Buddhism is a religious and philosophical tradition based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in northern India around the fifth century BCE. It teaches that suffering arises from craving and ignorance and can be ended through ethical conduct, meditation and wisdom. Today it is one of the world's major religions, with three main branches: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.
Buddhism at a glance
| Founder | Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha |
|---|---|
| Origin | Northern India, c. 5th century BCE (exact dates debated) |
| Main branches | Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana |
| Scriptures | Pali Canon (Tipitaka); Chinese and Tibetan canons; Mahayana sutras |
| Core teachings | Four Noble Truths, Noble Eightfold Path, dependent origination |
| Three Jewels | Buddha, Dharma, Sangha |
| Followers | Commonly estimated at several hundred million worldwide |
The Buddha and origins
According to Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a ruling family of the Shakya clan at Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Scholars place his life somewhere between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, with the fifth century most widely favored. Traditional accounts say that he left his comfortable life after encountering old age, sickness and death, practiced severe asceticism, and then chose a middle way between indulgence and self-mortification.
Meditating under a tree at Bodh Gaya, he is said to have attained awakening (bodhi) and became the Buddha, the Awakened One. He gave his first sermon at the Deer Park near Sarnath and taught for about four decades across the Ganges plain, founding a community of monks and nuns. He died at Kushinagar, an event Buddhists call the parinirvana.
Core teachings
The foundation of Buddhist doctrine is the Four Noble Truths: that life is marked by dukkha, suffering or unsatisfactoriness; that dukkha arises from craving; that it can cease; and that the way to its cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path. The path consists of right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration, often grouped into ethics, meditation and wisdom.
Buddhism describes all conditioned things as impermanent, unsatisfactory and without a permanent self, the teaching of anatta. Dependent origination explains how experience arises through interlinked conditions. Actions (karma) shape future experience, including rebirth in a cycle called samsara. Liberation from this cycle is nirvana, the extinguishing of greed, hatred and delusion. Buddhist rebirth differs from many ideas of reincarnation, since no unchanging soul is thought to pass from life to life.
Buddhist teaching is often summed up in the image of a physician: the Buddha diagnoses the illness, identifies its cause, declares that a cure exists and prescribes the treatment. Traditions differ on many points of doctrine, but all regard the Four Noble Truths as foundational.
Schools and scriptures
Theravada, the Way of the Elders, prevails in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It preserves the Pali Canon and emphasizes monastic discipline and the path of the arhat, one who attains nirvana. Mahayana, the Great Vehicle, dominant in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, stresses the bodhisattva who seeks awakening for the sake of all beings, and includes schools such as Pure Land, Chan or Zen, Tiantai and Nichiren. Its scriptures include the Lotus Sutra and the Perfection of Wisdom sutras.
Vajrayana, often considered a form of Mahayana, uses tantric methods including mantras, mandalas and visualization under a teacher's guidance. It is central to Tibetan Buddhism and is also found in Japanese Shingon. Cosmic buddhas such as Vairocana play an important role in these traditions.
Spread and history
Buddhism grew with royal support, most famously from the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE, whose edicts promoted Dharma and whose missions are linked to its arrival in Sri Lanka. It reached China along trade routes around the first century CE, then Korea and Japan, and Tibet from around the seventh and eighth centuries. In India it gradually declined, and by the thirteenth century major monastic centers such as Nalanda had been destroyed.
In the modern era Buddhism revived in India, notably through B. R. Ambedkar's mass conversion in 1956, and spread to Europe, the Americas and Australia through migration and Western interest. Theosophists Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky formally took the Buddhist precepts in Ceylon in 1880, and Olcott's Buddhist Catechism helped shape modern Buddhist revivalism.
Practice today
Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teaching) and the Sangha (the community). Lay followers typically observe five precepts, including refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants, and support monastics through offerings. Common practices include meditation for calm (samatha) and insight (vipassana), chanting, pilgrimage, and festivals such as Vesak, which commemorates the Buddha's birth, awakening and passing.
Estimates of the number of Buddhists vary widely, partly because many people in East Asia combine Buddhist practice with other traditions. Meditation techniques adapted from Buddhism, such as mindfulness, are now widely used in secular settings, a development that some Buddhist teachers welcome and others view with caution.
Related entries
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Frequently asked questions
What are the basic beliefs of Buddhism?
Buddhism teaches the Four Noble Truths: life involves suffering, suffering arises from craving, it can end, and the Eightfold Path leads to its end. Buddhists also hold that all things are impermanent and without a permanent self, that actions have consequences through karma, and that liberation, nirvana, is possible.
Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?
It is both, depending on perspective. Buddhism has temples, monastic orders, rituals, scriptures and devotion to buddhas and bodhisattvas, which make it a religion by most definitions. It also contains sophisticated philosophy about mind, causation and ethics, which is why some people, especially in the West, approach it mainly as a philosophy.
What are the main types of Buddhism?
The main branches are Theravada, found mostly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia; Mahayana, prevalent in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam and including Zen and Pure Land; and Vajrayana, the tantric tradition central to Tibetan Buddhism. Vajrayana is often treated as part of the wider Mahayana family.
Sources and further reading
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.