The historical Buddha lived in northern India, in the shadows of the Himalayas, from 566-486 BCE. Owing to the presence of early documented sources and texts, we have a better ea of the life of the Buddha than we do of, for example, Jesus or the Prophet Muhammad.
Prince Gautama Siddhartha lived a life of some ease and luxury for many years until an episode that exposed him to the misery and frailty of much of human existence led to a realisation of dissatisfaction that caused him to leave his present life and search for what has now come to be known as enlightenment. For a while he tried an extremely ascetic lifestyle but eventually came to reject that in favour of a middle way of moderation, in which the suffering to which humans are heir is recognised as being the result of desires that cannot be satisfied. Nullifying these desires, perhaps through meditation or good works or in some other method, is the source of personal enlightenment.
These ideas, which are perhaps better thought of as a philosophy rather than a religion, were developed, adapted and changed over succeeding centuries, as they came into contact with Iranian, Hellenistic and other Indian ideas and traditions. The result is that many different and in some ways conflicting versions of Buddhism have become known. The original form almost died out completely in India, in fact, with a modified version being added into Hindu beliefs with the Buddha himself being seen as an incarnation of one of the chief gods of that religion.
Nevertheless, internationally the belief spread over a much wider region than did Christianity in a comparable period of time. From the eastern fringes of the Greek world to Japan, Korea and Java, Buddhist beliefs became prominent parts of the lives of millions of people.
The first evidence of Buddhist beliefs in China dates from 65CE, during the Han dynasty, at a community called P'eng-ch'eng in the north of Kiangsu and a commercial centre. It is common for new beliefs to be established first where foreigners are to be found and this is most commonly where traders or perhaps mercenaries or refugees are congregated. The Silk Road - which was in fact a network of different routes linking the markets of the east with those if India and the Middle East - was an important conduit for the spread of the belief. From these early beginnings, great interest was cultivated, especially among a number of scholarly communities and a number of monks became particularly interested in what for them were new ideas. Indian texts were being translated into Chinese from at least 100 CE, when the work 'Sutra in 42 Articles' was published. A healthy appetite for additional texts soon burgeoned.
Prince Gautama Siddhartha lived a life of some ease and luxury for many years until an episode that exposed him to the misery and frailty of much of human existence led to a realisation of dissatisfaction that caused him to leave his present life and search for what has now come to be known as enlightenment. For a while he tried an extremely ascetic lifestyle but eventually came to reject that in favour of a middle way of moderation, in which the suffering to which humans are heir is recognised as being the result of desires that cannot be satisfied. Nullifying these desires, perhaps through meditation or good works or in some other method, is the source of personal enlightenment.
These ideas, which are perhaps better thought of as a philosophy rather than a religion, were developed, adapted and changed over succeeding centuries, as they came into contact with Iranian, Hellenistic and other Indian ideas and traditions. The result is that many different and in some ways conflicting versions of Buddhism have become known. The original form almost died out completely in India, in fact, with a modified version being added into Hindu beliefs with the Buddha himself being seen as an incarnation of one of the chief gods of that religion.
Nevertheless, internationally the belief spread over a much wider region than did Christianity in a comparable period of time. From the eastern fringes of the Greek world to Japan, Korea and Java, Buddhist beliefs became prominent parts of the lives of millions of people.
The first evidence of Buddhist beliefs in China dates from 65CE, during the Han dynasty, at a community called P'eng-ch'eng in the north of Kiangsu and a commercial centre. It is common for new beliefs to be established first where foreigners are to be found and this is most commonly where traders or perhaps mercenaries or refugees are congregated. The Silk Road - which was in fact a network of different routes linking the markets of the east with those if India and the Middle East - was an important conduit for the spread of the belief. From these early beginnings, great interest was cultivated, especially among a number of scholarly communities and a number of monks became particularly interested in what for them were new ideas. Indian texts were being translated into Chinese from at least 100 CE, when the work 'Sutra in 42 Articles' was published. A healthy appetite for additional texts soon burgeoned.
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