The second truth is “Origin of suffering ( samudāya).” This states that all suffering comes from desire ( tanhā). The first truth is called “Suffering ( dukkha),” which teaches that everyone in life is suffering in some way. The Buddha taught about Four Noble Truths. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar, India-the site of his enlightenment-is now a major Buddhist pilgrimage site. Eventually, in a state of deep meditation, he achieved enlightenment, or nirvana, underneath the Bodhi tree (the tree of awakening). He renounced his wealth and spent time as a poor beggar, meditating and traveling but ultimately, remaining unsatisfied, settling on something called “the Middle Way.” This idea meant that neither extreme asceticism nor extreme wealth was the path to enlightenment, but rather, a way of life between the two extremes was. who, upon seeing people poor and dying, realized that human life is suffering. Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment.īorn on the Nepali side of the present day Nepal-India border, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince around the fifth century B.C.E. Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha. Buddhists believe that human life is a cycle of suffering and rebirth, but that if one achieves a state of enlightenment ( nirvana), it is possible to escape this cycle forever. with Siddhartha Gautama, and over the next millennia it spread across Asia and the rest of the world. It originated in South Asia around the 5th century B.C.E. Buddhism is one of the world’s major religions.

Buddhism in a nushell