In the 5th century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha (“the Awakened One”); his teachings would spread throughout Asia and the world. The two main contemporary streams of Buddhism are the Theravada and Mahayana traditions, with Vajrayana, a subset of Mahayana, sometimes recognized as a third stream.... Read more about The Path of Awakening

Living in luxury, the young Prince Siddhartha traveled outside his palace and encountered the Four Sights: an old person, a sick person, a dead person, and a wandering ascetic. He left his royal life to live in the forest, and he began his training in meditation and asceticism in hopes of discovering the root of human suffering. Rejecting the luxury of the palace and the self-denial of the forest-dwelling ascetics, he chose to pursue a "middle way" between the two extremes.... Read more about Prince Siddhartha: Renouncing the World

Under the Bodhi Tree, Siddhartha defeated the demon Mara. Siddhartha attained nirvana, the “blowing out” of the flames of desire. In that moment Siddhartha became the Buddha ("the Awakened One"), and he is now called Shakyamuni Buddha, the “Sage of the Shakya Clan.”... Read more about Becoming the “Buddha”: The Way of Meditation

After achieving enlightenment, the Buddha gave his first sermon, teaching his disciples about suffering and the way to escape it. This teaching includes the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Noble Path. The truths that the Buddha revealed are called Dharma.... Read more about The Dharma: The Teachings of the Buddha

The Buddha established the Sangha— originally a community of celibate monks and nuns who follow strict discipline and teach the Dharma to fellow Buddhists. Some consider the Sangha to include both monastics and Buddhist laypeople.... Read more about The Sangha: The Buddhist Community

All Buddhists “take refuge” in the Three Treasures—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—but interpretations of these Three Treasures differ widely across Buddhist traditions. ... Read more about The Three Treasures

As Buddhism spread through Asia, it formed distinct streams of thought and practice: the Theravada ("The Way of the Elders" in South and Southeast Asia), the Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle” in East Asia), and the Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle” in Tibet), a distinctive and vibrant form of Mahayana Buddhism that now has a substantial following.
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The Theravada school of Buddhism took root in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Its major characteristics include the importance of Pali Canon of scripture and commentary; the veneration of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha; and the spiritual model of the arahat, or “worthy ones” who have attained nirvana.... Read more about Theravada: The Way of the Elders

Emerging in the early centuries CE and flourishing in East Asia, the Mahayana tradition allows for the flexibility of the scriptural canon and forms of practice and considers itself open to a broader group of people than other streams of Buddhism. It encourages its followers to become bodhisattvas, dedicated to the salvation of all sentient beings. ... Read more about Mahayana: The Great Vehicle

The major stream of Buddhism in Tibet, the Vajrayana emerged in the 7th century out of the Mahayana tradition. This form of Buddhism, sometimes called “Tantric Buddhism,” asserts that distinctive ritual practices and objects such as mantras, mandalas, and mudras allow one to attain awakening more quickly. ... Read more about Vajrayana: The Diamond Vehicle