Buddha, the enlightened teacher and spiritual leader, revolutionized religious thought with his teachings on compassion, mindfulness, and achieving liberation from suffering.
The life story of the Buddha begins in Lumbini, near the border of Nepal and India, about 2,600 years ago, where the man Siddharta Gautama was born. Although born a prince, he realized that conditioned experiences could not provide lasting happiness or protection from suffering.
Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama—also known as “the Buddha”—more than 2,500 years ago in India. With an estimated 500 million to one billion followers, scholars consider...
The historical Buddha, also known as Gotama Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, and Buddha Śākyamuni, was born in Lumbini, in the Nepalese region of Terai, near the Indian border.
In Buddhism, the Buddha is not seen as a divine being—at least not entirely. The Buddha is typically seen by Buddhists as an awakened human being who saw through to the reality of existence and taught others how to escape the suffering in this life just as he did.