Buddhism, which originated 2,500 years ago, was born in India at a time when the idea of reincarnation—the constant cycle of birth, death and rebirth—was growing among Hindus. Buddhism focuses on personal spiritual development and strives for an insight into the truths of life. Its founder is Siddhartha Gautama, a young prince who advocated purity and goodness as a way to escape the cycle of reincarnation.
Siddhartha, the son of King Shuddhodana and his queen Maya, was born in 563 bc at Lumbini, near Kapilavastu, capital of the Sakyan republic, a region that lies in present-day southern Nepal. The young Siddhartha was disenchanted with his life of luxury and was particularly traumatised when he went into the city and saw sickness, death and suffering among the people. He realised that all living beings had to experience the sufferings of birth, sickness, ageing and death, and that the suffering was repeated in each rebirth. He developed a desire to release mankind from this suffering and, at the age of 29, left the palace and his family and became an ascetic, renouncing all worldly pleasures. At the age of 35, Siddhartha reached Bodh Gaya in the northern Indian state of Bihar. Here he attained enlightenment or nirvana, a state of blissful peace devoid of all desire, while meditating beneath a bodhi tree. He became Buddha, the Awakened One.
For the next 45 years until his death, the Buddha travelled across the country, teaching the Wheels of Dharma which includes the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths are: suffering is the condition of all existence; suffering is due to desire, craving and selfishness; suffering can be overcome; and the way to overcome it is by following the Eightfold Path, which leads to right viewpoint, values, speech, actions, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and meditation. The Buddha preached the doctrine of anatta (non-self), refuting the existence of a permanent self, which he believed was the cause of most of human suffering. He also preached the Middle Way or Middle Path, which is the practice of moderation, as opposed to the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. His medium of communication was believed to be Magadhi, the language of Magadha.
Buddhism has two main sects, Theravada and Mahayana, though many more have evolved over the generations, with each sect establishing many different schools. Mahayana Buddhism came into being at the end of the first millennium bc, and is widely practised in countries such as China, Tibet, Japan and Korea. The Theravada sect stresses the importance of monastic life and austerity and believes in Siddhartha Gautama as the only Buddha; the Mahayana sect emphasises that enlightenment is open to anyone who follows the path of devotion and sees Siddhartha Gautama as one of many Buddhas.
During the reign of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (272 bc–231 bc) the Buddha’s philosophy acquired a national status. Ashoka converted to Buddhism and tried to bring about a moral and spiritual revival in his kingdom. He is also credited with helping spread Buddhism beyond India; however, by the 4th and 5th centuries, Buddhism was in decline in India while gaining popularity in Central Asia and China. It witnessed a revival under the Guptas (320–550) but declined when royal patronage was withdrawn in subsequent years, and stupas and monasteries were destroyed. The rise of Hinduism was another reason for the lack of patronage of Buddhism.
In present-day India, Buddhism is practised by about 7.9 million people or 0.8 per cent of the population (2001 census).