The Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (lit. 'the awakened one'), was a <a href="/facts/%25C5%259Arama%25E1%25B9%2587a/ka4nb2ve">wandering ascetic</a> and religious teacher who lived in <a href="/facts/South_Asia/7gTqe3hY">South Asia</a> during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a>. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in <a href="/facts/Lumbini/xD4zyXEo">Lumbini</a>, in what is now <a href="/facts/Nepal/yWCzTBR2">Nepal</a>, to royal parents of the <a href="/facts/Shakya/L02FXLlH">Shakya</a> clan, but <a href="/facts/Great_Renunciation/DTTa77yC">renounced</a> his <a href="/facts/Householder_(Buddhism)/I3gnTIGg">home life</a> to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of <a href="/facts/Mendicancy/tbo65hTK">mendicancy</a>, <a href="/facts/Asceticism/s3szkXBx">asceticism</a>, and meditation, he attained <a href="/facts/Nirvana_(Buddhism)/GQSTVL0T">nirvana</a> at <a href="/facts/Bodh_Gaya/940DyT3t">Bodh Gayā</a> in what is now <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>. The Buddha then wandered through the lower <a href="/facts/Indo-Gangetic_Plain/kWHsYSNK">Indo-Gangetic Plain</a>, teaching and building a <a href="/facts/Sangha/chcrrozL">monastic order</a>. Buddhist tradition holds he died in <a href="/facts/Kushinagar/Qv3H58VL">Kushinagar</a> and reached <a href="/facts/Parinirvana/z22P4AsB">parinirvana</a> ("final release from conditioned existence").
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a <a href="/facts/Middle_Way/6PHWgQQC">Middle Way</a> between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to <a href="/facts/Vimutti/b3uuA7jI">freedom</a> from <a href="/facts/Avidy%25C4%2581_(Buddhism)/SDeAwjXs">ignorance</a>, <a href="/facts/Up%25C4%2581d%25C4%2581na/QeYswrUQ">craving</a>, <a href="/facts/Sa%25E1%25B9%2583s%25C4%2581ra_(Buddhism)/SCvm91be">rebirth, and suffering</a>. His core teachings are summarized in the <a href="/facts/Four_Noble_Truths/TaFqBJ8T">Four Noble Truths</a> and the <a href="/facts/Noble_Eightfold_Path/jfJVDCm4">Noble Eightfold Path</a>, a <a href="/facts/Bhavana/lQdvhVmW">training of the mind</a> that includes <a href="/facts/Buddhist_ethics/wca2dyJ4">ethical training</a> and <a href="/facts/Brahmavihara/wMwB34mr">kindness toward others</a>, and <a href="/facts/Buddhist_meditation/kB2cwgAM">meditative practices</a> such as <a href="/facts/Right_effort/jfJVDCm4">sense restraint</a>, <a href="/facts/Sati_(Buddhism)/ILJzlWBE">mindfulness</a>, <a href="/facts/Dhyana_in_Buddhism/vF7EqVrj">dhyana</a> (meditation proper). Another key element of his teachings are the concepts of the <a href="/facts/Skandha/L5C9gdob">five skandhas</a> and <a href="/facts/Dependent_origination/kaWoN2wW">dependent origination</a>, describing how all dharmas (both mental states and concrete 'things') come into being, and cease to be, depending on other dharmas, lacking an existence on their own <a href="/facts/Svabhava/JEbguuo3">svabhava</a>).
While in the Nikayas he frequently refers to himself as the <a href="/facts/Tath%25C4%2581gata/yG9xumFf">Tathāgata</a>, the earliest attestation of the title <a href="/facts/Buddha_(title)/QC2ErM2j">Buddha</a> is from the 3rd century BCE, meaning 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'. His teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the <a href="/facts/Vinaya/ptgTANPE">Vinaya</a>, his codes for monastic practice, and the <a href="/facts/Sutta_Pi%25E1%25B9%25ADaka/poCem7bk">Sutta Piṭaka</a>, a compilation of teachings based on his discourses. These were passed down in <a href="/facts/Middle_Indo-Aryan_languages/KfT8SFPe">Middle Indo-Aryan</a> dialects through an <a href="/facts/Oral_tradition/0hzwefby">oral tradition</a>. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as <a href="/facts/Abhidharma/RuG7bj9b">Abhidharma</a>, biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as <a href="/facts/Jataka_tales/l7EEg5h7">Jataka tales</a>, and additional discourses, i.e., the <a href="/facts/Mah%25C4%2581y%25C4%2581na_s%25C5%25ABtras/RCuh9qpM">Mahāyāna sūtras</a>.
Buddhism evolved into a variety of traditions and practices, represented by <a href="/facts/Therav%25C4%2581da/nMhXBXBo">Theravāda</a>, <a href="/facts/Mah%25C4%2581y%25C4%2581na/hxwvCFe3">Mahāyāna</a> and <a href="/facts/Vajray%25C4%2581na/pDIn4wcG">Vajrayāna</a>, and spread beyond the Indian subcontinent. While Buddhism declined in India, and mostly disappeared after the 8th century CE due to a lack of popular and economic support, Buddhism is more prominent in <a href="/facts/Southeast_Asia/VafwT517">Southeast</a> and <a href="/facts/East_Asia/D8yGVCQX">East Asia</a>.

The Buddha open-in-new

The Buddha