Altruistic Buddha - Buddhism is one of the most popular religions in the world, yet little is known about how it started and how the Buddha became an enlightened being. Click here to learn all about this fascinating faith!

© Shutterstock

Buddha - Buddha, whose real name was Siddhartha Gautama, was the founder of Buddhism.

© Shutterstock

Who was Buddha? - Buddha was a prince from Nepal who abandoned his material wealth to live as a pauper. He is believed to have lived sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BC.

© Shutterstock

Kapilavastu - Buddha was born in the Indian municipality of Kapilavastu, in the Himalayas, a place that was greatly influenced by classic Buddhism.

© Shutterstock

Prince - He was the son of one of the Sakyas clan leader, hence the surname Sakyamuni, which means 'the sakyas's silent wise.'

© Shutterstock

The change - Born in the midst of wealth and luxury, one day he was walking in Sidarta and was shaken when he saw a sick old man, a beggar, and a funeral procession. That is when he truly understood how ephemeral life can be.

© Shutterstock

Homeless - Buddha abandoned the palace without saying goodbye to his family and started life as a homeless person, begging for food, sleeping in the streets and meditating.

© Shutterstock

Renouncing luxury - Indian tradition says that it is only possible to reach spiritual enlightenment when you rid oneself of emotional bonds and daily routine to become a pilgrim.

© Shutterstock

The Middle Way - As a pilgrim, he realized that truth didn't lie in sensual indulgence and abundance. So he taught a Middle Way between pleasure and severe asceticism, which leads to spiritual enlightenment.

© Shutterstock

Dedication - Reaching the Enlightenment at the age of 35, Buddha continued to spend the next 45 years preaching his knowledge and gathering followers.

© Shutterstock

Deprived - Sidarta deprived himself of many things and frequently exposed himself to pain. He spent a lot of his time among dead bodies and skeletons to learn more about death. Legend dictates he was living on a grain of rice a day.

© Shutterstock

Bodhi Tree - It was under the Bodhi Tree that, while he meditated, Sidarta attained nirvana. He became known as The Awakened One or The Enlightened One.

© Shutterstock

Buddhist teachings - The main teachings of Buddhism say that Man will never find in the world that isn't already in himself and that spiritual life is connected to one's self-knowledge.

© Shutterstock

Buddhist teachings - Buddhism teaches us to not take anything for granted. We should avoid thoughts that leave us anxious or angry, and that both excessive pleasure and severe asceticism are harmful to our being.

© Shutterstock

Death - Buddha died when he was 80 from an intestinal infection. His body was cremated and the ashes spread throughout India.

© Shutterstock

Legacy - Throughout the years, the Buddha formed monk communities and lived surrounded by followers who learned about practicing compassion, the art of meditation and how to behave towards others.

© Shutterstock

The successor - When a Dalai Lama dies, the High Lamas of the Gelgupa tradition and the Tibetan government have to find the reborn one, so they look for children who were born just a few years after the Dalai Lama's death.

© Shutterstock

Meditation - Meditation is considered by most eastern faiths as a contemplative state, in which the silent mind connects with the being.

© Shutterstock

Past lives - It is believed that Siddhartha, the Buddha, was born around 547 times before he reached the nirvana.

© Shutterstock

Equality - Buddhists believe that humans and animals are all equal conscious beings.

© Shutterstock

Symbol Inversion - The swastika facing the left side, which is a symbol of Nazism for many, represents good luck for the Buddhists.

© Shutterstock

Worship - Some Buddhist branches adore the Buddha as a divinity, while others only seem him as an enlightened being.

© Shutterstock

State of mind - Contrary to what many people think, Buddha isn't a name but a title that describes a state of being.

© Shutterstock

Dalai Lama - He is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the title Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom.

© Shutterstock

Third name - After reaching nirvana, Sidartha adopted the 'official' name Shakyamuni.

© Shutterstock

Thanboddhay - The temple in Myanmar is one of the biggest in the world and features 582,357 thousand Buddha statues.

© Shutterstock

Hinduism versus Buddhism - Their doctrines are very similar, besides believing in reincarnation, both religions believe that material possessions and physical pleasure can affect one's path to enlightenment.

© Shutterstock

Hierarchy - There is no hierarchy in Buddhism. Depending on the branch, a Buddhist monk can live alone or in a monastery, where he lives in extreme modestly.

© Shutterstock

Buddists around the globe - It is estimated that there are around 1.9 billion Buddhists in the world, 85% of them reside in Asia.

© Shutterstock

Influence - Buddhist teachings became popular in the West from the 19th century, through the influence of philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer.

© Shutterstock

Holy saint - In the Middle Ages, Sidartha became a Christian saint in the story of 'Barlaam and Josaphat,' a Christian version of the life of Buddha.

© Shutterstock

Karma - Buddhism preaches that humans are doomed to reincarnate over and over again until they have learned the suffering of the material world and amend their lives to become eventually enlightened.

© Shutterstock