What we today call Buddhism (butsuhõ 佛法) began in the 6th century B.C.E. with a man named Siddhārtha Gautama, born in the foothills of the Himalayas just inside the borders of Nepal in a region known as the Terai lowlands. Siddhārtha was the son of Suddhodana, the raja or clan leader elect of the Śākya clan. He belonged to the kṣatriya caste, a caste of warrior rulers. He was often known as Śākyamuni which means “the sage of the Śākyas.” As such Siddhārtha had a privileged aristocratic upbringing. He underwent a traditional education studying subjects such as religious law (Brahmism), military tactics, statecraft, grammar, and philosophy.

As a member of the kṣatriya or warrior caste, Siddhārtha would have been able to lead a practical life as a man of action, and have undergone strict warrior training and discipline. As a son of the tribal leader, and as a trained and educated kṣatriya warrior, Siddhārtha would have been expected to fight in the forefront of any battle. The young Siddhārtha was trained in the specialised military tactics of warfare on elephants and chariots as well as hand to hand combat with a number of traditional Indian weapons.

Being familiar with the customs and manners of the aristocracy he would have been easily able to mingle comfortably with the kings and courtiers he would encounter later on his travels as a wandering teacher. His military training, high-level of education, and his personal charisma would have a considerable bearing on the spread and reception of his teachings later on.

Confronted with the realities of life, he soon came to realise that the power, riches, and position as the son of the raja could not shield him from sickness, old age, and death and he began an enquiry into the human condition. At the age of 29, soon after the birth of his son Rahula, he renounced his position, left his kingdom, and took to the forest becoming a śramaṇa, a travelling homeless ascetic. His one desire was to find the cause of all human suffering, and a way to cure it.

As a travelling ascetic, Siddhārtha devoted himself to mortification and religious exercises such as yoga and meditation in the hope of attaining a higher knowledge. These practices had been established for centuries throughout India and there were many religious masters (guru) with differing methods of practice. The śramaṇa formed into loose communities under their various teachers living in seclusion in the forest and travelling into the towns for alms.

Siddhārtha first sought out a well-known teacher called Āraḍa Kālāma who taught him a meditational technique known as the “sphere of nothingness” in which the mind transcended all thought and reached a spiritual peace. Siddhārtha quickly mastered this practice and his teacher was so impressed that he offered to make Siddhārtha the joint teacher of the group. Siddhārtha declined however since he felt that he had not achieved the goal he sought.

Siddhārtha then became the student of the yoga teacher Udraka Rāmaputra, and once again he quickly mastered his new masters teachings - the meditation method of “neither-perception-nor-non-perception.” Udraka was so impressed with Siddhārtha that he offered to exchange places and become the student of Siddhārtha. But Siddhārtha had not yet achieved his goal.

As he saw it, the meditational methods he was mastering alone were not enough to help him see through life’s problems. They were valuable practices, yet alone they provided only temporary relief rather than a cure.

Siddhārtha then turned to a practice well established in India - subjugating the body and mind by sheer force of will power alone. This method of practice held that by gaining control over the body and mind by sheer force one could gain control over all desires. Siddhārtha attempted to suspend the process of respiration for longer and longer periods through breath-control exercises. This soon made Siddhārtha sick and weak and he realised that such a practice is futile.

Siddhārtha then tried the centuries old practice of limiting his intake of food. He soon became agonisingly thin with his ribs and bones visible. He was barely able to remain seated. He decided that this practice was also a failure and he abandoned it too.

After six years of this type of severe ascetic practice, the Bodhisattva - Buddha-to-be - (Bosatsu 菩薩) Siddhārtha realised he was no closer to answering his basic questions about life, or satisfying his deep spiritual need to understand human suffering.

Concluding that the truth was not to be found in extremes of self-indulgence or self-denial, or the practice of magical religious rituals and meditation alone, he resolved to follow a middle path, abandoning all the traditional religions. Siddhārtha adopted a more balanced lifestyle that avoided extremes and steered a “middle way” between over-indulgence and extreme self-denial. Siddhārtha decided to return to the practice of meditation, but this time in a more structured program that included a moderated practice.

As he sat in attentive meditation under a bodhi tree on the bank of the river Nerajara (near present day Bihar), at the age of 35 Siddhārtha experienced a great awakening - bodhi - or enlightenment. Thereafter he was called “The Awakened One” - the Buddha (Butsu 仏) - or The Noble One.

The word enlightenment or bodhi (bodai 菩提) confuses many and some have even elevated it to mean something unattainable, something otherworldly. Enlightenment - or awakening - is not something “out there.” It is not something separate from ourselves to be attained or earned somewhere in the future. The possibility for awakening is available to all of us, equally without discrimination, right here and right now.

The experience of enlightenment, and the compassionate wisdom cultivated during his years of training, formed the basis of his teaching; the Buddha Dharma (hõ 法). The Buddha taught the role of wisdom, compassion and morality as the basis of an enlightened life.

In his first sermon the Buddha declared that he was a Tathāgata (Nyorai 如来) which means “thus come” or “one who has come from what is really so.” The first sermon by the Buddha on his Buddha Dharma is preserved in a text called the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma” (Dharmacakra pravartana sūtra). The essence of the Buddha Dharma is outlined in this text and explains the Middle Way that the Buddha had found between the extremes of self-indulgence and harsh austerity. It also expounds the Four Truths of The Noble One which he had perceived during his enlightenment.

On this day, and for the next week, the Buddha expounded his teachings to his first practitioners and they accepted the Buddha as their teacher and guide. He then ordained them as monks on the path in a ceremony where he admitted them simply with the words “Come, monk.”

During his second sermon the Buddha explained the teaching of “no self” (muga 無我) and on hearing this all of his first followers attained enlightenment.

For the next 45 years of his long life the Buddha wandered around the Ganges valley teaching, establishing the monastic order of monks and nuns; the sangha (sõ 僧), and debating philosophy and religion with members of other religious traditions. He also won the favour of kings which enabled him to establish communities of followers and gain support. Amongst the kings who patronised the Buddha Dharma were Prasenjit king of Kośala, and king Bimbisāra (558 - 491 B.C.E.) of Magadha. In the Kośalan capital of Śrāvastī the Buddha delivered numerous discourses. It was king Bimbisāra who, when the Buddha died, ensured the internment of the Buddhas relics or remains. It was also in the Magadha capital of Rājagṛha that the first Buddhist council was convened.

The teachings of the Buddha have inspired Buddhists since for more than 2,550 years.

The Buddha taught that a great deal of our mental suffering is due to our very own self-centred desires. To overcome this self-centredness, people should realise their true nature, and live in accordance with it. This includes realising that we are not separate from our surroundings, but that all things, including ourselves, intimately depend on each other and form an ever-changing seamless whole, with no divisions or boundaries anywhere.

What distinguishes the Buddha from all other religious teachers is that he was a human being. The Buddha was a man of flesh-and-blood who sought to help others experience enlightenment for themselves. He encouraged people to look within themselves, not others, for insight and illumination. He did not claim to be a god, or have a connection to any gods or “supernatural” beings. The Buddha taught all classes of men and women - kings and peasants, religious teachers and outcasts, bankers and beggars - without making the slightest distinction between them.

The Buddha was neither god nor an incarnation of god, nor any mythological figure. He was simply a man in search of the truth. Unaided by any teacher, human or divine, he achieved the highest mental and intellectual attainments. Through his own perseverance and understanding he proved that infinite possibilities are latent in us all and that it must be our endeavour to develop and unfold these possibilities. He proved by his own experience that enlightenment lies absolutely and entirely within our grasp. The Buddha experienced enlightenment through hard effort and subsequently devoted himself to helping others experience enlightenment for themselves.

The Buddha passed away at Kusinara in India (near present day Uttar Pradesh) at the age of 80. An account of the Buddha’s last days is faithfully preserved in the discourse called the Mahāparinirvāna sūtra (Daihatsu-nehan-gyõ 大般涅槃経).

During the Buddha’s last hours, his cousin and personal attendant Ānanda (Anan 阿難) asked him what would happen to the sangha after he died and who would be his successor. The Buddha replied that he would appoint no successor, since he had never considered himself the leader of the sangha. He said that the monks should be self-reliant and hold fast to the Buddha Dharma as their teacher. This meant that there would be no need for a head or patriarch and no central institution charged with determining orthodoxy.

As the death of the Buddha approached he said to those who were gathered around him:

After his death, the Buddha became a model for the enlightened mind - an aspiration, in much the way that subsequent great teachers became models for what could be achieved in a lifetime. After his death, Buddhism continued to spread across Asia, evolving in different ways and adapting to the various cultures it encountered as it spread. Over the past millennia through the accumulation of various cultural trappings Buddhism has developed layers and layers of doctrine and ritual. However, the fundamental attitude of Buddhism is intensely anti-authoritarian.

The Buddha was a highly unorthodox individual and a real anti-traditionalist. He did not offer his teaching as a set of dogmas, but rather a set of propositions for each individual to investigate for himself. His invitation to one and all was to “come and see.” He constantly reminded his followers, “Place no head above your own.” By this he meant, don’t accept somebody else’s word. See for yourself.