King Suddhodana and his mother was Queen Maya. At the age of
sixteen, Prince Siddhartha married a beautiful princess, Yasodhara and had a son named Rahul.

But at age 29, Siddharta felt discontented with his materialistic life and the conditions that
surrounded him. In response to the emotions triggered by his experience outside the palace, he
gave away all his belongings and searched for enlightenment through the abandonment of basic
needs. He began his quest with a period of starvation. These methods of self-denial eventually led
him to a revelation. He discovered that he needed to find another way something in between his
rich and impoverished lifestyles. He resolved to follow the Middle Path.

Siddharta sought enlightenment through concentration. He sat under a pipal tree, at Gaya practiced
intense meditation, and fought off all worldly temptations. After 40 days, he reached the ultimate
goal nirvana and earned the name Buddha.

He delivered his first sermon at Sarnath. At first, five persons became his disciples. Soon, his
message began to spread far and wide and the number of his disciples grew quickly. Buddhist 'math'
were later established all over the country.

For the next forty-five years, the Buddha and his disciples went from place to place in India spreading
the Dharma, his teachings. Their compassion knew no bounds, they helped everyone along the way,
beggars, kings and slave girls. Whenever the Buddha went, he won the hearts of the people because
he dealt with their true feelings. He advised them not to accept his words on blind faith, but to decide
for themselves whether his teachings are right or wrong, then follow them. Shakyamuni Buddha
passed away around 486 BC at the age of eighty.
SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

Although Buddhism never developed a missionary movement, Buddha's teachings nevertheless

spread far and wide on the Indian subcontinent and from there throughout Asia. In each new culture
it reached, the Buddhist methods and styles were modified to fit the local mentality, without
compromising the essential points of wisdom and compassion. Today there are approximately 350
million Buddhists in the world.

There are two major divisions of Buddhism. The Hinayana, or Modest Vehicle, emphasizes personal
liberation, while the Mahayana, or Vast Vehicle, stresses working to become a fully enlightened
Buddha in order to be best able to help others. Each has many sub-divisions. At present, however,
three major forms survive: one Hinayana, known as Theravada, in Southeast Asia, and two
Mahayana, namely the Chinese and Tibetan traditions.

The Theravada tradition spread from India to Sri Lanka and Burma in the third century BC, and from
there to Yunnan in southwest China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam and Indonesia.
Pockets of Indian merchants practicing Buddhism were soon found on the coast of the Arabian
Peninsula and even as far as Alexandria, Egypt. Other forms of Hinayana spread from that time to
modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, eastern and coastal Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
and Tajikistan. These were the ancient states of Gandhara, Bactria, Parthia and Sogdia. From this
base in Central Asia, they spread further in the second century CE to East Turkistan (Xinjiang) and
further into China, and in the late seventh century to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. These forms of
Hinayana were later combined with Mahayana aspects that also came from India so that Mahayana
eventually became the dominant form of Buddhism in most of Central Asia.

The Chinese form of Mahayana later spread to Korea, Japan and North Vietnam. Another early wave
of Mahayana, mixed with Shaivite forms of Hinduism, spread from India to Nepal, Indonesia,
Malaysia and parts of Southeast Asia starting in about the fifth century. The Tibetan Mahayana
tradition, which, starting in the seventh century, inherited the full historical development of Indian
Buddhism, spread throughout the Himalayan regions and to Mongolia, East Turkistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan, northern Inner China, Manchuria, Siberia and the Kalmyk Mongol region near the
Caspian Sea in European Russia.

Often, however, the dissemination was due primarily to the influence of a powerful monarch who
had adopted and supported Buddhism himself. In the mid-third century BC, Buddhism spread
throughout northern India as the result of the personal endorsement of King Ashoka. This great
empire-builder did not force his subjects to adopt the Buddhist faith. But by posting edicts engraved
on iron pillars throughout his realm exhorting his people to lead an ethical life and by following these
principles himself, he inspired others to adopt Buddha's teachings.

Even before the 17th century, people in the West heard of the Buddha and his teachings from early
travelers such as Marco Polo and Christian missionaries. By the early 20th century, many Europeans
had traveled to the East to study Buddhism. Some of them became monks and inspired Buddhism
in the West. In the 19th century, Chinese and Japanese immigrants brought many different traditions
of Buddhism to America.
TEACHINGS
According to Buddhist philosophy, the world is transient (anicca) and
constantly changing; it is also soulless (anatta) as there is nothing
permanent or eternal in it. Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is
intrinsic to human existence. It is by following the path of moderation
between severe penance and self-indulgence that human beings can rise
above these worldly troubles. In the earliest forms of Buddhism, whether
or not god existed was irrelevant.

Buddha's Teaching The Way to Salvation

During the course of meditation, Gautam Buddha after attaining the enlightenment came out with the
certain principles which have become the pillars of Buddhism. These teachings have also become the
guidelines for the followers of Buddha. These principles can broadly be explained under the following
categories.

1. The Four Noble Truths

The teachings of Buddha can be summarized under the category of Four Noble Truths which are as
under:

a) Suffering is common - Birth, Sickness, Old age, Death etc.

b) Cause of Suffering - ignorance and greed.

c) End of Suffering to cut off greed and ignorance.

d) Path to end Suffering - the Noble Eightfold Path is the way to end suffering.

2. The Noble Eightfold Path

The teachings of Buddha goes round and round like a great wheel that never stops, leading to the
central point of the wheel, the only point which is fixed, Nirvana. The eight spokes on the wheel
represent the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path which are as follows: 1) Right View; 2) Right
Thought; 3) Right Speech; 4) Right Conduct; 5) Right Livelihood; 6) Right Effort; 7) Right
Mindfulness; 8) Right Concentration.

The Panchshila
All the religions of the world are based on the fundamental principles of good conduct and prohibit
their followers to indulge in the misconduct and misbehavior that may harm the society at large. So,
the Panchshila of Buddha is comprised of the basic teachings of conduct which are as under:

1. No killing Respect for life

2. No stealing Respect for others' property
3. No sexual misconduct Respect for our pure nature
4. No lying Respect for honesty
5. No intoxicants Respect for a clear mind