Buddhism was originated in Northern India by Siddhartha Gautama. Gautama was born around 563 BCE (Before Common Era) in Lumbini which is known in modern day as Nepal. At the age of 29, Gautam departed his wife, children and political involvements in order to seek truth. At that particular time it was an accepted way for men to leave their family and lead into the life of an abstinent. Gautama studied Brahmanism, but eventually rejected it. In 535 BCE, he attained enlightenment and assumed the title Buddha, meaning the one who has awakened.

Gautam is also referred to as the Sakyamuni, (sage of the Sakya clan). He promoted The Middle Way, rejecting both extremes of the mortification of the flesh and of hedonism as paths toward the state of Nirvana. His means lead to many disciples and accumulated a large public following by the time of his death in his early 80's in 483 BCE.

250 years later, a council of Buddhist monks collected his teachings and the oral traditions of the faith into written form, called the Tripitaka. The collections included large commentaries and traditions; most are called Sutras (discourses). Buddhism later expanded across Asia with two main forms:

• Theravada Buddhism (called Southern Buddhism; sometime spelled Therevada) is the major school of Buddhism in most of Southeast Asia since the 13th century, such as Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos.

• Mahayana Buddhism (called Northern Buddhism) is largely found in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia. The added Tibetan Buddhism was developed in segregation from Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism because of Tibet being isolated.