This giant statue of the Buddha stands in Sri Lanka, the only South Asian nation that is still predominantly Buddhist.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, a new religion emerged in India. As complex as its parent religion, Hinduism, Buddhism has spread from its birthplace in northern India. Devout believers practice the religion throughout the world, but it all began with one man.

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When Siddharta Gautama was born in about 563 B.C.E., it was predicted that he would be a great religious leader or a great warrior. His father wanted him to be a warrior, so he locked Siddharta in a castle and showered him with all sorts of pleasures and comforts. But, on a few trips outside the castle, Siddharta caught glimpses of old people, sick people, and dying people.

He had been so well treated that he had never guessed anyone ever suffered. Disturbed by what he saw, he became troubled by the fact that these were problems with no solutions. Then he glimpsed a holy man and realized there might be an answer.

Siddharta Gautama gave up a life of wealth and luxury to search for truth. He shaved his head, gave up his garments, and led a simple lifestyle on his way to Enlightenment.

Siddharta knew that the comforts of his former life could not protect him from suffering, so he left home and became a devout ascetic. He ate as little as possible, sat meditating for hours, and strove to rise above the problems of the world through religious discipline.

His actions did not seem to help. He was too distracted by hunger and discomfort to solve any problems. He resolved to take a middle path: he would neither indulge every whim nor deny every need.

Then he meditated for 40 days. During this time, the temptations and dangers of the world threatened him, but at last, he achieved Enlightenment. Enlightenment, also called nirvana, is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists.

Suffering and the Path to Nirvana

Some people see Buddhism as a very pessimistic religion. After all, one of the fundamental teachings is that everyone suffers — and suffers a lot. In fact, the Buddha taught that as long as people insist on seeing themselves as individuals, they cannot help but suffer.

The Eightfold Path is the moral core of Buddhism. It provides eight ethical guides by which one can achieve nirvana. A person who follows the Eightfold Path avoids lying, drinking, and drugs, and never kills. The Eightfold Path also teaches that one should have faith in Buddhist teachings, strive to achieve nirvana, and meditate.

The Chinese monks who practice Shaolin Temple kung-fu are famous. But it was an Indian who brought Dhyana (or Zen) Buddhism to China and helped found this ancient order.

Buddhism in Practice

When they join, they must take certain vows, and they have to give up many things that non-monks take for granted. They can never marry, and they must spend their whole lives working for the good of the monasteries, the communities around the monasteries, and their own journeys toward nirvana.

A person does not have to be a monk to be a Buddhist, though. Non-monks give gifts to monasteries, and doing so is a good deed that can help them in their own journeys to nirvana. And anyone can follow the Eightfold Path.

Practicing meditation, the eighth item of the Eightfold Path, is a very important part of Buddhism. Meditation usually involves sitting still and concentrating. When meditating, a Buddhist will try to make his or her mind blank, or think long and hard about a Buddhist idea, or think worshipfully about the Buddha or a Buddhist saint.

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Buddhism Worldwide

Buddhism began to spread along the Silk Road around the first century B.C.E. Tibet was one of the last countries to accept Buddhism. It was not until the 11th century C.E that Buddhism became widely accepted there.

And in the last two centuries, Buddhism has become very popular in the West. In the United States and Europe, many people read books on Buddhism, meditate, and strive to achieve enlightenment in the manner the Buddha himself taught 2,500 years ago.

Buddhism almost disappeared from India, and there are very few Buddhists in South Asia today. In fact, only Sri Lanka considers itself a Buddhist country.

But Buddhists from outside India have recently returned. Led by the Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks have had to flee their Himalayan homeland of Tibet. They found welcome in northern India, not at all far from where the founder of their faith was born more than two millennia ago.

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