Who was the founder of Buddhism?
This is a very common question about Buddhism. Who was the person who set this incredibly influential religious tradition in motion? Was he a god? Was he a man? Did he claim to be a god? A man named Siddharta Gautama is considered the founder of Buddhism. The Buddhist tradition gets its name from the title he received from his followers: the Buddha, which means the enlightened one. Historically, we have just a handful of facts about him. We know that he was born in Northern India as a prince of the Shakya tribe, around the year 500 BC (the exact year is unknown). It has been common in the Buddhist world to refer to him as Shakyamuni, the sage of the Shakya tribe. Now, let’s look at his life through Buddhist eyes. According to tradition, he lived in the palace as a prince until he was 30 years old. At that point in his life, he saw suffering for the first time. He saw a sick person, an old man and a dead body. This was so shoking for him that he decided to find a solution. He started hi
